Freeville – David Cook / Tim J. Veling
5 – 27 June 2014
Opening preview: Wed 4 June, 5 – 7pm
The Freeville Project is a photography-based project developed in collaboration with students and staff of Freeville Primary School in New Brighton, Christchurch, NZ. The result of an intensive workshop with 67 students; discussing ideas of community and future vision for the school environment in light of the impending closure of their school (due to regional earthquake damage).
Children wrote stories and created visual proposals for future developments. David Cook and Tim Veling collaborated with teachers in facilitating this process, and also created a series of photographic portraits and landscapes. The finished body of work was first exhibited as billboard-sized prints in the local New Brighton shopping mall, as part of the TEZA (Transitional Economic Zone of Aotearoa), produced by Letting Space in November 2013. The RAMP exhibition is a reconfiguration of the show, incorporating work that was not able to be shown in the Christchurch exhibition.
Prior to the February 2011 earthquake, Freeville School commissioned the ‘Freeville School Landscape Concept Draft Plan’ (Rough & Milne landscape architects). This plan incorporated a wildflower bed, native trees, native shrubs and children’s artwork. With a clear agenda to educate and engage the community in the school’s surrounding ecological landscape, this plan could never have foreseen the dramatic events that followed its conception. Read more HERE
RAMP GALLERY
School of Media Arts
Gate 5, Wintec City Campus
Collingwood St
Hamilton
Gallery hours: Mon to Fri., 12 – 4pm
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