Exhibition against university cuts fights back from the inside

Students rebel against Massey University from within the system in their ‘Off Cuts’ exhibition created for a class.  

The exhibition that ran last week, showcased creative responses to the question: If the cuts in education go ahead as planned, what gets ‘Cut Off’? 

‘Off Cuts’ was created for the college of creative arts exhibition elective, where fourth year students work in groups to situate their creative practice through exhibition.  

At least 23 electives from the college of creative arts were confirmed to be cut for 2024, 18 of which were design electives.  

Some lecturers were keen on the exhibition idea, while the students felt an equally as strong hesitation from others to engage with it at all. 

The ‘Off Cuts’ group first protested against cuts on the Wellington Open Day in August, where they spread posters of Massey’s own marketing with red writing over it, showing the word ‘staff’ cross out.  

Wellington students Julia Kohlhaas, Ruby Christoffel, Tobie Parsons, and Shevana Sammons created the exhibition with help from student Fahsai Chainarong.  

The artists covered a Massey display case in fabric the night before Open Day, but the morning of, three squares had been cut out to reveal the posters.  

The students got around 18 submissions for the exhibition, many being personal to the artist's experience.  

A paper machéd head of Massey’s mascot, Fergus the Ram, was displayed.  

The head was used at a Palmerston North protest where a student in a mask of vice chancellor Jan Thomas ‘killed’ Fergus by beating and kicking him.  

The exhibition featured some of Massive’s very own articles, photos and designs regarding the job and course cuts.  

The students did, however, get the feeling that many people were afraid to talk about the cuts and make submissions.  

Ruby Christoffel said with Massey “dribbling” out information, it's hard for students to know what they are protesting against.  

As you entered the exhibition, the sound of typing on a typewriter could be heard, symbolising “activism at work”.  

A cake displayed the word “knowledge” in pistachios, but when the knife beside it was picked up to cut through, a screaming sound ignited.  

As more cuts are proposed and more Massey students protest, Julia Kohlhaas said it’s “just the beginning”. 

The students felt it was a shit time for summer to roll around and were concerned the university may make changes during the break when students were away.  

Tobie Parsons said, “We’re just glad we get to finish now.” 

She found it difficult to think about what she would do if she wasn’t in her final year at Massey, and sympathised with students whose degrees are being cut back to one campus.  

“Moving to a whole different city to finish your degree - that’s crazy.”