Thirty World of WearableArt™ (WOW) costumes are soon to arrive in Christchurch with their Off the Wall exhibition set, beginning a two year journey around New Zealand.

For the first time in more than a decade, WOW is taking a selection of its very best costumes from their historic collection on a New Zealand tour. The Off the Wall exhibition opens at Canterbury Museum on 2 December 2011.

WOW Founder Suzie Moncrieff says Wellington’s 3D Creative, in conjunction with the WOW team, have designed and created the innovative and interactive Off the Wall exhibition to showcase the chosen garments and bring to life the stories behind them.

“The Off the Wall exhibition is an exciting step for WOW, building on the success of the annual WOW Award Show,” Suzie says. “The goal of the exhibition is to engage with even greater New Zealand audiences by bringing WOW directly to their town or city.

“The exhibition is a big investment for WOW and has taken 18 months to plan and create,” she says. “To make Off the Wall as interactive as possible we have created audio visual presentations, which use the latest HP technology. People can view the large scale montage of previous WOW show footage and can use the HP TouchSmart PCs to watch interviews with designers.

”As well as utilising HP technology, we have worked with Techlink to develop www.techlink.org.nz/wow, an online education resource to be used as inspiration for New Zealand teachers and students.



“This resource directly supports the Technology curriculum and will help students develop skills in creativity and design using WearableArt stories” she says. This will be a continuing resource that can be further developed in the future to help create WOW’s next generation of designers.”

Selecting the costumes for Off the Wall was a creative collaboration between Suzie Moncrieff and Weta Workshop’s Sir Richard Taylor.

Richard says the process of selecting for Off the Wall was difficult, but great fun.

“Choosing just 30 garments from the WOW collection for Off the Wall was near impossible, as they are all phenomenal creations in their own rights,” he says. “Even though it was a challenge, I have really enjoyed working with Suzie Moncrieff again and having a role in selecting the pieces for this unique exhibition.

“I have been to many exhibitions around the world, and I can safely say that these Off the Wall works of art will amaze you – they are truly world-class,” he says. “It is a wonderful way to introduce WOW to our local communities and visiting international audiences, as well as being an additional experience for those who are already huge WOW fans.”

Canterbury Museum Director Anthony Wright says the Museum is privileged to be the first to host Off the Wall.

“We are delighted to be able to share this exciting and vibrant show with the people of Canterbury and we anticipate a broad range of visitors over the three months we are hosting this exhibition. We are more than confident every one who sees the show will be blown away by the range of costumes on display and able to be viewed Up Close!”

After Canterbury, the national exhibition will travel through the regions in its own creatively sign written, purpose-built 40 foot container thanks to the support of long time sponsor Mainfreight, who have transported WOW garments around New Zealand and the globe for almost a decade.

Confirming the national venues for Off the Wall has been managed by Wellington’s Benson & Associates. Tour venues are:




The World of WearableArt™ is a concept created in 1987 by Suzie Moncrieff, to take art off the wall and adorn the human form, then showcase each creation in a dramatic setting. A new way to experience art and fashion was born and Suzie Moncrieff called it WearableArt™. The annual World of WearableArt Awards Show in Wellington, is proudly a New Zealand event, and now attracts over a third of its entrants internationally, giving the event a global flavour.



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For more information and imagery please go to the World of WearableArt™ online media library at www.worldofwearableart.com.

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The World of WearableArt™: Shelley Doherty, media@worldofwearableart.com, 021 547 585.