October 2007

Exhibitions & Galleries

Semi Permanent Exhibitions

Poll Tax - Chinese Immigrants
24 August - 14 October

The first group of Chinese people arrived in New Zealand in 1866. These were miners from the goldfields of Australia, brought to Otago at the invitation of the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce. Although they were initially welcomed, racist attitudes soon surfaced, the tide of opinion turned, and as early as 1871 there were calls for restrictions on Chinese immigration.

By 1881 anti-Chinese feeling had reached such a level that the Chinese Immigrants Act was passed. This imposed a £10 poll tax on every Chinese immigrant. In 1896 the tax was raised to £100, roughly equivalent to ten years earnings.

The idea of a poll tax to restrict immigration was based on the 1852 California Actthat required all alien immigrants to pay an entry fee of five dollars. A poll tax was first used specifically against the Chinese in 1855 in Victoria, Australia, and the other Australian states soon followed suit. The tax was also introduced in Canada in 1885.

Not all New Zealanders approved of the Government's policy. Henry Scotland, a Legislative Councillor, described the tax as 'a barbarous measure' in 1881, and Chinese Consul Lin Shiyuan used the same phrase almost forty years later in 1920.

In 1934 payment of the tax was waived by the Minister of Customs and in 1944 the tax was officially repealed. Some 4,500 Chinese paid a total of approximately £308,080 between 1882 and 1934 under this xenophobic policy.
In February 2002 Prime Minister Helen Clark apologised to the Chinese people of New Zealand for the poll tax. This exhibition presents a history of anti-Chinese measures that were taken by the Government and is a contribution to the Government's formal apology.

Korowai - Nukutere Weavers
17 August - 7 October

E WHITU - Tawera Tahuri
7 September - 21 October

Our View - Helena Andersson, Deborah Clarke, Peggy Ericson
18 October - 25 November

     The LIVLIF Project - Lynne Lambert
       12 October - 25 November

LIVLIF is the culmination of a year long project I started in February 2004 to celebrate my 10th year as a breast cancer survivor. My aim and challenge was to collect a bra from as many breast cancer survivors and supporters as I could throughout New Zealand and create a new body of work. The new work would focus on the positive, life affirming representation of breast cancer survivors, paying tribute to their strength and courage.

Cancer Society Centres throughout the country enthusiastically collected bras on my behalf. Breast Cancer Network (NZ) supported me through their magazine ‘Upfront’, helping me reach the wider community. Articles were written in the New Zealand Woman’s Weekly and numerous local newspapers. I was interviewed for National Television and found myself on the six o’clock news. I set up a website and news of the project began to spread far and wide. Friends and acquaintances began collecting bras. The ball had started to roll and there was no stopping it.

Between February and June 2004 I travelled throughout New Zealand to speak to breast cancer support groups. I met many wonderful women, all with a very positive attitude and a desire to make the most of life. Those visits have been a very special part of the project.

The response to my invitation was amazing, with 1480 bra donations arriving from groups and individuals from all parts of the country, 668 being from survivors. Each bra was appreciated as a special and unique gift. I received many letters from survivors who have shared their stories and offered encouragement. I feel humbled by the trust placed in me to give voice to each woman’s experience.

The LIVLIF Project has taken me on a wonderful journey into the unknown and I have been privileged to participate for a short time, in a sense of comradeship born of shared experience. The project has generated a feeling of warmth and goodwill amongst those taking part and I look forward to sharing that sense of positive energy in the finished works.

    Elements of Landscape - Erika Holden
       26 October - 24 August

"My paintings explore the landscape, its underlying structures, and my emotional connections with it This is a journey of discovery. The compositional threads are created by the building up and scraping back of the painted surface. As water cuts a path through land, so water has moved through the paint finding the way of least resistance. The placement and the repeated abstract symbol of the pohutukawa tree provide the link between the elements of earth and water. The Zen-like quality of these paintings is the expression of a connection with the landscape that is always been part of my life."