Toi Whakatipu Student Excellence Award Presentation in Contemporary Art Studio

Unitec dance students open Toi Whakatipu : Graduate Showcase 2024

Toi Whakatipu: Graduate Showcase allows ākonga to share their projects in our gallery and studio spaces to network with industry in celebration of their achievements.

“Our focus here at Unitec Design and Contemporary Art programmes goes beyond teaching our tauira technical skills or helping shape their preparedness for industry.” says Design and Contemporary Art Academic Programme Manager Peeti Lamwilai.

“It’s about providing a space where individual and collective stories can be creatively harnessed, allowing our tauira to explore, express, and amplify their unique voices through art and design.”

For Bachelor of Creative Enterprise student Carla Gwyneth Davies, her story began on long walks past our Mt Albert campus during COVID lockdown.

Ms Davies, who has worked as a fabric technician and for the Department of Conservation trapping pests, would return home to tell her son that studying art was something she should have done.

“He said, ‘why don’t you do it now mum?’,” Carla said on the opening night of Toi Whakatipu after winning Highly Commended for her piece, Connections.

“It (the work) started with a question. How do I feel about the word ‘feminism’? Each one of these pieces (of fabric). It’s all the women from my life. This is my mum. It’s a reimagined quilt. That language women use to tell history. The home and the hearth. The elegance. Wabi-sabi, a Japanese word for things that are old, but still have value because they have more depth.”

The work was recently displayed as part of the finalists’ exhibition for the Eden Arts Schools Awards.

Bachelor of Creative Enterprise Carla Gwyneth Davies with her highly commended work, Connections

“Our modest class sizes create opportunities for our tauira and kaiako to engage in teaching and learning activities that transcend academic achievements,” says Mr Lamwilai. “It creates space for our creatives in the classroom to have real dialogue about what their creative practices mean to them — not just as students of art and design, but as individuals.”

Mara Szekely, who won Board’s Choice recognition at the Eden Arts Schools Awards, credits Unitec teaching staff with fostering a supportive environment which encourages students to push themselves and take creative risks.

For the Bachelor of Design and Contemporary Art student, that has meant experimenting with large colourful abstract works, stencils and mark making techniques.

“I left high school when I was 15 and did Level 3 and 4 certificates, then came straight into the Bachelor’s programme,” Mara says.

“Being in this space with like-minded people was really helpful to my development. It’s amazing here. I am just so happy I came to Unitec.”

Hana Mengist and Thiri May Maung Maung were also Highly Commended for their work in the Graduate Showcase exhibition.

Hana’s design project Fault Found: Archiving and Natural Disasters highlights the visual languages that make up the intersection between news and geographical phenomena.

While May’s Food Process: A Design Project: A Commonplace for Food explores the idea of food as a medium, material and text.

Bachelor of Design and Contemporary Art ākonga Mara Szekely with her work from the Graduate Showcase exhibition

The Architecture and Design and Contemporary Arts showcases continue until Sunday, 24 November, while there is a Performing and Screen Arts Showcase on Wednesday, 4 December at the Art House, B108. Contact Peter Rees for tickets.