After a four year hiatus, Paper Pirates guerrilla photography exhibition is returning home, for two shows — in Wellington (December 15th) and Auckland (December 18th).
The Paper Pirates concept is simple Shoot, Print, Send, Steal. Photographers print their favourite photographs, A3 or larger, post them to the pirates, who then exhibit them for one night only in the respective cities. People come along and check out the photos, have a drink and generally cavort about. Then, at the end of the night, usually when the beer runs out, everyone steals the photographs off the wall to keep, for free, forever.
Having cut their teeth in the bustling Metropoli of Tokyo (2014), and New York (2015) with two debaucherous events — the pirates have decided to bring it all back home. The last NZ show at Auckland’s Silo Park in 2014 was purported to be their last on home soil, but a bit like how James Murphy and LCD Soundsystem said they were done, the pirates are returning, because, well, why stop a good thing?
Paper Pirates Aotearoa is a slightly new take on the tried and tested concept — with two shows in quick succession, and also with the added option of submitting photos digitally.
Paper Pirates founder Tim Lambourne says of the new format “Well, two shows is better than one, and we’ve always wanted to feel like we’re on tour, so we’re going on tour”. And on the advent of the digital upload feature “despite Joe (Paper Pirates co-founder) being a bit of a Luddite, we thought it was probably a good time to evolve the concept to include the powers of the internet”.
While the Pirates “absolutely prefer” physical submissions, they’re excited to try out the new format and have enlisted the service of local print house Skar Image lab to print the submissions — with one caveat, the only way to ensure your photos make the shows is to submit them physically “because, as inclusive as we try to make the show, we aren’t made of money, and printing costs money”.
Submissions are now open and close on December 8th, and the shows are taking place in Wellington’s Potocki Paterson Gallery on December 15th, and Auckland’s Gus Fisher Gallery on December 18th. The event is sponsored by Skar Image Lab, Tiger Beer, and Rogue Society Gin.
For more information visit www.paperpirates.org or the event page.
