Toi Ohomai Hosts Collaborative International Exhibition Celebrating Educational Exchange

Tides of Exchange, a photographic exhibition developed through a partnership between Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT) and Zhejiang Yuexiu University in Shaoxing, China, opens today at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology’s Te Ara o Mauao Gallery on campus in Tauranga. 

Curated by Heidi Douglas (pictured right), a Lecturer at EIT’s IDEAschool and alumna of Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology, the exhibition brings together photography from Heidi’s three-year teaching at Zhejiang Yuexiu University in China, as well as a range of creative works developed by the students she taught. 

Tides of Exchange is presented in three parts:

•    The opening section, Her Back is Turned, features a photographic series created by Heidi while in China. 
•    Part two of the exhibition includes a selection of advertising posters, created as part of a second-year Photography in Advertising course by Zhejiang Yuexiu University students. 
•    The final section, Youth in Translation, showcases an extracurricular photography project undertaken by students to extend their creative practice, with each photographic series centring around the theme of youth.

Heidi says the exhibition highlights the cultural bridge being built between the two countries through education.

“Together, the three sections of the exhibition tell the story of exchange in both directions; a teacher learning to understand her students' world and students finding new ways to express themselves through photography, both inside and outside the classroom,” Heidi says.

For Heidi, the exhibition marks something of a homecoming. Long before she was photographing life in Shaoxing, she was a student on this same campus, completing her Bachelor of Creative Industries at Toi Ohomai. Tides of Exchange brings her back to Te Ara o Mauao Gallery as an artist and curator, this time with a body of work built on the other side of the world.

"There's something full circle about bringing this exhibition back to Te Ara o Mauao," Heidi says. "This is where I found my eye. Coming back with three years of looking from the other side of the world feels like the tide coming back in."

Toi Ohomai Programme Manager – Art and Design, Music and Media, Nicol Sanders-OShea (pictured left), says the institute is proud to host the exhibition on campus at its Te Ara o Mauao gallery in Tauranga.

“Te Ara o Mauao Gallery is a place where the Tauranga Moana arts community can come together with the public and connect, celebrate creativity and experience new work. Exhibiting Tides of Exchange at our gallery is an opportunity for our institute to celebrate the career achievements of a Toi Ohomai graduate, while acknowledging the importance of artistic exchange and collaboration in education, nationally and internationally," Nicol says.

EIT Head of IDEAschool, Sean Coyle, says the Tides of Exchange exhibition demonstrates the value of international creative partnerships.

“The partnership between IDEAschool (EIT) and Zhejiang Yuexiu University (ZYU) is a powerful example of how creative education can connect cultures, perspectives, and communities across borders.”

“Hosted at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology in Tauranga, Tides of Exchange celebrates the strength of our institute’s enduring relationship Zhejiang Yuexiu University by showcasing work from students and staff in China and staff from Aotearoa New Zealand. It provides a unique opportunity for emerging and established practitioners to share ideas, stories, and artistic approaches, while offering audiences insight into the rich creative dialogue taking place between our two countries,” Sean says. 
 

Tides of Exchange

Open from 9am – 5pm weekdays, from Monday 20 July – Friday 7 August.

Te Ara o Mauao Gallery, M Block, Toi Ohomai Tauranga Campus, Windermere Drive, Tauranga 3112. 

Entry is free.

Opening Evening Event: Friday 24 July from 5 – 7pm. All welcome, with kai and refreshments to be provided.