Exhibition: Metonymy

Renee Liang matches artists from different disciplines and selects from their works for display.

More than 112 artists, performers and writers will take part in this year’s Metonymy project. The successful artists, announced at the beginning of July, have been introduced to their creative ‘partners’ and are now developing their collaborations.

The idea of a ‘creative blind date’ has sparked the imagination of artists in Auckland and beyond. Organisers Christian Jensen, Rosetta Allan, James Allan, Meng Koach and Renee Liang are excited at the quality and range of artists who are participating, among them such recognisable names as artist John Eaden, poets David Eggelton and Janet Charman, writer Siobhan Harvey, musicians Otis Mace and Karen Hunter, and comedian Philip Patston.

The pairings are diverse; actors are paired with composers, poets with object artists, sculptors with spoken word performers. Metonymy aims to increase links between creative disciplines by matching visual artists (the definition is broad) to literary artists. Over the next two months the 56 pairs will combine their talents in what is hoped will be a creative explosion. “The idea is that artists from different disciplines will spark off each other, making work that neither would otherwise have made,” organiser Christian Jensen said.

See the full description of the project here.