A series of limited edition prints originally created for the National Whale Centre that was initially established in Picton. The project is now being relocated to create a truly national centre. A few of the screenprints are still available, including a boxed set.
The artists participating in this print series were Dick Frizzell, Gregory O’Brien, John Walsh, John Pule, and Michel Tuffery .
One for the Whales
Silk screen print, edition of 75, 2014
Frizzell’s print One for the Whales continued his collaboration with NZ poet Sam Hunt, this time an interpretation of Hunt’s 1970s poem The Harpooner’s Song, also known as Too Late Today to Leave, about the reality of life as a whaler in Picton and Cook Strait in the mid 20th Century. It was a relevant nod to the history of Picton where the National Whale Centre project began, to educate and promote the future of the whales which migrate past the region each year (with the whalers now counting them for the Dept of Conservation).
Tangaroa Sanctuary, Mana Island
In Michel Tuffery’s expression of sanctuary, instead of harpoons, the voyages in the vaka cast giant lei – protection – to a whale in a window of light amidst darkening clouds.
None but Ourselves
The lithograph by John Pule, one of our most prominent Pacific-NZ artists, None but Ourselves was released at the end of March 2014.
He Whanaunga
John Walsh worked in intaglio etching and aquatint for the first time to create He Whanaunga, the most expressive work in the series. The whale rises – or broaches – with water seemingly streaming off its back. An image of hope for the future of the whales.
Raoul Island Whale Survey with Shipping Containers, Astrolabe Reef
O’Brien created Raoul Island Whale Survey with Shipping Containers, Astrolabe Reef, a heavily ironic reference to the danger posed by the wreck of the Rena near Tauranga, to the whales migrating through New Zealand waters. The containers underwater are stacked perilously on a slight lean, as the whales rise and fall through the waters, oblivious to the danger.