Museum exhibition profiles iconic Ponting imagery

A stunning exhibition of remarkable Antarctic imagery will feature outdoors along Rolleston Avenue during New Zealand IceFest this month.

Proudly presented by Canterbury Museum, FROZEN – Ponting’s Antarctic will showcase the iconic photographs of Herbert George Ponting, whose extraordinary images capture the everyday moments of Scott’s last expedition to Antarctica, on the Terra Nova (1910–13).

Ponting stayed at the Terra Nova expedition’s Antarctic winter camp at Cape Evans on Ross Island in 1911. From 1911-1912, he produced more than 1,700 photographic plates detailing domestic and scientific life on the ice. It is these images that have helped historians shape the narrative of the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition.

The exhibition of large format photographs from the iconic collection, some of which have never before been displayed in Christchurch, will feature in FROZEN – Ponting’s Antarctic as part of the New Zealand IceFest programme. The photographs will stretch along Rolleston Ave linking the Museum to the IceFest Ice Station.

This exhibition precedes Canterbury Museum’s international touring exhibition Scott’s Last Expedition which, in partnership with the Antarctic Heritage Trust and Natural History Museum, London, tells the epic story of the Terra Nova Expedition from every angle. Scott’s Last Expedition will open to the public at Canterbury Museum on 23 November.

For more information on Frozen – Ponting’s Antarctic or New Zealand IceFest see www.canterburymuseum.com or www.nzicefest.co.nz

Exhibition dates:

FROZEN – Ponting’s Antarctic
Rolleston Ave
14 September - 14 October 2012

Scott’s Last Expedition
Canterbury Museum
23 Nov 2012 - 30 June 2013