Four weeks to go for Paradox: Tauranga Street Art Festival

If you haven’t been to the Tauranga Art Gallery yet, be sure to make your way there in the next four weeks before the Paradox Inside exhibition closes on 15 June.

Paradox: Tauranga Street Art Festival has seen a record of over 35,000 visitors coming to the art gallery, with many more exploring the city’s walls and participating in a variety of events that were hosted around the city. And there is still more to come.

Deputy Mayor Kelvin Clout has been at many of the Paradox events and is chuffed by how Tauranga’s communities engage with street art.

“Seeing people of all ages, young and old, families, teens, grandparents and their grandkids – all demographics of Tauranga enjoying the festival and its event offerings is simply exciting,” said Mr Clout.

“The street art festival showcases what our urban city centre has on offer: world-class pieces of street art around town and an outstanding exhibition in our art gallery.”
 
Tauranga Art Gallery director Karl Chitham says he is thrilled by the interest in this exhibition.

“Lots of locals have come to the gallery, and people have traveled from all over the country and further afield to see the exhibition. It has been a fantastic start to our 10th anniversary year,” said Mr Chitham.

“This show and the whole of Paradox: Tauranga Street Art Festival has given an incredible boost to the energy in the CBD, which is great to see.”

Tauranga will come to life even more in the last four weeks of the festival, with some very special events for our community to participate in. The transformed walls can be explored at night to see the nocturnal creatures come to life. Guided night walks will be taking place in the last week of the festival, from 11 to 15 June, starting outside Tauranga Art Gallery on the corner of Wharf and Willow Streets. The art gallery will be open late on Thursday, June 15, to give people one last chance to see the show.

The winning pieces of the Paradox Youth Street Art Competition will be exhibited alongside works by Wongi, Lucy McLauchlan and Jacob Yikes from 29 May to 9 June in Toi Ohomai’s newly opened Te Ara o Mauao building. The building at the Windermere Campus houses Toi Ohomai’s creative students and provides a great gallery space for the public to enjoy.

For the Paradox painting days, five Powerco substations around the central city will be painted by local artists, just as Christchurch’s Wongi has recreated the substation at Spring Street. One of the substations will be reimagined by the overall winner of the Paradox Youth Street Art Competition.

Tauranga Art Gallery offers a number of workshops where visitors can print their own street art T-shirt on 3 June. Please go to the gallery’s website artgallery.org.nz/events to book your spot.

Paradox: Tauranga Street Art Festival’s exhibition at Tauranga Art Gallery is open daily from 10am to 4.30pm until Thursday, 15 June.

All event details are available on taurangastreetartfestival.nz