Louise Tu’u’s play Providence is described as a “raw, ambiguous and quietly deafening”. It plays “old videos, writes letters to the audience” and gives the impression of being “a spectator in its own work”. Inspired by Auckland’s homeless communities, Providence is the fictional performance of a homeless man and his return home. It challenges assumptions about the “derries” or derelicts that inhabit a lot of shelters, inner-city shop fronts and deserted alleys around Central Auckland. The play was first staged exclusively for Auckland’s homeless community. Louise was the first New Zealand or Pacific Island playwright to be awarded the Royal Court International Theatre Residency in London. Bookings are now open and the public can purchase tickets from www.iticketexpress.co.nz. Providence will stage from 20 to 23 October, 2010 at Auckland’s Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland CBD.
A paid internship at world-renowned WETA Workshops, tuition fees at Auckland University or an overseas trip are still up for grabs for three outstanding young Pacific people – but they need to act fast as time to apply is nearly up. The offers are open to winners of the inaugural Prime Minister’s Pacific Youth Awards, announced last month and open for nominations until 11 October. The awards are being administered by the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs, although selection is by an independent panel. “We know that there are many fabulous young leaders out there in our Pacific communities – we would really like to see as many of them as possible take advantage of this opportunity,” Ministry chief executive Dr Colin Tukuitonga says. The awards are in three categories: Creativity, sponsored by WETA Workshops, Inspiration, sponsored by globally successful software company COGITA and Leadership, sponsored by top tertiary institution the University of Auckland. Nominees need to be 17-24, of Pacific descent with New Zealand residency, and able to demonstrate community involvement, integrity, and success in one of the three award categories. The closing date for nominations is 11 October, and winners will be announced 19 November. All information, including entry forms and details of the awards, can be found at www.pacificyouthawards.org.nz.
Fabrics have a long tradition of informing the matriarchal descent lines across cultures. Last year, artist Paula Schaafhausen purchased a sewing machine so that she could create garments from the many precious fabrics stored in her family dowry box. She says that she has been teaching herself to sew in the last year and in the process, she has become inspired to create art works that record the time between the memories contained within the box, and the new memories they will create when they become garments in their own right. Schaafhausen says ‘the art works have become my investigations into the purpose of thread, and how thread metaphorically connects me to the past and the future’. Material Culture is sponsored by the Fresh Gallery Otara and runs until 2 October 2010. The artist will talk about her work at 12 noon on Saturday 25 September. (Image: ‘Flora MacDonald’, 2010. Courtesy of Fresh Gallery Otara)
Tanu Gago is a south Auckland-based Samoan filmmaker who has been working with Ema Tavola of Fresh Gallery Otara to produce his first solo exhibition, ‘You Love My Fresh’ which has just opened at Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts, Manukau City. The experimental video installation explores Samoan identity, intergenerational cultural transmission and gender in South Auckland. Tanu was a contributing artist to the smallaxe09 project, a collaborative video work produced by Janet Lilo and Ema Tavola as part of the invitational exhibition profiling new art venues at Auckland’s ARTSPACE gallery in September 2009. Tanu’s short film, The Woods, also featured in the inaugural Manukau Film Festival in 2008. The exhibition is co-sponsored by Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts, Fresh Gallery Otara and continues at Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts, 13 Reeves Road, Pakuranga, Manukau City until 5 December 2010. (Image courtesy of Fresh Gallery Otara)
Sandra Tupu has taken out the top two awards at the recent 2010 Westfield Style Pasifika Fashion Awards. Her three piece collection, Tatau, won the Supreme Award and her menswear design of the same name took out second place. Judge Denise L’Estrange-Corbet said Tupu was a stand-out winner: “Her garments were modern, had quirky twists, which we always like, and blended together really well. It was a very commercial collection. It could be put straight into a store, and will sell, and that is what it is about.” Tupu is 45 and recently graduated from Auckland University of Technology where she earned a Bachelor of Design majoring in fashion specialising in menswear. Samoan tatau is the inspiration behind her winning designs. Speaking to the NZ Herald, Sandra said “the art of tatau is deeply embedded into Samoan culture and history and my collection explores this. It’s part of my heritage, my inspiration and my passion.” (Image adapted from the Westfield Style Pasifika website). The full list of this year’s winners is:
Supreme Award - Sandra Tupu (Titirangi, Auckland) – $3000
Runner up – Sandra Tupu (Titirangi, Auckland) – $2000
All category winners receive a $1000 Cash Award.
MAC Pasifika Body Art
Winner: Yolanda Bartram
Runner up: Jane Ellis
Youthtown Traditionally Inspired
Winner: Lindah Lepou & Louina Fifita (Mt Eden, Auckland)
Runner up: Kohai Grace (Porirua)
Resene Asia Pasifika
Winner: Vanessa Roscoe (Mangere, Auckland)
Runner up: Margaret Lewis (Westmere, Auckland)
MAX Three Piece Collection of Day Wear
Winner: Sandra Tupu (Titirangi, Auckland)
Runner up: Blaire Archibald (Mt Eden, Auckland)
NZAF Pasifika Hero
Winner: James Leuii (Westmere, Auckland)
Runner up: Naomi Spicer & Terry Whaitiri (Parnell, Auckland)
Flava Urban Street Wear
Winner: Margaret Lewis (Westmere, Auckland)
Runner up: Fa’afoi Robyn Seaso (Porirua)
Barkers Pasifika Menswear
Winner: Sandra Tupu (Titirangi, Auckland)
Runner up: Amber Bridgman (Dunedin)
getfunkd Hutt Evening Wear
Winner: Sharah Friis (Tauranga)
Runner up: Hayley Erasmus (Mt Maunganui)
Pacific Blue Pasifika Bridal
Winner: Debra Laraman (KatiKati)
Runner up: Visesio Louis Thomsen (Manurewa, Auckland)
Te Puni Kōkiri Parent & Child
Winner: Erna Van Der Wat (Rothesay Bay, Auckland)
Runner up: Hannah Blackburn (Palmerston North)
On the cusp of a new decade, a group of senior-level art students demonstrate what it means to create art in an environment no longer bound by rigid geographical notions of place. A large-scale multimedia exhibition opening at St Paul Street Gallery in on 9 September and running until the 24th, Make/Shift will present the viewer with the exciting array of art that is being produced by Auckland’s Pacific innovators throughout the city’s five tertiary institutions. Curator Nina Tonga says that owing to globalisation, the Pacific identity has become increasingly interconnected across traditional geographical boundaries, and these artists’ work provides an insight into art-making practices in a ‘post-colonial, post-migration, post-facebook world’. The line-up features Luke Willis Thompson, Mele ’Uhamaka, Ane Tonga, Tony Tia, Caroline Cotter, Victoria Patea, Vaimoana Eves, Selina Woulfe, Chloe Marsters and Nastashia Simeona. Make/shift is organised by the Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust and opens at 5.30pm on 9 September with a special guest performance by Black Grace. Artists and curator will walk and talk about their work at 2pm on 18 September.
Celebrated Samoan actor Nathaniel Lees is looking for three or four major characters to take over to Samoa for a film written and will be directed by Tauti Tusi Tamasese. Lees is associate producer for the film and says the dialogue of the film will all be in Samoan, with subtitles, and shot entirely in Samoa between October and December this year. The characters are:
- Va’aiga: Mid – late 30’s Samoan woman. Slim, she is very asthmatic and the loss of weight is an indication of how ill she is – her illness contributes to her death in the film.
- Poto: 40 – 50 years old Samoan man . Large build. He is Va’aiga’s brother and the talking chief of the village
- Maleka: Samoan woman aged in her late 20s – early 30s. Build is open but she has had 2 children and she can be intimidating both physically and as a character.
All New Zealand based actors must obviously be fluent in Samoan. The remainder of the cast will be found in Samoa. Interested individuals should contact Nathaniel Lees at nathaniel.lees@gmail.com within the next week (by Wednesday 8 September 2010) and if possible, provide a photo of themselves.
Much-lauded Pacific writer and poet Albert Wendt will read from his award-winning novel in verse, The Adventures of Vela, at the Going West Books & Writers festival at Waitakere City’s Titirangi War Memorial Hall on Sunday 12 September 2010 (10.30-11.15 am). The novel chronicles Samoa’s immortal song maker Vela and other divine figures, and was awarded the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize for the South East Asia and the Pacific earlier this year. The reading will include a conversation with Nga Puhi poet and librarian, Robert Sullivan, in which Albert will reflect on his latest book – and a lifetime of telling and tales.
Wellington based multi-media visual artist Sheyne Tuffery, best known for the dynamic style of his prints and woodcuts, is exhibiting Tectonic Plates at Wellington’s Solander Gallery (218 Willis Street). The exhibition is a reflection on New Zealand’s geological history as a singular landmass and natural sanctuary for a vast array of bird species including those that are now extinct, like the giant penguin. Inspired by research into his Samoan heritage and a fascination with New Zealand’s geological history, Sheyne uses his work to create and represent his own cultural context and sense of belonging. The exhibition runs from 8 September to 2 October 2010. Tectonic Plates comes hot on the heels of Sheyne’s other current exhibition, Wahine Atua And The Sonar Interference which runs until 12 September 2010 at Lower Hutt’s Mount Marua Gallery. (Image adapted from the Solander Gallery website)
Niu Pasifik is an exhibition of contemporary art from New Zealand and the Pacific Rim from the personal collection of curator and educator Giles Peterson. It features multi-media work including graph art, painting, drawing, animation, hip hop music video, sculpture, photography, installation, embroidery textile and street fashion. The exhibition is in its final days and closes this Sunday, 5 September, 2010 at the Mount Marua Gallery in Upper Hutt, Wellington. (Image adapted from the Expressions Arts and Entertainment Centre website)
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