“Thoughts are not born in one's mouth, they are born inside one's heart." - Nicanor Parra
This window display was a collaboration project between AUT University, Auckland Art Gallery and Smith & Caughey's. The design is inspired by the Auckland Art Gallery's exhibition Space to Dream: Recent Art from South America.
The exhibition, Space to Dream, reveals how South American artists see a social significance for their work and how as rebels and revolutionaries, dreamers and poets, they have challenged, embraced, explained or transformed their realities, lives, cultures and spaces from the 1960s to today. Looking back at past struggles and towards future hopes, the exhibition is a celebration of (r)evolution. The Chilean poet Nicanor Parra said, “Thoughts are not born in one’s mouth, they are born inside one’s heart.” In the heart of many contemporary South American artists is their culture: language, religion, crafts, histories of place and people. A culture worth fighting for; art to revolutionise.
Suspended in the middle of the window display, a heart overflows with thread. Rough in texture, in vivid warm colours, the thread spread like roots into the space. Five mannequins frame the spectacle, standing proud. The heart represents the centre of being—physically, emotionally and spiritually. It is a vital organ, symbolic of blood and sacrifice. Exploding, this heart is the expression of the personal, of pain and pride. The material construction is inspired by South America craft traditions, intertwined together like the different ethnicities of those exhibiting. The roots represent the grounding and growing of their identity.
This window display was live at Smith & Caughey's Queen Street in July 2016.
Design team
Stephanie Zwerink
Christie Higgins
Megan Au
Maria Rutherford
Hannah Sames
Photos: Megan Au
