Eastern Southland Gallery

A town of twelve thousand in eastern Southland is not where anyone expects to find a nationally significant art collection, and the reason it is here is two gifts. John Money, a New Zealand-born psychologist who spent his career at Johns Hopkins, grew up in the district and donated his collection - work by Ralph Hotere and Rita Angus among New Zealand artists, plus a substantial group of African and Oceanic art and Australian Aboriginal painting. Separately, the gallery holds one of the largest public collections of Hotere's work in the country, and Hotere himself had a long association with it. The building is the former Gore public library, converted, and it has been extended since. The combination - a major New Zealand painter, an unexpected African holding, and a rural Southland town - is odd and worth the stop for anyone driving between Dunedin and Invercargill.

History

The building was put up in 1909 as Gore's public library, one of eighteen Carnegie libraries built in New Zealand with funds from Andrew Carnegie. It was extended in 2003 to take the John Money Collection, which with the Ralph Hotere Gallery forms the gallery's two major permanent displays (Wikipedia, Eastern Southland Gallery).

What's there

• The Hotere collection - one of the largest public holdings anywhere.
• The Money bequest - African, Oceanic and Aboriginal art from Johns Hopkins.
• New Zealand painting - Rita Angus and others in the same gift.
• The converted library - the building the collection sits in.

When to go

Any season - indoors and free. Opening hours are those of a small-town gallery; check before making a detour.

Practical notes

It is small and displays rotate, so specific works may not be out. Gore is a working service town with little else for a visitor. Hours are limited compared with city galleries.

Nearby

Gore town centre and the Hokonui Moonshine Museum are close; Dunedin and Invercargill are each about an hour away.

Key facts