The duo Arthur Buerms and Eugenie Coche, previously of Amsterdam, reached Dunedin this week in their art gallery truck, having spent the half the year promoting New Zealand art and meeting a stream of artists.
And Mr Buerms and Ms Coche yesterday wasted no time in helping another artistic event happen — this time an international travelling video art show.
The couple were driving "an art gallery on wheels going around New Zealand and organising pop-up exhibitions and public interventions".
The pair’s first exhibition was in Auckland, and they later spent the main coronavirus lockdown in Mapua, near Nelson, quickly realising they were safer in New Zealand rather than trying to return to Europe.
The video exhibition "Time is Love", curated by Kisito Assangni, has travelled the world for 12 years, having visited 38 countries, and was screened for the first time in New Zealand at the Blue Oyster Art Project Space last night.
The show, featuring the work of 17 artists, has been seen at the Venice Biennale, and will run in Dunedin until July 18.
The couple’s unconventional travelling gallery has been supported by two successful crowdfunding initiatives.
Ms Coche said she had already "learned so much" in what had become "a very good year, very out of the box".
"I’d never lived in a van," Mr Buerms added.
"It’s a different way of life."
