Vic Gurney’s Truck @ Village Arts, Kohukohu

Kohukohu is home to Village Arts, a superb gallery that exhibits the work of Hokianga artists. Village Arts trustees are passionate about their community and are currently celebrating a significant local icon, Vic Gurney’s truck, as a focus of community stories, relationships and meaning. Marg Morrow, exhibition curator, explains the origins and organisation of the exhibition, titled A Slice of Life: Stories About the Truck.

“The story of the exhibition began in 2011 when the Depot Artspace in Devonport began a series of events called ‘Cultural Mapping.’….mapping our cultural genealogy, and asked us if we would like to participate.

The truck began its Hokianga career as a JG Richmond’s vehicle and has been part of this community in a historic, cultural and visual sense for nearly 60 years. It arrived in the Hokianga after WWII and departed in 2013.

The aim of this exhibition was to use the truck as a focus to uncover our social and cultural connections and to give them a visual focus. This truck has been photographed, documented, written about and published nationwide and the stories that go with this are what connects this community to each other and the rest of NZ. Stories are what make us who we are; they are the link between the past and the future.” ( – Marg Morrow, trustee, Village Arts)

Architect, environmentalist, visionary, sometime Hokianga inhabitant, and Cultural Icon, Tony Watkins has also written for the exhibition. His wise and wonderful piece Rust In Peace can be read on the Village Arts website here…

Exhibition dates 4th May – 30th May 2013