Paradise of Imagination

The art, stories, and histories of the Middle Ages conjure imaginative medieval realms where fantasy fuses with memory and experience. This period covers approximately 1000 years from the decline of the Western Roman Empire in the sixth century to the early years of the sixteenth century (c.500-c.1500). Paradise of Imagination: Medieval  & Modern Encounters invites us to consider the vibrant cultural legacies of the Middle Ages expressed and shaped through artists’ hands.

Such legacies draw upon illuminated manuscript traditions, including books of hours and bestiaries, where gold leaf embellishes images of creatures, benign and sinister. In this exhibition, stained glass designs and architectural forms and references capture allegorical themes, the intricacies of heritage, and rituals, secular and sacred. These elements can be found in work by artists as diverse and unique as Kushana Bush, Edward Burne-Jones, and Lonnie Hutchinson (Ngāti kuri ki Ngāi Tahu, Samoan, Celtic).

In Marilynn Webb’s (Ngāpuhi, Te Roroa, Ngāti Kahu) Protection Works and George Dunlop Leslie’s In the Wizard’s Garden, we are invited to examine shades of magic and botany. These combine to reveal anxieties about good and evil, gender roles, the natural environment, and the afterlife. Similarly, tales about courtly love and quests signal social and spiritual preoccupations in Victorian paintings such as Glasgerion, while medieval maps showcase both geographical knowledge and fantastical creations, strikingly visualised in Roger Mortimer’s tapestry.

Throughout this exhibition, earthly and celestial power are entwined in the image of the garden – a symbol of paradise. Far from being entombed in history, through the visionary creativity of artists and storytellers, the Middle Ages retain an afterglow that illuminates both past and present.

Paradise of Imagination: Medieval & Modern Encounters showcases the richness of historical and contemporary collections in Ōtepoti and across Aotearoa, featuring works from Dunedin Public Art Gallery, the Reed Collection at Dunedin Public Library, Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka University of Otago Special Collections, Hocken Collections Uare Taoka o Hākena, Milford Galleries, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, and private loans. The exhibition is curated by Dr Anya Samarasinghe, Dunedin Public Art Gallery Ihupukutaka Kairauhī Curatorial Intern 2025, with support from Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa.

Paradise of Imagination: Medieval & Modern Encounters is curated by Anya Samarasinghe, Dunedin Public Art Gallery Ihupukutaka Kairaupī Curatorial Intern 2025, with support from Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa.