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The ODT asks a few questions of ArtExplore co-director Caril Cowan.

 

CARIL COWAN
ArtExplore co-director

Can you describe your two festival performances of Walk & Talk An Art Precinct.

It’s a guided gallery walk. The two performances are walks of two different sets of Dunedin art galleries. 

Q  Where are you from?

Auckland.

I started ArtExplore  with my partner Brian Latimer about six years ago because we are art lovers of old.

We started in Wellington at the beginning of last year and we started in Dunedin on Saturday. 

Q  How did the inaugural walk go?

Dunedin art consultant Jennifer Hopkinson guided a group of 22 people — we normally limit it to a group of 15 so it was a bit unwieldy.

We visited four galleries in Dowling St and Robert Piggott Art Gallery in Jetty St. 

Q  What happened at the galleries?

The group were told about  about the style of art represented and the guide conveyed her excitement for the art to make it easier for people to see it in greater depth. 

Q  What galleries are involved in the next festival walk on Saturday?

Arts reviewer James Dignan will take the group from Doesburg Gallery in Castle St to visit five galleries. 

Q  Is the tour suitable for someone with a limited understanding of art?

Absolutely, you don’t need to know anything about art. 

Q  Do you plan to carry on the walks in Dunedin after the festival finishes?

We have another walk planned for November 5 and if there is enough interest we will make it fortnightly.

We are also looking at starting guided van tours from Dunedin to explore art in the hinterland. 

Q  How far into the hinterland?

The plans are very tentative but Gore and Central Otago are worth going to. 

Q  Do you have any links to Dunedin?

I went to school in Northeast Valley for a couple of years in the 1950s and many of my good friends live here.

● Walk & Talk An Art Precinct starts at Inge Doesburg Gallery and Studio at 11am on Saturday. 

Comments

Organised cultural walks always evoke the much missed columnist Anna Chinn, who brought a Proustian troupe to do 'Swan's Way', or Recherche de temps perdu, on George Street.

 

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