Putting the 'art' in Arts Festival

The visual arts have never (and when I say never, I mean "in my lived experience") been a strong feature of the New Zealand International Arts Festival. Sure, shows have coincided with the Festival, but there's not be a strong sense of planning.

The 2010 Festival looks like an exception, with:

• Janet Cardiff at City Gallery Wellington
• Bill Viola at the Dowse
• Anthony McCall at the Adam Art Gallery
• Judy Millar and Francis Upritchard's Venice Biennale projects at Te Papa

While I'm most excited by Cardiff's The Forty-Part Motet, a work I've wanted to see/hear for years, I'm most impressed that the Dowse has scored the Viola work. This, combined with the recent pick-up in programming and exhibition design out in the Hutt, makes me wonder whether new director Cam McCracken might be making a play for the contemporary art crown that the City Gallery has held by default in recent years. Competition can only be good for us consumers.