A new 42-day art and poetry installation by Ōtepoti Dunedin-based writer and artist Kirstie McKinnon has been created in response to proposed gold mining in the Dunstan Ranges of Central Otago.
The project, titled What if the Gold Needs to Stay in the Ground?, is running in association with Dunedin Dream Brokerage.
The installation opened last Thursday at 125 George St (opposite Farmers) and will be open from 11am-2pm daily until April 2.
At the centre of the installation is a sculptural form evocative of a mountain, inviting viewers to consider what may be lost through extraction.
The installation will be visible from the street, even when closed.
The project brings together a range of visual artists and writers and includes art works by Claire Beynon, Liz Abbott, Nicholena Pine and Rachel McMillian.
Also featured is poetry and prose by Emma Neale, Michelle Elvy, Iona Winter, Carolyn McCurdie, David Kārena-Holmes, Megan Kitching, Kim Cope Tait, Lissa Moore and others.
In a statement, McKinnon said the project was inspired by an old settler story of gold dust caught in sheep fleeces.
"[It] made me imagine a landscape once alive with gold particles in the air, lost to us now and I wondered, what if the gold needs to stay in the ground?
"The installation is about what can be lost and what we still have the chance to protect."
An associated event, featuring poetry readings from the works featured in the installation, will be held this Sunday, from 1.30pm in the Dunningham Suite, fourth floor, Dunedin Public Library. All welcome. — Allied Media
