Forest in the sun, by renowned textile artist Joan Calvert, was created specifically for the large Tākaka marble wall of the Beehive. The abstract design evokes the experience of walking across the forest floor, looking up at the sun filtering through the canopy. 
Joan Calvert collaborated with weavers Jean Ngan and Dorothea Turner, who took on the task of knotting two panels each, and Guy Ngan, who designed the artwork. Joan’s husband Murray designed the infrastructure to support the panels, and their children helped too. The panels were hung in readiness for the formal opening of the Beehive in 1977.
In 2003 Forest in the sun was removed and gifted to Te Papa Tongarewa, while in 2019 five of the six panels were exhibited at The Dowse Art Museum. In preparation for the loan, the artwork went through an extensive conservation process, by Te Papa Conservator Textiles Anne Peranteau. Join us as Anne shares the history of care of Forest in the Sun, which has also involved Te Papa’s past and present textile conservators Valerie Carson and Kate Blair. We will also hear from Senior Curator New Zealand Culture and History Claire Regnault about the curation of this textile artwork.
An interesting example of a deaccession from Te Papa’s collection, it has been formally returned to Parliament following a request from Trevor Mallard asking for its return, it is now part of the Parliamentary Collection. Reinstalled in July 2023, with the Beehive’s UV blocking windows and smoke free policy, Forest in the sun is well placed to hang on the Beehive wall for many more years.
Anne Peranteau completed her conservation training in America and received her masters degree in fine art conservation from the University of Delaware Programme in Fine Art Conservation in 2004. She was Kaitiaki Taonga Conservator Textiles from 2008-2019, and completed conservation treatment of Forest in the Sun before it’s display at The Dowse in the exhibition Guy Ngan: Habitation. Since 2019, Anne has been Te Papa’s Manager Collection Care Practice.
Claire Regnault is Senior Curator New Zealand Culture and History at Te Papa and has worked as a curator in the art gallery and museum sector since 1994. Her curatorial practice is eclectic in nature and she is particularly passionate about New Zealand’s fashion history.
Image credits: Above Joan Calvert, left, and Jean Ngan, right, with Conservator Textiles Anne Peranteau in the middle, admiring a panel from Forest in the sun, 2019. Photo by Daniel Crichton-Rouse. Right: Detail of the underside of Forest in the sun, 2019. Photo by Daniel Crichton-Rouse. Left: Parliamentary Service.