London artists visit Auckland

Heading the six new exhibitions opening this weekend at Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts is a suite of film works by London-based duo Pil and Galia Kollectiv.

Pil and Galia Kollectiv visit New Zealand’s shores for the first time to produce an exhibition which blends such diverse disciplines as performance and film-based art.

Director James McCarthy states: "It's a rare treat to view cutting edge contemporary performance work of this calibre – it's like meeting the new members of dada."

The Kollectiv’s explore the utopian ideals of the early twentieth century avant guard. As Te Tuhi Curator Stephen Cleland states: "Their artworks reimagine performances and events from these early periods as they ought to have been – radically political and at times hilariously absurd."

Pil Kollectiv adds: "We draw on a variety of sources such as the radical art of the dada and Bauhaus movements. Our films and performances attempt to read these movements backwards through punk and new wave music in an attempt to rescue the humour and critical vitality often lost in academic writing."

The Kollectiv’s have collaborated on diverse art projects since the 1990s. Prior to moving to London to pursue study at the prestigious Goldsmiths College in September 2000, the Israeli couple changed their last names to Kollectiv, a name that blends the spelling of a number of European languages.

"People often ask us when we decided to collaborate together," states Galia Kollectiv, "but for us there has never been a time when we wanted to work independently. Be it writing, art making, or choreographing theatre productions, our work is always a shared activity."

Pil Kollectiv adds: "Our collaboration extends to a group of London artists who feature in both our films and live performances."

The Kollectiv’s have recently exhibited throughout Europe, having flown to Auckland directly from a performance at the Kunsthall Oslo, which will be represented at the Liverpool Biennial on their return to the United Kingdom early next week.