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.