Alex Monteith

Over the summer of 2018-19 Alex Monteith completed a residency in Ōtepoti Dunedin, as part of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery New Zealand Visiting Artist Programme.  During this time, she continued to expand upon Coastal Flows / Coastal Incursions, a multi-disciplinary research project that focusses on a collection of material removed from tauwhare/shelters and other sites in the wider coastal region of Te Mimi o Tū Te Rakiwhānoa (Fiordland coastal and marine area) between 1968-1972 during excavations by archaeologist Peter Coutts. Material related to these excavations are now held in the collections of Southland Museum and Art Gallery Niho o Te Taniwha, Otago Museum and Hocken Collections Uare Taoka o Hākena.  

In the 2019 iteration of Coastal Flows / Coastal Incursions Monteith uses her contemporary practice to activate multi-disciplinary research, collaborating with mana whenua, archaeologists, artists, and museums and galleries.  The exhibition presents Monteith’s new video works, alongside a real-time process of inventorying collections of midden material loaned from Southland and Otago museums, performed by collaborators Vicki Lenihan (Waitaha, Kāti Mamoe, Kāi Tahu), Koreana Wesley-Evans (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Mamoe, Waitaha) and Baylee Smith (Ngāti Maniapoto). This performance will take place in the gallery during opening hours on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays over the duration of the exhibition.  Other contributors, including Kaihaukai Collective, use their creative responses to re-establish relationships between these museum collections and the different communities who share interests in them. 

This exhibition is developed through the Dunedin Public Art Gallery Visiting Artist Programme, supported by Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa, project partner, Dunedin School of Art and presented with collaborative support from Southland Museum and Art Gallery Niho o Te Taniwha and Iwi Liaison Komiti comprised of Awarua Rūnanga, Te Rūnanga o Hokonui, Ōraka Aparima Rūnaka and Waihōpai Rūnaka; Otago Museum; Hocken Collections Uare Taoka o Hākena; Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland. Lastly, the project draws together creative contributions from Brian Allingham, Atholl Anderson (Ngāi Tahu), Gerard O’Regan (Ngāi Tahu), Lori Bowers, Jacinta Beckwith (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu), Vicki Lenihan (Waitaha, Kāti Mamoe, Ngāi Tahu), Koreana Wesley-Evans (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Mamoe, Waitaha), Baylee Smith (Ngati Maniapoto) and Kaihaukai Collective.