Shed 11 - the Temporary/Contemporary was an exhibition space on the Wellington waterfront programmed by the National Art Gallery of New Zealand.
In late 1985 Shed 11 on the Wellington waterfront was converted into an art gallery by the Ministry of Works and Development for the National Art Gallery. [1] The building had been originally designed by William Ferguson as an industrial warehouse for the Wellington Harbour Board. When it was completed in 1905 it stood on the water's edge. [2]
On 23 May 1986, the National Art Gallery's Director Luit Bieringa announced that Shed 11 was to be an off-site exhibition space where the Gallery could focus on contemporary art. The occupation of Shed 11 was Bieringa's response to the collapse of negotiations for a new National Art Gallery building in Wellington's Molesworth Street. [3]
Shed 11's large uncluttered space created an opportunity to exhibit works that were too large for the National Art Gallery's own building in Buckle Street. It also offered a more fitting context for the contemporary work that was the focus of Bieringa's exhibition programme. Shed 11 opened with the exhibition Temporary/Contemporary featuring Chris Booth’s Ngā Rimu o Puketi, [4] and a performance by the Auckland group From Scratch Pacific 3, 2, 1, Zero Part 2. [5] For the next three years Shed 11 - the Temporary/Contemporary mounted exhibitions curated by the National Art Gallery as well as presenting touring shows.
Some critics found ‘the gallery’s strong interest in contemporary New Zealand work’, as reflected by exhibitions in Shed 11 such as Content/Context was not the core business of a national institution. [22] ) The Chairman of the National Art Gallery, Hamish Keith, also believed that, ‘museums, national museums of art should be more about the past than about the immediate present and predictions of what might happen.’ [23] Bieringa's commitment to the contemporary along with other disagreements over the form of what would become Te Papa Tongarewa resulted in his dismissal in 1989.
Managed as part of the restructured National Art Gallery, Shed 11 continued as a Museum of New Zealand exhibition space dedicated to contemporary art until 1992. [24] Exhibitions during that period included: Nature Morte a collection of 105 works by the photographer Laurence Aberhart curated by Peter Ireland, Mexico:out of the Profane featuring six contemporary Mexican artists, the Crafts Council of New Zealand's exhibition Mau Mahara: Our Stories in Craft selected by Justine Olsen, John Parker and Cliff Whiting, [25] Elements: Explorations: Oppositions- works from the Museum of New Zealand collection and an exhibition of the Australian artists Robin Stacey and Jackie Redgate.
In 2010 Shed 11 was leased long-term by the New Zealand Portrait Gallery and in 2024 it still functions as that Gallery's exhibition venue. [26]
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