CATALOGUES - Lee Mitchell-Anyon - Tiki Tour

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What is a Tiki Tour?

It's a round-about way of getting somewhere, or a scenic tour.

This exhibition show what happens when a photographer journeys, in a round-about way, through one of our iconic destinations for scenic tours - Taupo.

What do you really get when you're a tourist? What do you actually see, as opposed to what you might see - in brochures and on postcards, and even on the side of tour buses? Leigh Mitchell-Anyon delves into the background of our tourist industry and shows us another view where the sun doesn't shine, and things are less than idyllic.

In two parts, Tiki Tour is unfinished business from research for Beneath the Surface, a group exhibition at this year's Taupo Arts Festival.

The first part of the exhibition looks at souvenirs, using black and white fibre prints made from large-format negatives. Souvenirs are usually icons of our nation put to the service of the tourism industry, marketing our nation. Leigh's images show how, in this process, they are often rendered ridiculous.

The second part of the exhibition takes the viewer on a tour around Taupo in all its guises and in all weather - where our own culture mixes freely with the imported. In contrast to the work on souvenirs, these images are captured and printed digitally, and are in colour. They're lighter in tone - funny sometimes - and will strike a chord with anyone who has saved for a package tour and then been disappointed.

Tiki Tour offers no guarantees of satisfaction - but if things seem less than perfect, you can always buy the postcard instead.