Fiennale - WELTEC Graduation Show

Toi Poneke Gallery, together with the Film Archive, will co-host WelTec's end of year exhibition, Fiennale, for graduating Bachelor of Visual Arts students from Wednesday, 4 November.

WelTec's Bachelor of Visual Arts Coordinator, Lorraine Rastorfer, says Fiennale (final) is an apt title for the exhibition.

"It's the final year for Bachelor of Visual Arts students, and they've embarked on an amazing creative journey since they started with us. It would be fair to say that personal life stories are the dominant theme of the exhibition."

The exhibition consists of sculptural installations exploring themes such as biculturalism, reproduction and ancestral roots. At the Film Archive there will be a sound installation that plays with ideas about relaxation as well as a short film about Samoan immigration and displacement.

"Installations include a table and chairs fixed to the wall and a tower will rise out of the floor mimicking city-scapes and comment on the stuff we throw away," says Lorraine.

"One work will be situated outside the gallery, suspended from the ceiling and spiralling down into the foyer at Toi P?neke. It's an installation of dreadlocked hair that has been intertwined to form a rope that falls into a papa hou - or treasure box carved in the style of a puzzle box. It will be outside the gallery due to tapu issues associated with hair. It is a complex piece exploring access to cultural roots."

Krysta Stevenson-Wright, Maria Hegedus, Mikarere Kaimona, Michelle Capenerhurst-Smith, Judith Vickerman, Emma Beard and Shar Young's work will be at Toi P?neke Gallery. Lesley Marshall and Tala Sua'ila's work will be located at the Film Archive.

Fiennale

opens at 5.00pm on Wednesday 4 November at the Film Archive and continues at Toi P?neke Gallery from 6.00pm.