Southward

Journeying with Heritage Expeditions to the windswept and wild environs of the Subantarctic Islands, each artist exhibiting in Southward has been inspired by their own adventure. Reflecting on moments during their epic voyage, every artwork is a personal expression of an artist’s experience; and they share these with us through sculptural pieces cast in bronze and glass, and carved from basalt; photographic images, etchings and etching plates; drawings in charcoal, conté and ink; and paintings in oil, acrylic and watercolour. Southward is brimming with beautiful depictions and stylised representations of harsh landscapes; dynamic seas; atmospheric weather; and resilient plant, bird, and wildlife.

Photo credit: Aaron Russ

New Zealand’s Subantarctic Islands are among the most pristine islands on the planet, set amongst some of the wildest weather and oceans on earth. In 1989, Russell Beck (Director, Southland Museum and Art Gallery) and myself (Conservator, Department of Conservation) took some of New Zealand’s leading contemporary artists to the Auckland Islands to create Art in the Subantarctic. From this came Bill Hammond’s birds series and impressive contributions by artists such as Laurence Aberhart, Janet de Wagt and Lloyd Godman. The key artistic inspiration being, here was one last remaining place on the planet where nature remained beyond the reach of humans - the birds were in charge; seeing off various attempts at colonisation, farming, whaling and regular shipwrecks.

Heritage Expeditions and the Russ family, who have been visiting the Subantarctic Islands every year since 1989, have continued with this vision; enabling a leading group of New Zealand artists to interpret these isolated and remote places where nature is in charge. These artists create for the benefit and appreciation of those who have never had a chance to experience these special places, or have a deep desire to finally see them for themselves with Heritage Expeditions.

The Southward exhibition is a debut collaboration between The Central Art Gallery and Heritage Expeditions. It builds on the inspirational 1989 Art in the Subantarctic exhibition, bringing a whole new cadre of contemporary New Zealand artists to interpret one of the last great wilderness environments left on earth. Landscapes of gnarled rata trees, giant mega-herbs, white-sand beaches, forests, and grasslands, all teeming with wildlife. A place, still today, where the birds remain firmly in charge as Bill Hammond found in 1989.

Lou Sanson

July 2026