This week a group of artists from the South Pacific region, including Phil Dadson and John Reynolds, travel on HMNZS Otago to a place rarely explored - the Kermadec Islands.
The Kermadecs are the most remote part of New Zealand. Despite their historical, as well as mythological significance, public awareness of the islands and surrounding waters is slight. The voyage aims to change that by documenting an imaginatively-charged encounter with one of the least known natural wilderness areas on the planet.
Later in the year the Tauranga Art Gallery will present an exhibition of works produced by the artists. The Gallery was selected as the exhibition venue because the Kermadec Ridge (the undersea formation which includes Raoul Island where the artists will spend two days) is geologically linked with the Tauranga area.
The project is an initiative of the Pew Environment Group's Global Ocean Legacy programme, which promotes the designation of large, highly-protected marine reserves.
Image: NASA photograph of Raoul Island, the Kermadecs
