The 5th Auckland Triennial

Year: 2013

Medium: 4hr action, 1 Yacht (VS Vega), 4 inflatables, 10 fluorescent flags, 7 historic flags

Action with five vessels on the Wai-te-matā Harbour facilitated by Local Time in relation to their participation in The 5th Auckland Triennial, If you were to live here..., Sunday July 28, 2013.

Participating in the four hour action on the Wai-te-matā Harbour, Tāmaki Makaurau, were the yacht VS Vega and four inflatable boats, equipped with ten custom fluorescent yellow flags and seven other flags associated with the Vega's history as a protest vessel. The Local Time inflatable Mahi Kai was prepared for the action in the forecourt of the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, where equipment and crew were assembled. All five vessels flew fluorescent flags bearing the number 500 displayed to their port side, referring to the 'Anadarko Amendment' enacted to restrict peaceful protest at sea in Aotearoa. Each vessel flew an additional fluorescent flag on the starboard side. The phrase 'this is not a protest' quoted Elvis Teddy, the Tauranga fisherman after joining a protest which saw four boats block the path of a survey ship operated by Brazilian oil company Petrobras as it tried to enter the Raukumara Basin. The date 1972 referenced the year in which the Vega first sailed to Mururoa to witness, and effectively to begin to end French atmospheric nuclear testing there. On the water, the Vega led the flotilla, sailing the shipping channel from her berth at the Maritime Museum to the Devonport Ferry Terminal, then looping back towards the Auckland Harbour Bridge, to display both aspects of the flags in each direction to the Devonport shore, then on to the Rangitoto Channel, the site of historical demonstrations against nuclear vessels.

Photography
Alex Monteith, Natalie Robertson, Lousie Menzies, Jordan Stent

Videography
Alex Monteith & Richard Simkins

Edit
Alex Monteith

Local Time
Danny Butt, Jon Bywater, Alex Monteith, Natalie Robertson

www.alexmonteith.com