Liz Abbott, Ōpoho, hosted by Blacks Road Grocer, during the Dunedin Dream Brokerage Bubbles campaign, 2020. Image supplied by Dunedin Dream Brokerage

Dunedin Dream Brokerage Bubbles success

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Giving local artists’ works exposure in neighbourhood shop windows kept Dunedin Dream Brokerage active during the COVID-19 Alert Levels to the delight of locals, business people and the artists themselves.

Dunedin Dream Brokerages (DDB) usual mission is to keep empty commercial spaces looking lively by brokering a varied programme of art project occupation. Dunedin Dream Brokerage’s, Kate Schrader, says the DDB Bubbles programme was developed through marrying the circumstances of lockdown, when people stayed in their own neighbourhood rather than going into the CBD, together with a desire to celebrate local artists and keep local businesses’ profile high.

Kate explains, “Beginning with North East Valley, we put out a call to artists in that area and asked what they were working on. Selected artists received $100 whakaaro and we partnered them with a business, putting an A0 poster of their original art work in the shop window with information about the artist. This encouraged people to look in the window of businesses trying to get back on their feet.”

DDB Bubbles has since run in South Dunedin and artworks are appearing in West Harbour and Port Chalmers this month (July).

“We’ve run it with a quick turn-around because we haven’t known how long any of the alert levels would last. We’ve predominately shown visual art, with some writing, from emerging and established artists. A couple of the artists have gone on to sell the original works, which is fantastic.

“We’ve had great feedback from the businesses; we did a lot of social media promotion, encouraging people to share and tag the businesses, which they really appreciated. We had good vibes from people who really enjoyed seeing artwork during their walks.”

Kate says a big part of what made the project fly was the incredible support it received.

“The Print Room has provided the posters. In North East Valley the Otago Polytechnic was our project sponsor. We had another partner for South Dunedin, Te Kāika Haoura health hub. Of the five works displayed in South Dunedin, they sponsored four of them and two were by young people, in line with their new service Tiaki Taoka (the Ngāi Tahu mandated whānau care service).

The West Harbour/Port Chalmers displays finish off this phase of DDB Bubbles, as activity in the city rises. Kate says DDB plans to host an exhibition of all the works, inviting all the businesses, artists and sponsors to join in celebration of their contribution during this bizarre time.

Kate adds, “We’ll revisit the project for a new phase next year – so watch this space.”

DDB Bubble hosts were:

  • Kūkū coffee
  • The constituent MP's office
  • Nanking Palace
  • antidote Macandrew
  • antidote South
  • antidote North East Valley
  • New World Gardens
  • Blacks Road Grocer
  • Bloomin' Gorgeous
  • Inch Bar
  • Pea Sea Gallery
  • Box of Birds.