The $7million three-storey extension — built on the back of the existing building — will be officially launched on Monday.
Waitaki District Council arts, culture and libraries manager Chloe Searle said the opening would include two events, a dawn ceremony led by Te Rūnanga o Moeraki and a Friends of The Forrester Gallery committee-led event in the evening.
‘‘The ceremony will include a whakawātea which will be followed by formal speeches from the Waitaki District Mayor [Mel Tavendale] and Friends of the Forrester committee members and this will be for those who have been major funders for gallery project and supporters,’’ she said.
Contributing artists were also invited to a part of the opening shows, she said.
Ms Searle said they expected about 100 people at each event.
‘‘There has been so many people that have supported and contributed to this project in some way and even though the building is larger than it was before it’s still not a huge space,’’ she said.
A festival, taking place on Friday, May 1 and Saturday, May 2, will be open to the community, with talks and music, alongside other activities. The event would ensure everyone involved got a chance to celebrate, Ms Searle said.
Upcoming exhibitions include Paemanu: Kārakaraka Toi (a revisited version of Paemanu: Awa Toi — shown at the Asia Pacific Triennial at QUAGOMA in Meanjin, Brisbane), The Sea That Carries Us: Threads of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, a collection of tapa and pacific textiles and Karanga i te Hoa — Phone a Friend, featuring 11 local artists living and working in the Waitaki.
‘‘Two permanent installations will also be revealed by the rūnanga.
‘‘The gallery’s collection will also include a gifted Tapa from the Oamaru Pacific Island Trust,’’ she said.
Along with over 2500 taoka in the permanent gallery collection, she said.
The Waitaki Tartan, created and made by local weavers Rod and Sue McLean, has already been raised in the gallery’s new atrium in preparation for the opening.
The extension was paid for with external funds granted to Waitaki District Council and the Friends of the Forrester Gallery from the Ministry for Culture and Heritage’s Regional Culture and Heritage Fund, Lottery Environment and Heritage, the John Westwood Christie Trust, the Alexander McMillan Trust, the Stout Trust, a bequest from Ivan Hunter Main and extensive community fundraising by the Friends of the Forrester.
After what was described as a ‘‘massive effort’’ over eight months, including the installation of a new lift, head contractor Naylor Love and sub-contractors handed the new building over earlier this year.
The gallery has been closed to be fitted out since March 1.
