Perhaps by dint of the mountain ranges that enclose it from all sides, and the gestures to its early heritage everywhere, Kā-Muriwai Arrowtown can feel like the kind of place time stands still—if it weren’t for the emphatic way the seasons descend. It’s to this setting that Marc Blake and Derrick Cherrie of Superpartner gallery are bringing the moveable feast of contemporary art, opening their new space in a refurbished chapel tucked down Romans Lane, only a stand of trees from the banks of Te Haehaenui, the Arrow River, where miners once camped in their thousands in the hopes of finding gold. From the outside, the gallery slips quietly into the profile of the town; the chapel’s weatherboards are wafer- yellow and its architraves wine-red, like something from an Austen Deans painting. Inside, their programme spotlights on dynamic and diverse artists from both Aotearoa and further afield.

First up are painters Georgie Hill and Jake Walker. Both artists have exhibitions open over the summer and share an interest in translating rhythms and abstract feelings to paint. Hill’s work in Sirens extends her engagement with feminine archetypes from classical mythology and the thin boundary between creation and destruction. While Walker, for his first exhibition in Aotearoa, will present a series of paintings whose swirling calligraphy of brushstrokes form elaborate soundscapes, drawing on the artist’s experience in dance and his studies at London’s Royal School of Ballet.