Make the most of the Auckland Arts Festival, kick off EcoFest in style and book ahead for some big gigs.
Appease your appetite
The Food Truck Collective is set to gather at Te Atatū Peninsula this Friday and at Remuera’s Martyn Wilson Fields this Saturday. The trucks will bring a
See a movie for a fundraiser
Searching for Tom Curren plays tonight at The Hollywood Avondale, with $20 from each ticket added to the cinema’s Cyclone Gabrielle relief fundraiser (these donations will go directly to the Auckland West Coast Surfing Community).
The 1996 film follows Curren, a three-time World Surfing Champion, as he decides to leave the competitive world of the sport and travels to discover new waves around the world. It’s also an intimate profile piece on the famous surfer, exploring his unique philosophy and humble character. Tickets are $35.
Explore printmaking, sculpture and porcelain
The Aratoi Wairarapa Museum of Art and History has three exhibitions open this weekend, weaving together stories of time through different artistic mediums. Celebration welcomes the work of printmakers, honouring 20 years of the Print Council of Aotearoa New Zealand while looking forward to the future of the practice. Burn it all down features six artists, who utilise fire, destruction and obsolescence in their work, seeking to comment on the concept of fragility and the need for care. Conversations Through Time connects the late Alice Vallance Hosking, a producer of carved pieces and paintings in sketchbooks, and Kirsty Gardiner, a ceramicist and textile artist who was inspired by Alice’s sketchbooks.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.Check out a major sale
Entire Studios, Black Box Boutique, That Looks, Pecchenino, Beach Brains and Mei Lan are coming together for a weekend-long fashion sale, Friday to Sunday, in Grey Lynn. The Public Library showroom will house the brands, with up to 70 per cent off stock. To prepare for the assessment of the autumn wardrobe, you might think about what you need to fill in the gaps.
Stroll through an exhibition
Queen Fiapoto: switch, code, reverse is now open at Tautai Gallery on Karangahape Rd, presenting an “exercise in agency” from five young Samoan artists. The exhibition, as a result of the collaboration of Malae/Co, works across several different disciplines. The collective posits that the project seeks to “redefine the act of code-switching and unpack the need to wear masks.” The exhibition runs until May 6.
Head along to EcoFest
A month-long celebration of sustainability gets underway this week, with EcoFest kicking off in Tāmaki Makaurau. The festival is set to host various events encouraging sustainable living, from vegetable gardening workshops to nature journaling classes. A sustainable fashion show, Re-wear, Re-pair, Re-imagine, will open the festival this Friday evening, with the magnetic Constance Maraj hosting the pre-loved, upcycled designer catwalk. With canapes from Kai Café and a demonstration from Love Food Hate Waste, the night is certain to explore the glamour of greener living.
Enjoy Pasifika Festival
Western Springs is set to host Pasifika Festival this Saturday and Sunday, with eight villages hosting an abundance of performances from 11 nations across the Pacific. It’s a huge weekend of music, dance, fashion shows and community which highlights “the beauty and vibrancy of Pacific Island culture.” More than 100 stalls with kai, craft and retail goods will also be scattered around the grounds. The event is free and family-friendly, and the festival will celebrate its 31st anniversary this year.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.See a New Zealand music icon
Black Sheep singer-songwriter Gin Wigmore continues to tour the country over the next few weeks, playing her newest single, Somebody’s Gonna Die Tonight, along with other major hits from her discography. She will be visiting Nelson, Raglan, Tauranga, Auckland and Leigh, with special guest and rising star Rita Mae playing at some shows. Wigmore’s raspy vocals and pop-rock tracks are distinct and instantly recognisable sounds in our local music scene, and she’s set to entertain national audiences with her show. Tickets are available through Livenation.co.nz
Book in for the Auckland Arts Festival
Te Ahurei Toi O Tāmaki continues this week, with many more events sweeping the city in celebration. There’s Light Night, which will see the city’s galleries open late on Saturday night, with exhibitions, dance performances and DJ sets lined up for viewing through an art hīkoi (Aotea Square, Gus Fisher Gallery and Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki are just some of the galleries along the trail). The critically praised The Picture of Dorian Gray opens Saturday night and runs until March 25. Tuesday’s session also includes a pre-show talk moderated by Auckland Pride’s creative director, Nathan Joe. He Huia Kaimanawa, a performance that uses movement, voice and technology to respond to “the resurfacing, reclaiming and honouring of te reo Māori,” runs from tonight until Sunday.
There are many more special showings, including theatre pieces, such as Emil and the Detectives and Skyduck, exhibitions, like Selwyn Muru: A Life’s Work, and concerts, like Judith Hill’s Australasian debut, to get excited about.
Sail away
Making a splash in Otautahi Christchurch this weekend is the inaugural ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix, a new event on Aotearoa’s sailing calendar, which makes its long-awaited debut in Whakaraupō Lyttelton Harbour. Speedy catamarans (all identical, and made in Warkworth) will hit the waves this weekend for fast-paced sailing - each race takes 15 minutes — with the New Zealand team featuring household names Peter Burling and Blair Tuke. Guests will watch the racing in a Colosseum-style amphitheatre at Naval Point and explore the harborside village created exclusively for this event — while those without tickets can catch all the action of SailGP live on Sky Sport and Three, March 18 and 19 from 3-4.30pm.
Peruse a plant fair
If something soothing is what you need, then heading along to the Ayrlies Plant Fair could be just the thing. Keen green thumbs can pick up some new additions to their plant family and meet specialists, and anyone can enjoy a reflective, restorative walk around the beautiful property. Spanning more than 6ha of gardens and 14ha of wetlands, Ayrlies Garden in South Auckland was created by Bev McConnell, and the serene spot has nearly six decades of development and love poured into it. There’s will be a pop-up café on site for the fair. Friday, March 17 and Saturday, March 18. Entry fee to Ayrlies Plant Fair is $15, and proceeds go to the charitable trust that administers the garden.
BOOK AHEAD
See some unique ceramic pieces
The Driving Creek Railway and Potteries Gallery is set to host a unique exhibition in the Coromandel. Anneke Borren and Caitlin Moloney will welcome visitors to see Two Birds, a ceramics exhibit that showcases pieces made through the collaboration of the two artists. Both artists are “inspired by social anthropology, of how humans are shaped by and connected to the natural world” and their works seek to reflect those conversations and ideas. Each piece blurs the line between domestic ware and embellished sculpture, making them both familiar and strange. The exhibition opens March 24 and closes April 9.
Grab tickets for a comedy show
NZ TV staple James Roque (Have You Been Paying Attention, The Masked Singer NZ, The NZ Comedy Gala) is set to entertain audiences at the Basement Theatre from March 23. His show Badong, which derives its name from Roque’s family nickname, explores turning 30 and finding joy in adulthood.
Start memorising some lyrics
Musical theatre juggernaut Hamilton will make its NZ debut in Tāmaki Makaurau on May 26, spending more than two weeks on the stage in Spark Arena. The show has won Tony, Grammy and Pulitzer awards, and is famous for its distinct sound which draws on hip-hop, R ‘n’ B, pop, soul and Broadway show tunes. Jason Arrow will star as the titular Alexander Hamilton and Matu Ngaropo will play George Washington. Tickets for the show are on sale and available through Ticketmaster.co.nz
Reserve a night for a concert
General tickets for Tiny Ruins’ Ceremony album-release tour are now on sale. The indie folk ensemble will tour the country from May 11, following up the last record Olympic Girls, which was a finalist for the Taite Music Prize. The upcoming album is teased as an exploration of intimacy and connection, due for release on April 28.
