Offsite Exhibition: The Stars Have Always Risen

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Part of the Puaka Matariki Otepoti Festival 2012
Exhibition Preview: Thursday 21 June at 5.30pm
Exhibition runs: Friday 22 June - Thursday 28 June
10am - 5pm daily at the Dunedin Community Gallery, 20 Princes Street (next to the iSite).

Laura Marsh and Ed Lust have created a space to contemplate the significance and beauty of the Matariki constellation at the Community Gallery on Princes Street (next to the i-Site). Come in, lie back, and take part in some very special stargazing. This exhibition will run for one week only.

"The Stars Have Always Risen" comprises one installation of two pieces of work. The title refers to the fact that although the Matariki constellation has always been marked and celebrated as the beginning of the Māori New Year since pre-European arrival, celebrations dwindled in the 1940s. In 2000 celebrations were reinvigorated - and this exhibition seeks to re-emphasise the importance of the event in our cultural history, suggesting that even if something goes ignored, its significance does not change.

One part of the exhibition will focus on the changing night sky and the characteristics of the Matariki stars, which have been described by scientists as young, hot and blue; their relative youth in astronomical terms means that they are hotter and therefore burn a bluish colour. Viewers to the exhibition will be able to simulate the experience of lying back and watching the stars - something we hope will lead to contemplation of our place in the world and the importance of the new year.

Laura Marsh graduated is the 2012 Olivia Spencer Bower artist in residence and is currently based in Dunedin. Ed Lust has recently graduated from the Ilam School of Fine Arts with a Masters in Fine Arts and exhibited in the Centre of Contemporary Art's Back Window series. The exhibition is curated by Jamie Hanton, director of The Blue Oyster Art Project Space.