• Venice Biennale exhibition opens
• Kiwi musicians to play Glastonbury
• New showcase for artists' work
• Arts Pasifika Awards nominations
• Writers & Readers Festival
• REAL New Zealand Festival
• Staff changes

Venice Biennale exhibition opens

Michael Parekowhai exhibition opens at the 2011 Venice Biennale

Michael Parekowhai’s Venice Biennale exhibition On first Looking into Chapman’s Homer has opened in Venice.

The beautiful voice of New Zealand opera singer Aivale Cole welcomed more than 300 guests as she performed a mix of European arias and waiata at the New Zealand Pavilion - Palazzo Loredan dell’Ambasciatore.

There was a ‘surprise’ in Venice for those who had previously viewed the work in Henderson, Auckland. The intricately-carved Steinway concert grand piano, He Korero Purakau mo Te Awanui o Te Motu: story of a New Zealand river has been repainted a deep red from its original black.

The new colour scheme reflects the flag of the Venice republic (red and gold) and the brass inlay is now gold, a clever feat of alchemy; “Alchemist is an anagram of St Michael”.

Reflecting on the installation in Venice, Michael Parekowhai said he is waiting to see how the work unfolds. “After the event back home in Henderson, the installation is now in its intended location and the emphasis is now on its reception in Venice.”

On first looking into Chapman’s Homer pays tribute to the poem of the same title by the nineteenth-century English romantic poet John Keats. The work references notions of discovery, exploration, and the cultural interplay between the old and new worlds.

Music and performance are a central aspect of the installation, of which Parekowhai says, “While the objects in On first looking into Chapman’s Homer are important, much of the real meaning of the work will come through music, which fills space like no object can.”

In addition to the carved Steinway concert grand piano, there are two concert grands fabricated in bronze supporting two cast bronze bulls. On one piano a full-size bull rests on the closed lid (A Peak in Darian) with its massive body suggesting the folding forms of landscape. On the other piano (Chapman’s Homer) the bull is standing firm offering an eye-to-eye challenge for anyone prepared to take a seat at the keyboard. The installation also features a figure from the Kapa Haka series (Officer Taumaha) and two small bronze olive tree saplings (Constitution Hill).

Commissioner Jenny Harper says, “On first looking at Chapman’s Homer is topical and creates a sense of drama and surprise for audiences.”

Five New Zealand pianists will perform a mix of New Zealand, jazz and classical music on the carved Steinway piano throughout the five-month exhibition. The public will also be provided with the opportunity to play the piano at the discretion of the pianist.

Creative New Zealand has invested $700,000 in the exhibition with a record level of patronage support of $315,000 raised. Other support has been received from Te Papa Tongarewa, Invivo Wines, Antipodes Water, Helleman’s Transport and The Edge.

You can follow the exhibition at www.nzatvenice.com or on Facebook at New Zealand at the Venice Biennale

 

Kiwi musicians to play Glastonbury

New Zealand musicians to play Glastonbury Festival and the Big Chill

A group of top Kiwi musicians are set to perform at the renowned Glastonbury Music Festival this month after impressing festival booker Malcolm Haynes.

Shapeshifter, Ladi6, Electric Wire Hustle, King Kapisi and Bella Kalolo will join international acts U2, Coldplay and Beyonce at the sold-out festival which attracts around 135,000 attendees each year, with Shapeshifter set for a main stage show.

Ladi6, Shapeshifter and Electric Wire Hustle have also been booked by Haynes to play the Big Chill festival near Brighton in August with headliners Kanye West and The Chemical Brothers.

“I love your music scene out there! Consider me a music ambassador for New Zealand,” says Haynes, who was in New Zealand as part of the Creative New Zealand Te Manu Ka Tau incoming visitors’ programme.

Creative New Zealand brings international presenters to New Zealand in March each year to raise their awareness of local talent and give New Zealand performers and producers the opportunity to promote themselves. Along with showcasing performers at international markets such as the Australasian World Music Expo (AWME) and World Music Expo (WOMEX) in Denmark, the Te Manu Ka Tau programme builds the profile and recognition of New Zealand talent overseas.

The programme is part of a strategic initiative to position the best of New Zealand arts and artists to achieve lasting success in target overseas markets.

"Our experience has shown us that artists need opportunities to connect with international presenters.  Our role is to be a conduit for creating those opportunities,” says Creative New Zealand chief executive Stephen Wainwright.

Ladi6 was booked after this year’s Sounds Aotearoa music expo while Electric Wire Hustle, King Kapisi and Bella Kalolo were selected after showcasing at the Australasian World Music Expo (AWME) in November last year.

New showcase for artists' work

Showcase for funded work launched on website

Artists, arts practitioners or arts organisations can now showcase their Creative New Zealand-funded work on our website.

We want to show New Zealanders and the arts community how our funding is used in an engaging and inspiring way – so what could be better than having great New Zealand art on our website.

Each artist, practitioner or organisation can create an account, and for each piece of work upload:

• images – of completed work or the creative process
• an excerpt describing the work
• details of who was involved in the work
• sound and video clips
• links to reviews and other websites

Research we did recently told us that people wanted to know who was getting funded by Creative New Zealand and how those funds were being used.  We think this new showcase – along with Who got Funded – will help us achieve this.

Browse the ever-growing list of exceptional work that has been uploaded at Funded artists and their work.

If we’ve funded your work then feel free to sign-up and showcase your work.

 

Arts Pasifika Awards nominations

Nominations called for the Creative New Zealand Arts Pasifika Awards 2011

The Creative New Zealand Arts Pasifika Awards celebrate excellence in Pacific arts in New Zealand.

The five awards acknowledge both established and emerging Pacific Island artists who characterise the richness and diversity of Pacific culture in this country.

If you would like to nominate someone or even yourself, you can download nomination forms from the Creative New Zealand website or contact Makerita Urale, Senior Programme Adviser-Pacific Arts, Creative New Zealand, 04 498 0729 or makerita.urale@creativenz.govt.nz.

The closing date for nominations is 5pm Friday 24 June 2011.

 

The Creative New Zealand Arts Pasifika Awards 2011 categories are:

• Senior Pacific Artists’ Award ($10,000) recognises the contribution of a senior established Pacific artist in maintaining or developing his or her art form in New Zealand.
• Pacific Heritage Arts Award ($5000) recognises an artist or cultural group who has made a major contribution to maintaining, reviving or promoting a Pacific heritage artform in New Zealand. This will include language, dance, traditional music, weaving, and tatau.
• Pacific Contemporary Arts Award ($5000) recognises an artist or group who has demonstrated innovation within their art form. Artists must have a track record and have achieved in their chosen field. Recognition will be given to those who work in a unique art form, or those who continually push the boundaries of their practice.
• Iosefa Enari Memorial Award ($4000) recognises the contribution of the late Iosefa Enari to the arts and in particular his pioneering role in Pacific opera. This study/travel award supports the career development of individual Pacific singers across all classical vocal genres and career stages.
• Emerging Pacific Artists’ Award ($4000) recognises an emerging artist or group showing promise and potential in their chosen art form. The purpose of this award is to recognise achievement at this developmental stage ensuring that the artist/group will develop their career further in their chosen field.

 

Writers & Readers Festival

Creative New Zealand’s Te Manu Ka Tau programme and the Auckland Writers & Readers Festival 2011

Seven international publishers, literary scouts and festival directors experienced New Zealand literature first-hand at last month’s Auckland Writers & Readers Festival.

As part of Creative New Zealand’s Te Manu Ka Tau – Flying Friends programme the international guests took part in five days of forums, meetings and Festival events.

Te Manu Ka Tau aims to provide international guests with a context and taste of New Zealand writing and publishing, and an opportunity for local publishers to meet, network and discuss opportunities.

This year’s guests included:

• Alvina Ling – an Executive Editor at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, USA
• Steven Maat  – publisher of the commercial fiction list of A.W. Bruna Publishers, Netherlands
• Kao Ming Mei – the editor-in-chief of Hsin Yi Publications, Taiwan
• Tom Mayer – a senior editor at Norton, USA
• Barbara Rozycki – an international literary scout, London, UK
• Alexis Washam – a senior editor at Crown Trade Paperbacks, USA
• Hal Wake – Artistic Director of the Vancouver International Writers’ Festival, Canada

The visitors were able to learn a lot about New Zealand writing in short space of time. As Tom Mayer summed it up “meeting Kiwi publishers and authors, getting a chance to visit the festival and be on panels, seeing Auckland in its autumn brilliance – it was an unforgettable experience.”

 

REAL New Zealand Festival

A showcase for arts and culture

The REAL New Zealand Festival is running nationwide from 9 September to 24 October to celebrate New Zealand arts and culture during Rugby World Cup 2011.

If you’ve got events or a show on at that time that highlights our culture, tells a New Zealand story, or showcases our arts and artists, the festival would like to hear from you.

Being part of the REAL New Zealand Festival means your event or experience is included in a nationwide marketing programme targeting visitors to New Zealand for Rugby World Cup 2011 and New Zealanders on the road.

Email your queries and ideas to festival@nz2011.govt.nz.

REAL New Zealand Festival Widget

The REAL New Zealand Festival has developed this interactive tile that anyone can put on their website to let visitors know about festival events.

If you’re a website owner, go to www.nz2011.govt.nz/resources/widgets, download a line of code (and select all of New Zealand or a region) and paste it onto your site. Events will start displaying automatically.

The widget is a standard banner size of 300x250 pixels. For more information and events info go to www.realnzfestival.com.

 

Staff changes

Creative New Zealand simplifies internal structure

To make it simpler and easier for our clients to access our services, Creative New Zealand is reducing the number of customer-facing teams from four to two – arts funding and capability building – with one senior manager overseeing each area.

Historically, responsibility for these activities has been split across four senior managers, which was overly complicated for our clients and us.

We are making these changes to better reflect the programmes and activities we offer to our clients with the new teams replacing Arts Development, Arts Infrastructure Services, Māori Arts Services and International.

Jane Clarke (formerly senior manager, Arts Infrastructure Services) will be Senior Manager Arts Funding, which will include the areas of:

• Māori Arts Funding 
• Arts and Quick Response Grants
• Creative Communities Scheme
• Arts Leadership Investment (Toi Tōtara Haemata) and Arts Development Investment (Toi Uru Kahikatea)

Cath Cardiff (formerly senior manager, Arts Development) will be Senior Manager, Arts Policy, Capability and International, which will include the areas of:

• Arts Policy Development
• International and National Audience and Market  Development, and Capability Building

Creative New Zealand has created two new roles, which are:

• Manager, Arts Investments, responsible for delivering the Arts Leadership Investment (Toi Tōtara Haemata) and Arts Development Investment (Toi Uru Kahikatea) programmes and reporting to the Senior Manager, Arts Funding
• Manager, International and Capability Building, responsible for managing our international and capability building programmes and reporting to the Senior Manager, Arts Policy, Capability Building and International.

Senior role in Māori engagement

Māori Arts grants will continue to be managed by Haniko Te Kurapa. Muriwai Ihakara will take up a role as Senior Manager Māori Engagement.

He will be responsible for providing strategic leadership and for improving Creative New Zealand’s delivery to Māori arts development including advising staff so they have the knowledge and skills to engage more effectively with their Māori clients.

Creative New Zealand began implementing these internal changes from 1 June 2011.