NewsDecember 2015

Fifty-seven undergraduate and twenty-one postgraduate students were awarded Bachelor of Fine Art degrees, Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters Degrees in a graduation ceremony held at the Auckland Town Hall on Friday, November 27.

Whaea Hera Pierce welcomed graduates, faculty, family and friends with a Karanga and Procession. The Opening Address was made by Dean of College Tommy Honey, which was followed by a Welcome and Introduction of Guest Speaker by Whitecliffe President Michéle Whitecliffe. The guest speaker for the graduation ceremony was Dr. Miles Gregory. He is an Auckland-born, British-trained Shakespeare scholar and Executive Director of Pop-Up Globe in Auckland, the world’s first reconstruction of Shakespeare’s second Globe Theatre coming to Auckland in March 2016.

The following undergraduate department prizes were awarded for excellence:

BFA Fine Arts PrizeChristina Pataialii

BFA Graphic Design PrizeCaroline Konarkowska

BFA Photo Media PrizeRainer Weston

BFA Fashion Design Prize Maggie Hewitt

In recognition of outstanding achievement, the Master of Arts in Arts Therapy (Clinical) Prize was awarded to Patricia Hay.

Whitecliffe congratulates all of the graduates.

2015 Whitecliffe Graduates

l-r: Kourtney Patumaka, Tegan Weber, Jessica Greetham, Maggie Hewitt, Lilja Viggosdottir

WHITECLIFFE NEWS2 December 2015

2015 Whitecliffe End of YearExhibitions and Fashion Show

images l-r: Christina Pataialii, Maggie Hewitt, Rainer Weston, Caroline Konarkowska

Whitecliffe recently held its annual End-of-Year Student Exhibitions from 9 November - 26 November, celebrating student artworks and designs from throughout the year. Over three hundred Foundation, Year One, Two, Three and Four students exhibited, bringing hundreds of visitors to our gallery and studio spaces. Some Whitecliffe students were awarded prizes for their achievements during the year:

Studio Art Supplies Top Year 4 Fine Arts StudentsChristina Pataialii, Tanya Martusheff, Giulio Laura, Claudia Dunes, Josh Hamilton

Adobe Award for Outstanding Graphic Design Student (Year 4) Abbey Gould

Seafarers Club Award for Outstanding Graphic Design Student (Year 4)Jason Richards

Adobe Award for Outstanding Graphic Design Student (Year 3)Harrison Sarsfield

Adobe Award for Outstanding Graphic Design Student (Year 3)Kimberley Leece

Remote Photobooks Award for Excellence in Photobook-making (Year 4)Mia Rochelle Tong

Gordon Harris Fine Arts Prize (Year 4)Christina Pataialii

ANZ Graphic Design Prize (Year 4)Caroline Konarkowska

Canon Photo Media Prize (Year 4)Rainer Weston

Apparel HR and Apparel Magazine Award for Outstanding Sustainable Design Maggie Hewitt

2015 Whitecliffe Fashion Show

The Whitecliffe Fashion Show was held on 21 November at the Viaduct Events Centre with forty Fashion Design students from Years Two, Three and Four debuting their runway collections. Actor Jennifer Ward-Lealand compered the event, which hosted nearly 1,000 industry professionals, media, sponsors, supportive family members and friends. Head of Department Fashion Design Belinda Watt commented on the successful event, “The Fashion Faculty are very proud of the breadth of work explored and the high standard of achievements show cased at this year’s Whitecliffe Fashion Show. The range of design aesthetics presented on the runway represents the students’ thoughtful research and evaluation as they extend their ideas, expand their vision and develop their own design signature. The Whitecliffe Fashion Design programme has a growing commitment to sustainable design solutions, with many students excited to embrace sustainability, ask questions and address social, ethical and environmental issues in the textile and garment supply chain.”

Winners of Sponsor Awards at the Fashion Show:

Charles Parsons Award for Design Excellence (Year 2)Sophie Scally

Amber Whitecliffe Award for Professional Practices (Year 2)Lucy Shao

Silk Road Award for Design Excellence (Year 2)Yafeng Tang

Hawes & Freer and Silk Road Awards for Range Development (Year 3)Grace Pearson

Sentosa Award for Design Excellence (Year 3)Tannaz Barkhodari

Sentosa Award for Sustainable Practices (Year 3)Maral Salmanpour

Leatherworks Award for Creative Use of Leather (Year 3)Olivia Cashmore

Apparel HR and Purfex Award for Outstanding Innovative Design (Year 4)KingKang Chen

Centrepoint Award for Professional Practices (Year 4)Lilja Viggosdottir

Frost Award for Textile Experimentation and Development (Year 4)Sophia Butler

Purtech Award for Honouring Artisanal Craft (Year 4)Zuzana Kristofova

Sewingtime Award for Conceptual Resolution (Year 4)Benjamin Farry

Whitecliffe would like to congratulate the students on their achievements and thank all sponsors involved.

WHITECLIFFE NEWS3 December 2015

2015 Graduate Wins ITSD Merit Award

Recent Graphic Design Graduate Caroline Konarkowska won a Merit Award at the annual International Society of Typographic Designers (ISTD) in the Student Assessments category. She created a typographic publication, which interpreted a seminal theatre text, The Street Scene by Berthold Brecht.

The annual ISTD Student Assessments “offers students opportunities to engage with challenging design briefs that can synthesise their learning and express their typographic achievement” and that “success in our assessment reflects considerable achievement”.

The ISTD assessors commented on Caroline’s work, “an inventive interpretation of classic theatre text, where the letterforms take on the role of actors throughout the pages. The flow was engaging and the drama escalates as we progress though the book just as a theatre performance would. The inclusion of the perforated posters at the end act as a nod to theatre tradition but summarise the key concepts of the text very well.” Judges went on to say that Caroline’s workbook was thorough and that overall, the entry displayed “a truly inventive and original use of type-only design. An enjoyable and engaging experience to read it.”

Whitecliffe Senior Lecturer Caroline Powley commented on the win stating “this is the first time we have entered design work into this particular competition and it’s an amazing achievement for Caroline to receive a Merit Award for her publication. Caroline created a publication that used formal elements and structures to communicate complex conceptual ideas.

Caroline Konarkowska said of her design submission to ISTD; “The Typographer’s Stage is a new interpretation of the seminal text, The Street Scene, written by Bertolt Brecht in 1950. Written as a philosophy for modern theatre, The Street Scene discusses both the actors’ delivery and audience’s interpretation of theatrical plays. Brecht’s work encouraged the audience’s intellectual engagement with the content. Over half a century later, Brecht’s analogy bears close resemblance to the relationship between contemporary audience and typographer. The Typographer’s Stage is a publication and poster design set which celebrate the mechanics of typographic production. Through the use of the page as a metaphor for the theatrical stage, the viewer is guided through a contemporary take on the historical script—The Street Scene. Just as The Street Scene

exemplified: with exposure to the layers of production, a space is created for individual interpretation, comprehension of the demonstrator’s decisions and an understanding of the structural foundations of the performance.”

Being acknowledged by a panel of highly regarded assessors from both industry and educational backgrounds, Caroline Konarkowska says felt “like a huge achievement. Having the opportunity to take part in the ISTD assessment scheme meant that my work was assessed outside of the college. Whitecliffe Senior Lecturer Caroline Powley provided excellent one-on-one training for the project and put me forward for the ISTD assessment scheme. The training and assessment process strengthened both my typographic skills and also opened up my considerations of audience and context, as the project had to hold significance on an international level. The award grants me entry into the International Society of Typographic Designers, comprised of leading educators, industry members and graduates like myself from all over the world.”

We congratulate Caroline on her achievement!

WHITECLIFFE NEWS4 December 2015

Whitecliffe Announces Postgraduate Diploma of Arts Therapy in ChristchurchIn 2016, Whitecliffe is offering the Postgraduate Diploma (PG Dip) in Arts Therapy in Christchurch for the first time. This PG Dip is the first year of the newly re-structured three-year Postgraduate Master of Arts - Arts Therapy degree. The Christchurch Weekend Press recently reported, "Mental illness rates are soaring as Canterbury enters the 'most vulnerable point' in its post-earthquake recovery" (November 7-8, 2015). In the past three years, a 39% increase in adults and 60% increase in children and youth seeking mental health help has placed great strain on mental health services. And these rates are predicted to continue at the same levels or more likely increase over the coming years. Alongside this increase in the need for mental health support, there has been an increase in interest in the creative arts therapies as effective ways to address the ongoing trauma and stress of quake recovery. In response, Whitecliffe will be providing the initial year of our degree in Christchurch, making arts therapy study more accessible to both Cantabrians and others living in the South Island. Successful graduates of the PG Dip can then apply to do the two-year Master of Arts – Art Therapy programme, which is run in block intensives in Auckland. We already have a cohort of 14 South Island and Wellingtonian students enrolled for the 2016 programme, which will be run by Whitecliffe graduates Deborah Green and Bettina Evans, with additional guest lecturers from Auckland, Wellington, Gisborne and Christchurch.

Graphic Design Graduate Jeannie Burnside has won First Place in The Dieline's Concepts We Wish Were Real (CWWWR) Awards 2015 for her packaging project MELD.

Recent Fashion Design Graduate Benjamin Farry's sequin pants are featured in the 16 Dec. issue of Viva NZ Herald. (photo: Guy Coombes)

The Whitecliffe MFA Visiting Critic Anthony Byrt is part of the Artists Alliance Mentoring Programme 2016. Applications are due January 15th.

BFA Fashion Design Graduate Amber Whitecliffe is featured in Tearaway Magazine with "5 tips for Aspiring Fashion Designers."

MFA Graduate Lisa Chandler is exhibiting her China Dream series at the Millennium Public Art Gallery in Blenheim from 18 Dec - 31 January 2016.

WHITECLIFFE NEWS December 2015

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T: +64 9 309 5970E: newsletter@whitecliffe.ac.nzwww.whitecliffe.ac.nz

© 2015 Whitecliffe College of Arts & Design

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Associate HOD Fine Arts Matt Ellwood is included in Summer a group exhibition from 25 Nov - 19 Dec at Melanie Roger Gallery.

Photographs from the Whitecliffe Fashion Show 2015 was featured on New Zealand Herald's SPY.

MFA Graduate Margaret Aull is included in a research project / exhibition "The Veiqia Project" inspired by the practice of Fijian female tattooing. The exhibition curated by Ema Tavola & Tarisi Sorovi-Vunidilo opens in March 2016 at St Paul St Gallery to coincide with the Pacific Arts Assoc. XII International Symposium.

Whitecliffe Fashion Design Graduate Maggie Hewitt's design featured on the cover of the Dec/Jan 2016 issue of NZ Apparel Magazine.

Whitecliffe MFA Graduate Denise Batchelor's video Stranded (2015) will be featured at Mason's Screen in Wellington. Mason's Screen is a new outdoor 24-hour public screen for artists video run by Wellington City Council and programmed by Circuit Artist Film and Video Aotearoa New Zealand.

Events &Exhibitions