Weird, wonderful and repurposed – Quixotic Aquatic opens soon at Taupō Museum
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.
Worst Xmas ever?
There's a a lot of planning that goes into Christmas day and sometimes things just don't go to plan. But it can be a good thing - a family mishap or hilarious memory that you can laugh about in Christmases to come.
Whether you burnt the dinner or were stranded at an airport...
Share your Christmas mishaps below!
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️