Auckland Art Gallery and visit to Devonport

Friday February 1 was another sunny, warm day in Auckland with a high of 27C.  While I was doing the last post, Alain went for his first run of the trip.  He ran 5km in nearby Grey Lynn Park.

Selfie on the run

We went out to get some food for our dinner and also bought some mosquito repellant.  There are lots of "mozzies" as the Kiwi's call them, and there are no screens on doors or windows.

We walked downtown and stopped at Allpress Roastery for a coffee and avocado toast.  Michael Allpress (great name) was inspired by the coffee scene in Seattle and starting selling good coffee from a cart near the present roastery in 1989.  Allpress is now in New Zealand, Australia, Japan and the UK.  We went to an Allpress café in London when we were last there.

Alain at Allpress

We walked by a shopping strip with a number of interesting food locales.

Food Truck Garage-- lots of folks inside

We had read about Best Ugly Bagels--- very busy place

Great menu at Best Ugly

 Sign outside Guerrilla Espresso

We walked to our destination of the Auckland Art Gallery (Toi O Tamaki).

There were a number of exhibits to see.  The ground floor largely featured New Zealand art.

The first rooms had many contemporary pieces- the section was called Seeing Moana Oceania: A New Wave.

The three pieces below were part of The Post-Plantation series by an Australian South Sea Islander artist.  It comprises portraits of three women from one family- mother, daughter and grand-daughter, each balancing a miniature colonial sailing ship.  The images examine the historical practice of "blackbirding"- the name given to the practice of kidnapping Pacific Islanders and using them as forced labour, in particular on sugar and cotton plantations in Australia between 1863 and 1904.

Jasmine Togo-Brisby (b. 1982) Closed Canoe Cargo 2018

Post-Plantation 2017

Bot Blo Stil 2017

Robin White (b. 1946) and Ruha Fifita (b. 1984) and the women of Haveluloto village, Tonga - My Father's House 2014

There was a room called Radical Beginnings that showcased the work of the first generation of fine Arts trained Māori artists who broke from tradition and created new carved and painted expressions about their Māori heritage.

Pieces from the 1950s

Arnold Manaaki Wilson (1928-2012). Te Tu a te Wahine 1974- relates to the transformation of women from girlhood to young adulthood.

Para Matchitt (b. 1933) The Three Carvers 1964

Kura Te Waru Rewiri (b. 1950) Mother and Her Children 1985

There was also a room with a small exhibit called: Collective Women: Feminist Art Archives from the 1970s to the 1990s.  Lots of photos and publications from this period.

We then went to the first floor where there were a number of paintings by a wonderful New Zealand artist Colin McCahon (1919-1987) and other contemporary New Zealand painters.

Colin McCahon - North Otago Landscape 4 1967

Colin McCahon -Rocks at French Bay 1959

Gretchen Albrecht (b. 1943) Aotearoa-Cloud 2002 - Aotearoa is the Māori name for the archipelago of New Zealand-- best known translations are "Long bright land" and " Land of the long white cloud".   One of my favourite pieces.

There was another large piece in the junction between the old part of the building and the new area-  Judy Millar's Rock Drop.  She was born in 1957 and lives in Auckland and Berlin.  The piece was commissioned by the Art Gallery in 2017.

In one hallway was a piece by Ralph Hotere (1931-2013) called Godwit/Kuaka (1977).  Hotere had been commissioned by the Auckland International Airport to create an 18-m long mural for installation in the Arrivals Hall.  It hung there from 1977 to 1996 when redevelopment of the terminal began. The godwit is a shore bird whose flight endurance is unparalleled.  There is a Māori chant stencilled in the middle of the piece.  The colours were magnificent.

We also liked a piece by New Zealand artist, Stephen Bambury (b. 1951) called Site Works: Second Series 2011.   It is a wall installation that pays tribute to Kazimir Malevich's 0, 10 exhibition in Petrograd in 1915-16.

Photo of Malevich's Exhibit

Bambury's piece

We then stopped at an interactive exhibit called: From Pillars to Posts: Project: Another Country.  It asked visitors to make a cardboard model of their dream home, noting that many people around the world do not have homes.

Visitors' models of homes

Busy making models

Adding to the piece

There was a wonderful piece hanging in the entrance way-- Limbo, 2015 by Judy Darragh, commissioned by the gallery.  The write-up noted that she constructs "kitchen science fiction."  "The metal foil used in the fabrication evokes a traditionally feminine sphere, and the early days of space discovery, chiefly the preserve of male explorers.  The title Limbo refers to not only the suspended state of the objects, but also to the way meaning changes depending on the position from which something is viewed."

Limbo 2015

Another view of Limbo

All the staff had Art-Toi (Māori for Art) T-shirts

There was a large exhibit called Groundswell: Avant-Garde Auckland 1971-79.  Lots of video, pictures of performance pieces and sculpture from that time.

Entrance to exhibit- hard to take pics of pieces

Nick Spill (b. 1950) The Rich/Poor Project 1978/2018. The gallery had a representation of the text and video components of Spill's piece from 1978.  This was the text.  The video had him apply plasters over his body.  He was sprayed with blood-red paint and then peeled off the tape.  

We then saw an exhibit called:  The Māori Portraits: Gottfried Lindaur's New Zealand- Te Hokinga Mai.  Gottfried Lindauer (1839-1926) was one of New Zealand's most prolific portrait painters of the late 19th and 20th centuries.  He arrived in NZ in 1874.  His portraits of distinguished Māori chiefs and leaders are amazing.

Te Hira Te Kawa 1874

Eruera Maihi Patuone 1874

Pare Watene 1878

Tamaki Waka Te Puhi 1878--- he was a warrior and survivor of 19th century warfare.  He experienced the loss of large portions of customary land taken before, during and after the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi.

After our visit to the Art Gallery, we decided to go back to Ortolana, where we had dinner the night before.  We had two delicious smoothies - mine was watermelon, chia seeds, apple juice and sage and Alain had a strawberry yogurt concoction.  We also shared an appy of fish bruschetta.

Apertivo at Ortolana

We then went and hung out on the beanbags a few minutes away.  Alain even had a short nap.

We took the bus back to the apartment for a fish dinner.

Saturday February 2 started a bit cloudy but by late morning it was sunny and hot.  High of 26C.  We took the bus to the Britomart square where there is a weekly farmers' market.  Lots of interesting vendors and food.

NZ nuts

Cherries--- in season now and very good

Scandibunz- amazing looking cinnamon and chocolate buns (we did not partake)

We did stop for an Allpress coffee at The Store in the square

Our destination for the day was the seaside village of Devonport, a short 10 minute ferry ride from Auckland.  The village was established in 1886.  Māori history goes back to the mid 14th century and the three mountains, Takarunga (Mount Victoria), Maungauika (North Head) and Takararo (Cambria Reserve), were originally used as Māori fortified villages.

Devonport was named after the Devonport naval base in England and is home to the Royal New Zealand Navy.  It used to be an island but is now joined to the mainland.

After arriving by ferry, we walked up the main street, Victoria Road, and decided to climb to the top of Mount Victoria, the tallest volcanic cone on the North Shore.  The Mount was once a Māori defence settlement and then a military position by the Europeans.  The mountain has a Signalman's House, that is now the home to the Michael King Writers' Centre- named after Michael King (1945-2004), one of NZ's foremost biographers and historians who died in a car crash.

In 1885, fears of the young colony being attacked by the Russian Pacific Fleet prompted the first coastal fortifications to be built on the mountain.  Guns were placed on the mountain and concrete bunkers were built.

View back at Auckland, climbing to Mount Victoria

Michael King Writers' Centre on Mount Victoria

Panoramic shot (not sure how it ended up in 2 pieces)

We then walked up to the bunker near the summit.  There was a sign on the door that said "The Bunker-Devonport Folk Music Club."  We noticed a man just leaving it.  It turned out that it has been the home of the Folk Club since the early 1970s.  The man asked if we wanted to go inside.  We, of course, said yes.  He told us the club has weekly concerts.  We had just missed the annual Auckland Folk Festival which takes place in late January.

The place was a bit mouldy, but it was a very cool space.  He told us that the bunker dates back to the 1880s and was built due to threat of a Russian invasion following the Crimean War.   

Outside "The Bunker"

Inside- old posters and a piano

Wood fireplace for the winter

The view from the summit-- looking at Rangitoto, the volcano

Alain at the summit

Disappearing gun

Renovations at the disappearing gun

After our visit to the top of Mount Victoria, we headed back into town for a bite to eat.

Victoria Road- The main street in town

Lovely Library building

Plaque on library wall commemorating 1893 historic women's vote in Devonport

After lunch, we walked along the water heading to Maungauika (North Head)- a historic reserve built on a volcanic cone.  There are tunnels, bunkers and gun emplacements dating back to the 1870s.

Typical house-lovely lacey detail on the veranda

We passed a memorial to the arrival of the Māori from Polynesia.

Bird on the Memorial

We got to North Head, Auckland's sentinel.  The extinct volcano was an important Māori fortified settlement.  Between 1870 and 1996, New Zealand army and navy personnel were stationed at North Head to protect Auckland and the Waitemata Harbour from an invasion that never came.

Alain at entrance to engine room

Engine room

Disappearing gun at North Head

Alain standing guard in Battery Observation Post- built in 1889-- protected by an "umbrella roof".   Observers would scan the Harbour for signs of enemy vessels.

Picture of what you may have seen in 1900- a group of garrison gunners having a break.  Fort Cautley at North Head was a base for New Zealand forces from 1870-1996.

Today, there was a wedding at the top of the mountain.

Bridesmaids

Bride being photographed

As we were heading down, a wedding car was heading up the mountain.

 We walked down to Cheltenham Beach from North Head.

View of the beach from North Head

Long sandy beach. 

Wading in the very warm water-- next outing, I must remember to bring my bathing suit.

We spent some time at the beach (in the shade as it was very hot out and the NZ sun is very strong). We then headed back to the Ferry.

Tree house

View from Ferry heading back to Auckland.  Mount Victoria, which we had earlier climbed.

We arrived back in Auckland at around 5:45 p.m.  We passed some bike racks, with helmets strewn on the ground for people to use - wow!

Helmets left for bikers to use

We decided to have another apertivo at Ortolana in Britomart.   It is such a pleasant spot to sit outside.  Lots of folks had the same idea.  Many were even having dinner-- it seems New Zealanders eat early.

I don't think I have mentioned this yet, but we are getting four more hours of sunshine than Toronto.  The sun rises here at around 6:30 a.m. and sets at 8:30 p.m.  Those extra hours of sun in February are fantastic.

Outside Ortolana

Blueberry, mint smoothie and lovely tomato, pickle, breadcrumb and basil happy

Relaxing in the sun

We walked a bit more and passed a screen being set up for an evening movie.

Neat bean bag seats.  They were going to be showing "Call Me By Your Name."  Afterwards, we found out that the Auckland Gay Pride Festival runs from Feb 1-17 and has also been the subject of controversy over banning police in the Pride Parade.

We passed a big Saturday Night Market near the Sky Tower.  Lots of fast food booths and young folks and families partaking.

We waited about 30 minutes for a bus (Auckland public transit is not great).  We decided to have dinner at Mekong Baby, a place recommended by a number of people.  We shared a papaya salad and a very good Green Fish Curry.

Papaya salad

Green fish curry and jasmine rice

We walked back to our studio apartment.  Another wonderful day in sunny Auckland.