869 days ago

Weird, wonderful and repurposed – Quixotic Aquatic opens soon at Taupō Museum

Darren Petry from Taupō District Council

Hot on the heels of the popular Taupō Museum exhibitions Re-Cycled, Dog Show, CATalogue and Re-Tweet comes the latest offering: Quixotic Aquatic.

Quixotic Aquatic, the fifth of Taupō Museum's reduce, re-use, recycle, re-create exhibitions invited participants to create artworks and sculptures of creatures, real or imagined, with an aquatic theme.

Arists and creators were encouraged to imagine an underwater world of fun, weird and wonderfulness using materials that would and should not be found in our oceans, lakes and rivers. The aim was to create something imaginative and fanciful while also reminding the viewer of the importance of keeping our waterways litter free.

The recycled, repurposed exhibitions have become an annual event in the calendar of a number of Taupō creatives who range from hobby and professional artists, children and first-timers inspired by previous exhibitions.

Taupō Museum exhibitions officer Kerence Stephen says the visitor feedback on the annual reduce, re-use, recycle and recreate exhibitions is always positive, with many of the artworks creating laughter and fascination.

Quixotic Aquatic follows Re-Cycle (2017), an exhibition of artworks created using bicycle parts, held to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Lake Taupō Cycle Challenge. In 2018 came Dog Show, featuring dogs created from re-cycled materials along with a gallery set up especially for dogs, with low-hung images of dogs’ favourite things likes sticks and bones, and a photo booth for dogs. About 70 dogs visited the exhibition and Dog Show won the Museums Aotearoa Service IQ 2018 award for the most innovative public programme.

CATalogue followed in 2019 with a gallery full of cat sculptures created by the local community and in 2020, flying in on the tail of the Covid lockdown, came ReTweet where birds of recycled feathers flocked together.

The Quixotic Aquatic exhibition is being held in the museum’s main gallery from December 11 to February 7. Entry is free for Taupō District residents with proof of address and the museum is open 10am-4.30pm daily.

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More messages from your neighbours
1 day ago

Get painting with Resene plant-based paints!

Resene

Plant-based paints are made just like normal paint but everything in the tin comes from plants and minerals.

Plus they’re Eco Choice approved with low odour and easy water clean-up, so you can paint or stain your place with ease.

Available from Resene ColorShops.
Find out more

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1 day ago

You can help grow the Waikato Community Rugby Fund

The Team from Momentum Waikato

Waikato Rugby celebrated 100 years of service to the community in 2021, but due to the pandemic the long-planned celebrations were not held until late 2022.

A highlight was a black-tie event at GloBox Arena at Claudelands where over 300 people enjoyed a wonderful night of reminiscence, remembrance, reconnection and reflection on what our national game means to the Waikato.

Many people put a lot of work into making the evening a massive success by all sorts of measures. One was fundraising $21,000 for the good of the game through auctions and donations, which has recently been transferred to the Waikato Community Rugby Fund at Momentum Waikato.

The Fund grows in perpetuity, with distributed returns only used for the benefit of the amateur community rugby, forever.

Donations to the Waikato Community Rugby Fund are always most welcome, to find out more and donate click the button below.

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1 day ago

Were you at the V8s parade?

Libby Totton Reporter from Taupō Times

The excitement was palpable on the streets of Taupō as thousands turned out to welcome the V8 Supercars roadshow to town.

In a first for Supercars, and for Taupō, all 24 Supercars drivers and their cars drove 8.5km from Taupō International Motorsport Park to Te Ātea on Taupō’s lakefront for a meet and greet with fans on the eve of the inaugural ITM Taupō Super400.

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