The most interesting art museums and galleries, for me, are the ones where the building itself is a work of art that complements the pieces, think I.M. Pei’s East Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington or his Museum of Islamic Art in Doha. Or the Guggenheim Museums in New York and Bilbao designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and Frank Gehry. The Dunedin Public Art Gallery is not such a building when you see it from the outside but go in and its design adds to the collection. Artist Rebecca Baumann has placed colored glass panels in the front glass window and the skylight that play with and cast shadows using the stairways, balustrades and structural supports of the building and the artwork, “Cones” by Neil Dawson hanging from the ceilings.
The last time we were in Dunedin we took an excursion train to the gold fields. The weather was fine until we got back into town when the skies opened up. If I had gone to the Public Art Gallery that day, I would have enjoyed the collection but it would not have been as memorable. On this sunny day it was stunning.
The hallway to the gallery auditorium has large scale mural “Bloodline – The Return” by Xoë Hall, depicting Māori stories handed down for generations. Her giant murals appear all over Aoteaora (New Zealand). One other exhibit I found thought provoking was Prayers and Dedications. It has religious art from different perspectives including depictions of the Last Supper with Christ and the Disciples from different cultures and genders, including Tongan and a women’s last supper.
After coffee at the museum café, we walked through Dunedin to the Toitū Otago Settlers’ museum. It starts at the beginning, with an animation of the Big Bang. Then it takes us through the Māori settlement to the Europeans. It is always spooky to see stuff you used every day in the 20th century exhibits. We could easily spend a day here but what caught my interest was the note that the first broadcast radio station in New Zealand was in Dunedin. I will talk about that in my next post
After too short a time in the museum we walked to the classic old railway station. We had been there before but I wanted to see the stained glass windows in the sunlight. I also liked the tile mosaics.
After visiting the train station, we took the bus back to the ship. Dunedin’s countryside reminds me of Scotland. Except the weather is better.
Dunedin exports pine logs to China and Australia. We saw stacks of them at the harbor. On the but end of each log was a sticker with a QR code. I could not get close enough with my phone to see where it directed me.
During the sail out we passed the Taiaroa Head lighthouse and the Pukekura Royal Albatross Centre at Harrington Point, which protects an albatross rookery with some parents and chicks.
