Centre of Contemporary Art (CoCA, formerly the Canterbury Society of Arts) is a curated

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lon ...

in the central city of

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. The gallery is administered by the Canterbury Society of Arts (CSA) Charitable Trust. Quarterly seasonal exhibitions are overseen by a curatorium of experts from New Zealand and overseas, headed by new Director and Principal Curator Paula Orrell. The gallery is focused on curating and commissioning artwork, rather than simply acquiring collections.

History

The Canterbury Society of Arts

CoCA began in 1880 as the Canterbury Society of Arts (CSA). It was the first organisation to exhibit and collect artworks in Christchurch, and quickly became the most influential and dynamic arts society in New Zealand. Its first exhibition was held in 1881 at

Christchurch Boys' High School , motto_translation = I Seek Higher Things , type = State school, Day and Boarding school , gender = Boys , song = The School We Magnify , colours = Blue and Black , established = , address = 71 Straven R ...

, in what later became part of the

Christchurch Arts Centre The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora is a hub for arts, culture, education, creativity and entrepreneurship in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is located in the Gothic Revival former Canterbury College (now the University of Canterbury), Christchur ...

. The CSA played an essential role in New Zealand's burgeoning arts scene. In the 1930s it exhibited the works of “

The Group The Group may refer to: Film and television * ''The Group'' (Australian TV series), 1971 situation comedy produced by Cash Harmon Television for ATN7 * ''The Group'' (Canadian TV series), 1968–70 music variety on CBC Television * ''The Group ...

”; a collection of artists including the eminent New Zealand painters

Rita Angus Rita Angus (12 March 1908 – 25 January 1970), a New Zealand painter, has a reputation - along with Colin McCahon and Toss Woollaston - as one of the leading figures in twentieth-century New Zealand art. She worked primarily in oil and water c ...

Evelyn Page Evelyn Margaret Page (née Polson, 23 April 1899 – 28 May 1988) was a New Zealand artist. Her career covered seven decades, and her main areas of interest were landscapes, portraits, still lifes and nudes. Early life Page was born in C ...

and

Doris Lusk Doris More Lusk (5 May 1916 – 14 April 1990) was a New Zealand painter, potter, art teacher, and university lecturer. In 1990 she was posthumously awarded the Governor General Art Award in recognition of her artistic career and contributions. ...

. The CSA found its first permanent home in 1890 in a building especially designed for it by society member and acclaimed New Zealand architect

Benjamin Mountfort Benjamin Woolfield Mountfort (13 March 1825 – 15 March 1898) was an English emigrant to New Zealand, where he became one of the country's most prominent 19th-century architects. He was instrumental in shaping the city of Christchurch's unique ...

(1825–1898) – the

Canterbury Society of Arts Gallery The Canterbury Society of Arts Gallery, was an art gallery in the Christchurch Central City, central city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It consisted of two buildings built in the late 1800s. The buildings were demolished in 2012 due to damage fro ...

. This was a prime example of the function and form of

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

in New Zealand architecture. A second neighbouring gallery, in the more conservatively favoured

Venetian Gothic Venetian Gothic is the particular form of Italian Gothic architecture typical of Venice, originating in local building requirements, with some influence from Byzantine architecture, and some from Islamic architecture, reflecting Venice's trading ...

style, was added in 1894 by Richard Dacre Harman. Both buildings were on the

New Zealand Historic Places Trust Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust) ( mi, Pouhere Taonga) is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocate ...

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...

Gloucester Street and CoCA

In 1968 the CSA moved to larger premises at 66 Gloucester Street. The purpose-built gallery is a major example of the 'Christchurch Style' of modernist buildings designed by Canterbury's avant-garde architects in the post-war period. The building was honoured by two

New Zealand Institute of Architects Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA) is a membership-based professional organisation that represents 90 per cent of all registered architects in New Zealand, and promotes architecture that enhances the New Zealand livi ...

awards. In the years following this move, the gallery thrived and was renowned for housing some of the most progressive and innovative exhibitions in New Zealand's history of art. The CSA helped launch the careers of local New Zealand artists including

Neil Dawson Francis Neil Dawson (born 6 November 1948) is a New Zealand sculptor, best known for his large-scale civic pieces crafted from aluminium and stainless steel, often made using a lattice of natural forms which between them form a geometric whole. ...

, Bruce Edgar, Ross Marwick, and

Boyd Webb Boyd Webb (born 1947) is a New Zealand-born visual artist who works in the United Kingdom, mainly using the medium of photography although he has also produced sculpture and film. He was shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 1988. He has had solo ...

, who had their inaugural exhibitions there in June 1971. In 1996, the CSA gallery was rebranded CoCA Centre of Contemporary Art, the name it is known by today.

Earthquake and recovery

Like many prominent buildings in Christchurch, the CoCA gallery was damaged in the February earthquakes of 2011. In 2013 a "rescue squad of volunteers, former gallery staff on contract and experts from

Te Papa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

recovered all the artworks trapped in the building, including everything on display at the time and the gallery's collection". Four million dollars has been spent on repairs, strengthening and refurbishment of the building.

Future and refocus

CoCA reopened on 13 February 2016 in its restored and modernised gallery space on Gloucester Street. The gallery was closed again temporarily after the

2016 Christchurch earthquake An earthquake occurred in Christchurch on 14 February 2016 at 1:13 p.m. local time (00:13 UTC) and initially recorded as 5.9 on the Richter scale, but subsequently reviewed as 5.7. Often referred to as the Valentine's Day earthquake, it was ...

struck the day after the reopening.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Centre of Contemporary Art Buildings and structures in Christchurch Tourist attractions in Christchurch Culture in Christchurch Art museums and galleries in Christchurch 1960s architecture in New Zealand Arts organisations based in New Zealand