We despise waiting. Waiting exposes our inability to change a situation — to speed up the arrival of the bus, or expedite paperwork being processed outside office hours. Waiting also implies inactivity, which is at odds with our work culture. Both industrialised labour (undertaken within set hours), and our contemporary ‘online’ work culture (which is neither confined to the office or the 9-5) require us to be continually ‘on task’. We don’t have cultural permission to presume people can wait.

Yet viewed another way, thinkers have observed that its increasingly rare to experience ‘pure’ waiting. Like the aging plotlines of so many 20th Century sitcoms, common scenarios for aimless waiting now seem like a thing of the past. A friend will call if they are running late. We can check online where a bus is on route. There’s also no need to endure inert waiting — idle moments can be swiftly plugged with a world of media available at our fingertips. In this sense, philosophers now paradoxically ask, what’s lost if we no longer experience idle time? If Godot’s imminent-arrival points us to an underlying absurdity in everyday life, what does the absence of idle time point to?

Spanning performance, video, installation, and social practice, this exhibition canvases a range of contemporary artists’ approaches to the theme of waiting. For these practitioners, both active or passive forms of waiting don’t occur in a vacuum, and instead have potential to meaningfully respond to a range of contemporary demands; from highlighting labour rights and confronting bureaucracy, to approaching the tyranny of ‘clock-time’ and embracing productive forms of waiting. Viewed as a whole, the exhibition explores the way that seemingly passive actions can be deployed for politically efficacious ends.

A Time of Waiting is accompanied by an active series of talks and events, which kicks off with an opening night performance by Chris Braddock. The exhibition also includes an offsite programme of temporary installations and performances which will be staged in Ōtautahi in partnership with Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū. For further details refer to our website.

Te Wai Ngutu Kākā would like to acknowledge the generous funders and partners that have made this exhibition possible, including AUT’s Art and Design Research Fund, Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa, and Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū.