Farley said Vessel was their fourth film featuring Whanganui artists.<\/p>\n
Writer and producer Melita Farley said the feature documentary Vessel followed artists being reunited with their art in Quartz, New Zealand’s only museum dedicated to studio ceramics. Photo \/ Double Farley<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t just do artists, but that\u2019s been a big draw in Whanganui because people are really interesting.<\/p>\n
\u201cShowing people that there is beauty and enjoyment in life, even though things can be difficult sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rudd opened the Quartz Museum of Studio Ceramics in 2015<\/a>, using money from the sale of his Castlecliff house.<\/p>\n The museum, in the brutalist Munford House on Bates St, showcases historical works from the inception of studio pottery in Aotearoa in the 1920s to today. <\/p>\n Current exhibitions include works by John Crawford in A Remembered Reflection, ending in December, and Curious Creatures by Mark Rayner, which ends this month.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of people in Whanganui have never been to the museum, and I\u2019ve been open for 11 years now,\u201d Rudd said.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know what the next thing will be. I\u2019ve been funding this place for 11 years, I can\u2019t keep doing it.<\/p>\n \u201cThe [Rick Rudd Foundation] has found some money to pay someone three days a week, most weeks of this year, but that is finishing very soon.<\/p>\n \u201cI have been able to take some time off because of that. I\u2019ve done three workshops around the country and a week ago I went up north to [Auckland Studio Potters].<\/p>\n \u201cI really want Whanganui to embrace this place, just as they do the Sarjeant Gallery.\u201d<\/p>\n Rudd hoped for a positive response to the film.<\/p>\n \u201cIt takes you through my making of one work from beginning to end, and there\u2019s some wonderful people talking about this place.\u201d<\/p>\n Double said the film was a chance to see New Zealand\u2019s ceramic legacy, and the man behind it, up close.<\/p>\n \u201cRick has spent decades safeguarding New Zealand\u2019s ceramic legacy, often out of the spotlight,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The couple\u2019s first film, Set in Stone (2017), followed the reconstruction of the P\u0101kaitore M\u0101ori War memorial. It won the DocEdge Award for Best New Zealand Emerging Filmmaker and second place for Best NZ Feature Film.<\/p>\n Their other projects include Richard Wotton: Moments Later<\/a>, a short film about the Whanganui photographer<\/a>, and a film about Ron Fisher\u2019s Whanganui record shop, You Can\u2019t Just Sell Records<\/a>.<\/p>\n Farley said it took a year to edit the 75 hours of footage for Vessel.<\/p>\n \u201cWe approached Rick quite a long time ago, originally, and said we\u2019d really like to make a film about you.<\/p>\n \u201cEventually Rick kind of relented and said, \u2018Yes, you can come and film\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve also talked to quite a few of the potters who had significant works in Quartz as well.<\/p>\n \u201cThe way we film, we tend to work with what\u2019s there, and the story emerges. We\u2019re very grateful for people allowing us into their lives to that extent.\u201d<\/p>\n The film received no external funding, Farley said.<\/p>\nMelita Farley and Kevin Double run Double Farley Creative Partners. Photo \/ NZME<\/p>\n
A previous ceramics collection at Quartz Museum of Studio Ceramics. Photo \/ NZME<\/p>\n