Arts Wellington
Bites ...
An exciting weekend coming up for Chamber music lovers - a sort of festival within the festival - which has 13 events with three world premieres (at the Town Hall). Performers include NZTrio, the Borodin Quartet, New Zealand String Quartet, Keith Lewis & Michael Houston and others. There are free organ recitals, film and multimedia presentations and "Music in the Eye" an exhibition of graphic scores. More details at the NZ International Arts Festival website.
One of the highlights might be the free event - Breath of Wind - a sound and video work featuring 17 hot air balloons and the Levin Brass Band, created by Phil Dadson. The images and sounds of the band performing whilst airborne are projected into the viewing space in a continuous loop at the Illot Theatre/Town Hall.
Just a few other highlights from the NZ International Arts Festival this week:
- Inside out The dazzling Swedish circus show opened this week and runs until 8 March at the Opera House.
- 13 Most Beautiful A rocking, live art experience. Dean and Britta play live to a backdrop of 13 of Andy Warhol's famous screen tests. One night only, Thur 4 March, Town Hall..
- Djan Djan Live music performed by three virtuostic musicians from India, Africa and Australia. One night only at the Pacific Blue Festival Club, Wed 3 March. Also playing Pataka Museum Thur 4 March
- Echoa opens at Soundings Te Papa tonight, until 7 March.
- Ship Songs with Ian Hughes and Don McGlashan opens on Thursday 4 March at the Pacific Blue Festival Club
Waitangi Park has undergone a transformation with circus tents, flying trapeze rigs, carousels and candy floss for Wellington's inaugural Festival of Circus. The festival, running from 3 to 9 March, will showcase artists and shows from around New Zealand and the world. The Wellington Circus Trust also takes its activities on to the street with free workshops and matinee performances in all the skills and thrills of the circus. Learn to juggle, swing, somersault and fly at open workshops for all ages.
Newtown's fourteenth annual street fair takes place this Sunday (7 March), starting at 9.30am and featuring five main stages, 300 stalls, buskers, and a huge variety of international food. Bands include Good Laika, Cuban trio Los Villanos and local Wellington legends, Newtown Rock Steady.
Celebrate CHILDREN'S DAY with Capital E on Sunday 7 March 11am-2pm at Illot Green (next to Capital E). Designer, Taj Whitesell, is using recycled cardboard to create a miniature box town ready for families to decorate. "We have a clock tower, barns, and houses large enough to climb in. They're a blank canvas and I'm excited to see how they'll be transformed as people paint." Entertainment from Tricky the Clown, and lots of prizes and giveaways - 11.30am and 1pm.
At SFBH this week - Dirty Projectors on Thursday (4th), The Mint Chicks & Bang Bang Eche & Die!Die!Die! on Friday (5th), Ladi6 & DJ Parks on Saturday (6th).
Dance Performance: Footnote - Watch This Space - City Gallery, Saturday, 6 March, 12pm. Free Entry - The Museum Hotel and Footnote Dance present Watch This Space Maatakitakihia Mai Tenei Waahi. An improvised performance by Footnote Dance in response to the exhibition, Séraphine Pick.
At Bats this week...
- Fringe 2010: Who's Neat? You! and FRINGE 2010: Pink Lighter continue until this Friday.
- FRINGE 2010: Ruby Tuesday runs until Saturday 13th March "Harassed drama teacher Cynthia Ruby is pushed to the brink by teenage delinquent Shelby- for the last time."
- FRINGE 2010: Sun Drugs is in the pit Bar until Saturday "Set in Manila's flash-flooded streets, Sun Drugs follows the attempts of two hip brothers to transform a geeky loner into the prom queen before an epidemic wipes out the entire city."
- Fringe 2010: The Crimson Club's Whirlwind Worldwide Wellington Tour is on Thurs-Saturday - "The Andrews Sisters, Edith Piaf and The Soggy Bottom Boys all rolled into one."
- FRINGE 2010: Angel from this Saturday until Sunday 13 March @ 6.30PM, PLUS special shows on Friday 5 March @ 5PM, and Saturday 6 March @ 4PM "Clowntheatre in the traditition of Slava's Snowshow."
Opening on 10-12 March at Downstage is Deadly...with no pause between happiness and disaster. "A dangerous mix of circus, dance and theatre." From 18-27 March is Pick of the Fringe with two highlights from the NZ Fringe Festival in one evening.
Mary Stuart opened at Circa One this week as part of the festival, and opening on 7 March is the international production of The Letter Writer.
Late Lounge at TheNewDowse has Hikoikoi this Thursday 4th March - the three-piece roots/rock/soul group. Exhibition tours are on offer at 5:30pm and 6:30pm, including Bill Viola's The Messenger, with Hikoikoi on stage at 7pm. Entry is by koha with all galleries, café, cash bar and Shopette open until 9pm. http://www.newdowse.org.nz/
Fun things to do on a bus ....
The Art Bus Saturday 6 March, 10am to 1pm. Catch the Art Bus this festival season and discover three outstanding international art exhibitions in just three hours. Starting and finishing at City Gallery Wellington, the tour takes in Janet Cardiff's immersive sound piece Forty-Part Motet followed by Bill Viola's The Messenger at TheNewDowse and the extraordinary exhibition experience of Anthony McCall: Drawing with Light at the Adam Art Gallery. Curators will be on hand to give you an additional insight into each work. Bookings essential. E: newdowsebookings@huttcity.govt.nz T: 04 570 6500, $15 per person. Pay on arrival at City Gallery Wellington
A Very Modern Bus Tour Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 March, 1pm to 5pm. TheNewDowse invites you to join Long Live The Modern curator Julia Gatley for two tours of modernist buildings in the region; Saturday is Modernism in Lower Hutt and Sunday is Modernism in Wellington (with Wellington architect Bill Toomath on board as well). The exact itineraries will be a surprise! Long Live The Modern, the exhibition, continues at TheNewDowse until 4 April. Bookings essential. E: newdowsebookings@huttcity.govt.nz T: 04 570 6500. $25/person per tour.
Film things ...
In conjunction with the Anthony McCall:Drawing with Light exhibition at the Adam Art Gallery, the avant garde film Line Describing a Cone will run at the Town Hall on Monday 15 March. 7pm - doors close at 7.15pm (no late entry). $5 entry
FILM SCREENING: THE MAN IN THE HAT, Sunday 7 March, 3pm, Adam Auditorium (City Gallery), entry by koha. Art-dealer Peter McLeavey has spent some forty years running his gallery in the centre of Wellington. Five hundred exhibitions later Peter continues with the same vigour and vision that fueled him as a very young man and he remains a vital and outstanding contributor to NZ's cultural development. This documentary is directed by Luit Bieringa who will also introduce it.
This week the Film Archive presents films in association with the Japan Information and Cultural Centre. On Thursday 4 March (6pm) is Summer Days with Coo about a fourth grade student living in the suburb of Tokyo who finds a fossil that has been sleeping underground for 300 years. Friday 5 & Saturday 6 March is Memory and Desire (7pm), the NZ filmed story by Niki Caro.
From March 4th onwards The Paramount will be playing New Zealand short films before most of our features. Titles being showcased in March include: The Six Dollar Fifty Man, Nothing Special, Take 3, This is Her and Careful With That Axe. The initiative is supported by the New Zealand Film Commission.
The programme for the World Cinema Showcase is out now and tickets went on sale from March 1st.
New Exhibitions ...
Built Fabric opens at Toi Poneke Gallery on 5-26 March - an exhibition of two different medium - photography and architectural drawing. Artists Mizuho Nishioka & Tane Moleta explore the idea that the constructed, or built, environment exists as a representation of our value systems. Does the act of demolition and disposal ultimately indicate that our appreciation of the use of space constantly changes?
The NZ Academy of Fine Art's contribution to the NZ International Arts Festival is Festival Exhibition 2010 featuring the fabulous work of Whanganui based artists Prakash Patel, alongside Lyndsay Patterson and Katie Brown from Chronicle Glass.
WE ARE HERE, AND THERE opens in the Hancock Gallery at the City Gallery, 6 March - 16 May 2010. Featuring a selection of works from the Wellington City Council Art Collection, this exhibition explores the shifting ways New Zealand artists have looked at and engaged with the land as a contested site. From watercolour sketches by settler artist C.D. Barraud to the human-modified landscapes of contemporary photographers Wayne Barrar and Anne Noble, this exhibition presents landscape as a complex genre where artistic, political and environmental ideals meet and clash. We are here, and there also features work by Shane Cotton, Sir Tosswill Woollaston and Paratene Matchitt.
This week at Thistle Hall - WHERE THE WILD THINGS RRR from Alpha Art Studio until 6 March, a diverse collection of outsider art that includes paint, pastel, collage, pencil, pen and weaving. Opening on 8th March is "And what do you do on Wednesdays?" a cross section of works from the students of Rosemary Stokell's art classes in Khandallah.
Industry news ...
NZLive is no longer operational, but has merged with Eventfinder from 1 March. The blog Lively will continue, and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage's website will still be running the Cultural Funding Guide.
Positively Wellington Tourism's new satellite i-SITE on the Interislander's Kaitaki will launch on March 15. The joint venture with Destination Marlborough will put Wellington's regional products in front of over 400,000 travellers per year. Brochure display opportunities are exclusive to Wellington and Marlborough operators.
Forums and Artists talks ...
Adding Value: Art, Culture and the Economy - two lectures at the College of Creative Arts with eminent UK art and design guru, Professor Sir Christopher Frayling - the Rector and Professor of Cultural History at London's Royal College of Art from 1996 - 2000 and past Chairman of the Arts Council of England, the largest arts funding body in Britain. A passionate campaigner for creative arts education, the creative industries and of government investment in the arts, Sir Christopher is a strong advocate for harnessing creativity to promote economic growth. His two public lectures are:
- The New Bauhaus, March 15 at 6pm, Massey University, The Theatrette, Museum Building, Buckle St, Wellington 2.
- The Hollywood History of Art, March 17 at 12pm, Te Marae, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington.
At the City Gallery:
- Festival Art Talks, APOLLO 13: Mission Control - Thursday, 4 March, 1pm Adam Auditorium - Join the team behind New Zealand's APOLLO 13: Mission Control in a lively discussion about the Apollo mission and other moon myths. Free entry.
- Festival Art Talks, Visual Arts Discussion Panel - Thursday, 4 March, 5.30pm Adam Auditorium -Join a panel of artists, curators and arts development specialists for a discussion on international opportunities for New Zealand visual artists and the benefits of bringing international projects and key figures to New Zealand. Speakers will discuss recent projects and ways that artists, art writers, collectors and dealers can all be conduits for building relationships and creating opportunities for international dialogue in the future.
- Festival Art Talks Sound of Silence - Friday 5 March, 1pm Adam Auditorium - Meet Alvis Hermanis, director of Latvia's leading theatre company, the New Riga Theatre.
- Festival Art Talks, Happy as Larry
Tuesday 9 March, 1pm Adam Auditorium. Join dynamic choreographer Shaun Parker and dancers from Happy as Larry in conversation about their work. - Festival Art Talks, Don McGlashan
Wednesday 10 March, 1pm Adam Auditorium - Hear New Zealand music legend Don McGlashan talk about his life in music. - Festival Art Talks, Eleven and Twelve
Thursday 11 March, 1pm Adam Auditorium - This is your chance to meet members of this international cast from Israel, Palestine, Africa and Europe. - ARCHITECTURAL EVENTS: Endearing Words: Toomath's writing on architecture
Monday 8 March, 12.30pm
Adam Auditorium. Free entry
While the City Gallery's exhibition highlights Bill Toomath's building design, his contribution to architecture also includes a decade as Head of Design at Wellington Polytechnic and an impressive body of research and writing.Christine McCarthy will reflect on the significance of his writing.
At Toi Poneke Hub:
- Skill Share - Thursday 4th at 12.30pm-1pm - at Briar Monro shares advice on some key Do's and Don'ts in writing arts funding bids.
- A2A session - Friday 5th March at 12.30-1pm - Maggie Gresson will talk about Artists Alliance a membership based organisation established in 1991 to represent and advance the professional interests of the visual artists of Aotearoa/New Zealand. Find out what they do, how they do it and how they can help you.
Workshops ...
Danz is running a workshop - Perfect Performance 3 - on Sunday 21 March, (12pm - 6pm) at Toi Poneke. The 6 hour workshop will address common injuries of the shoulder and hip/leg. The workshop includes a brief overview of the anatomy of the shoulder, hip and leg and will explore exercises that can help to strengthen and mobilise the body effectively to enhance performance and which may reduce the incidence of injury to these areas. With Tutor: Tania Huddart - A Pilates and studio dance specialist, DANZ members $200. Non members $260 emailing danz@danz.org.nz or phone 04 801 9885
Film-maker Rob Sarkies is hosting a series of weekend workshops aimed at short, 48hr or digi-feature filmmakers looking to move into features. The workshops will be held at the NZ Film School, entitled:
WORKSHOP 1: Honing Your Filmmaker Senses
WORKSHOP 2: Process! Process! Process!
WORKSHOP 3: Shaping Performance
Wellington: 13/14 March (Wkshp 1), 10/11 April (Wkshp 2), 1/2 May (Wkshp 3). Fees for workshops 1 and 2 are $337.50 ($300 + GST). Fees for workshop 3 are $393.75 ($350 + GST) due to the extra cost of hiring professional actors. http://www.sarkiesworkshops.com/
Two public seminars are to be held by Booksellers New Zealand in Wellington, on Saturday 13 March 2010, at the Hotel InterContinental, Grey St.
- In So you want to run a bookshop? (9.30am - 12pm), three experienced booksellers, John McIntyre of The Children's Bookshop Wellington, Anna Hunt of Marsden Books, Wellington and Juliet Blyth, vicbooks Wellington will present the seminar on: choosing a location, costs and capital investment, rewards, and the lure of a good book, also the commitment needed to turn a dream into a successful business. Cost: $35.00 per person or $60.00 for a pair.
- Marketing Your Book to Independent Bookstores (1.30pm - 3.30pm) will feature advice from two experienced bookstore operators, John McIntyre of The Children's Bookshop in Wellington and Anna Hunt of Marsden Books in Wellington, along with a yet-to-be-named publicist. Cost: $35.00 per person or $60.00 for a pair.
TO REGISTER: cherie.arnott@booksellers.co.nz; ph 04 815 8361
Dates for the Diary...
26 Feb-21 Mar NZ International Festival of the Arts
6 Mar The Liquorland Beer Festival
6 Mar The Festival Art Bus
9 Mar Brian Jonestown Massacre at Bodega
10 Mar Deerhoof at SFBH
12 Mar Ladyhawke DJ Set at SFBH
12-14 Mar Womad
12 Mar Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls - Bodega
13 Mar Conan Mockasin at SFBH
13 Mar Converge (US) - Bodega
14 Mar Wooden Shjips (US) - Bodega
13-28 Mar 2010 Documentary Edge Film Festival
18 Mar The Little Bushman at SFBH
21 Mar Ben Hurley at SFBH
22 Mar Al Di Meola World Sinfonia - Opear House
24 Mar Old Crow Medicine Show - Opera House
26 Mar The Verlaines - Bodega
24-27 Mar RNZB Tower Season From Here to There
28 Mar Josephine Costain Serpentine Tour - Bodega
1-18 Apr World Cinema Showcase
8-17 Apr Miss Saigon - St James
9 Apr The Mountain Goats at SFBH
10 Apr NZSo - Granduer - Michael Fowler Centre
16 Apr Hollie Smith at SFBH
17 Apr Vector Wellington Orchestra - 2010 - Town Hall
23 Apr NZSO Pietari Inkienen & Hilary Hahn - MFC
25 Apr First Laughs - Opera House
26 April Julian Clary: Lord of the Mince, Opera House
27 Apr John Mayer, TSB Arena
28th Apr Wilco, Town Hall
14-15 May NZSO - Dame Malvina Major
Opportunities and other Arts Wellington activities are supported by: Opportunities is a weekly e-update for the Wellington Region's arts sector, compiled by Arts Wellington http://www.artswellington.org.nz/. Arts Wellington Board members are: Lyndsey O'Reilly, Marketing Manager, St James Theatre & The Opera House; Cristine Angus, Director, Angus & Associates; David Perks, CEO, Positively Wellington Tourism; Bridget van der Zijpp, Freelance Writer/ Publicist: Pat Stuart, Chief Executive, Wellington Museums Trust; Alick Shaw; Steph Walker, Programme Manager, Bats Theatre; Jackie Hay, Manager, NZLive.com, Te Manatu Taonga - Ministry of Culture and Heritage. Opportunities' content includes (but is not limited to) sector news, situations vacant, events and opportunities. Content submissions should be kept brief and supplied to info@artswellington.org.nz one week prior to the event, however we can not guarantee inclusion of all content supplied. Please circulate this email and let us know of new subscribers. If you would like to unsubscribe, simply reply with 'Unsubscribe' in the subject field.
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