Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery

All There Is Left

Lieko Shiga

Paul Johns

Francis Alÿs

curated by Christina Barton, Michelle Menzies, and Laura Preston

20 July – 29 September 2013

Dwelling on the creative afterlife of images and the grounding potential of the poetic gesture, this exhibition showcased the imaginative productions of two artists: Lieko Shiga (Japan) and Paul Johns (Christchurch) who survived the 2011 earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand. Their projects are accompanied by Reel-Unreel, an installation by Francis Alÿs commissioned for dOCUMENTA 13, and screened in Kabul, Afghanistan in 2012.

“All there is left” was New Zealand-based curator Ken Hall’s description of the image archive of pre-earthquake Christchurch. Taking the resilience and potential embedded in this phrase as its point of departure, the exhibition brought together artists whose encounter with catastrophe turns to an affirmation of images as imaginative tools capable of investing its aftermath with reflection and hope.

Dwelling on the human side of disaster, Lieko Shiga, Paul Johns, and Francis Alÿs each use narrative and performative gestures to restore shattered connections between people and places, and to reaffirm the relationship between past and present. In these artists’ hands the camera is not merely a device to fix reality. Photographs and film are treated as material artefacts that can establish living links with their subjects. They are also trusted as totemic vehicles to communicate the ineffable dimensions that make life meaningful.

Lieko Shiga’s exhibition was made possible with assistance from the Asia New Zealand Foundation.

Public programme pdf

Media & Downloads:

Read: 'After the Event', symposium booklet

Read: Martin Patrick, 'Disaster Zone', The Listener

Lieko Shiga, RASEN KAIGAN (2008-2013) at the Adam Art Gallery. Photo: Shaun Waugh.

Lieko Shiga, RASEN KAIGAN, 2008-2013. Installation view, All There Is Left, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2013. Photo: Shaun Waugh

Lieko Shiga, Blindfolded Pilot from the RASEN KAIGAN series, 2008-2012. Courtesy of the artist.

Lieko Shiga, Blindfolded Pilot, from RASEN KAIGAN, 2008-2013. Courtesy of the artist

Lieko Shiga, Portrait of Cultivation from the RASEN KAIGAN series, 2008-2012. Courtesy of the artist.

Lieko Shiga, Portrait of Cultivation, from RASEN KAIGAN, 2008-2013. Courtesy of the artist

Lieko Shiga, RASEN KAIGAN, 2008-2013. Installation view, All There Is Left, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2013. Photo: Shaun Waugh

Paul Johns, Mum (2013) at the Adam Art Gallery. Mixed media installation. Photo: Shaun Waugh.

Paul Johns, Mum, 2013, mixed media installation. Installation view, All There Is Left, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2013. Photo: Shaun Waugh

Paul Johns, The Odeon Theatre, 25 May 2013. Inkjet on archival paper. Courtesy of the artist

Paul Johns, Mum, 2013, mixed media installation. Installation view, All There Is Left, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2013. Photo: Shaun Waugh

Installation view of Francis Alÿs (in collaboration with Julien Devaux and Ajmal Maiwandi), Reel-Unreel (2011) at the Adam Art Gallery. Single channel video projection, 19:28min, color, sound. Photo: Shaun Waugh.

Francis Alÿs (in collaboration with Julien Devaux and Ajmal Maiwandi), Reel-Unreel, 2011, single channel video projection, 19:28min, color, sound. Installation view, All There Is Left, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2013. Photo: Shaun Waugh

Francis Alÿs (in collaboration with Julien Devaux and Ajmal Maiwandi), still from Reel-Unreel, 2011. Video documentation of an action. Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner, New York/London

Francis Alÿs (in collaboration with Julien Devaux and Ajmal Maiwandi), production still from Reel-Unreel, 2011. Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner, New York/London. Photo: Ajmal Maiwandi