DECODED The New Zealand Steel Gallery is proud to present a selection of works from the Manukau Art Collection courtesy of Auckland Council South. The arts have long been recognised as a way we see ourselves and works in the collection are representative of the community that it has been gathered for. Over the years the collection’s buyers have purchased work from artists who in some way have made a commitment of a link to the city through their work although some of the artists whose work is represented here a nationally or internationally well known, and other continue to be ‘world famous’ in Manukau, all of their work is relevant in some way to the people who live here. Gabrielle Belz Curator, AXIS 2008 This is a very exciting time for the Franklin Art Centre now that we have become part of Auckland Council’s Art South group. This new connection with will give our facility access to the support and expertise of a dedicated and professional group of people which will help ensure the delivery of quality exhibitions and projects for our community. E raka te maui, e raka te katau: A community can use all the skills of its people This whakatauki, or Maori proverb, quite simply exemplifies the benefits of facing challenges as a group, as a collective. It hints at the power of achieving the insurmountable through group and collective effort. Furthermore is acknowledges that we are all individual within that, but together we share a vigour that helps to reach elevated aspirations. For me it can also be transported to describe much of the landscape that has made-up the story of how visual arts and the place the Manukau City Council Art Collection has journeyed in the past twenty years. Nigel Borell AXIS Catalogue 2008