Spend an evening on Karangahape Rd and survey the heights of mountaineer film-making.
Take the night off
The monthly celebration First Thursdays along Karangahape Rd kicks off again tonight. The top of Pitt St will see performances from various musicians (think Murry Sweetpants, Fan Club and Jason Parker),
This edition of First Thursdays will also run in collaboration with Open Late. This will see 13 galleries opening between 5pm and 8pm, providing the opportunity to see multiple exhibitions throughout the evening. The Anna Miles Gallery will display works from the accomplished New Zealand-born Samoan photographer Edith Amituanai in The Hand you were dealt, an exhibition where photos taken between 2004 and 2023 are partnered to form eight pairs, taking the form of a card game.
The portraiture exhibition Artists on Artists will be open at Studio One Toi Tu, with the collection showcasing a collaborative process between the creatives who contribute. They are each asked to create a piece that portrays another artist featured in the collection. In the resulting exhibition, attendees can follow the pieces as if they’re links in a chain, moving from artist to subject.
Studio 445 will also open two exhibitions tonight. The Passing by Janet Hafoka is a photographic collection exploring ephemeral moments, framing still pauses of nature in motion. Lately will see three artists presenting perspectives on shifts in time, light and space.
Head to Kia Mau
Kia Mau will kick off in Te Whanganui-a-Tara this Friday, elevating mana whenua artists while also welcoming performers from Tāmaki Makaurau, Ōtepoti, the Pacific and Canada. The festival celebrates and showcases contemporary Indigenous works, filling the many venues in Wellington for a busy two-week run.
Opening the festival on Friday is singer-songwriter Aja with her live multimedia musical performance Manawa Pao at the Circa Theatre. The showcase fuses music with dance, art and visuals. Aja will be joined by an extensive band and play on both Friday and Saturday night.
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Advertise with NZME.A collection of musicians will come together for ‘Avaiki Nui Social, with Cook Islands String Bands set to present the story of Te Moana Nui a Kiva. The Michael Fowler Centre will host the event for one night only on June 10.
Hikule’o, from artistic director Sisi’uno Helu and choreographer Daniel Mateo, will play at Te Auaha from June 13 to 14. The work seeks to celebrate “the stories and mana of the paramount chieftess of Tonga’s underworld, Pulotu.” The title comes from the figure of Hikule’o, who “was responsible for harvesting, fertility and had supreme power over her brothers’ children”.
Kia Mau will run from June 2 to 17 across various venues in Wellington. See the full programme online.
Check-in on the weather
Over the last year, Te Tuhi has played host to artists, writers, ecologists and communities through an online exhibition, cataloguing responses to the climate crisis and expressing creative “weather reports”. As a part of the World Weather Network (a “constellation” of 28 international arts agencies), the gallery has presented different artistic approaches to cataloguing the weather and its effects, collected from contributors across Te Moana Nui a Kiwa. This June, in recognition of the digital project, the gallery will host an in situ exhibition of the works called Huarere: Weather Eye, Weather Ear. It will showcase the multimedia ‘reportage’ from the artists and collectives from June 4. Opening night is on June 3, from 4pm to 6pm.
Stroll an exhibition
Te Uru in Titirangi is currently showing a film from London-based film-maker and artist Ufuoma Essie, exploring an embodied experience of history in a process informed by a Black feminist epistemology. Is My Living in Vain brings together archival footage of many different forms, collating clips captured on VHS tapes, pulling short videos from YouTube and 16mm and 8mm footage. Essie explores the dynamics and infrapolitics within communities of the Black church in South London and West Philadelphia. The 40-minute film is currently showing in an immersive installation at Te Uru. The installation will close on July 23.
Head to a concert
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Advertise with NZME.Reb Fountain will play the Powerstation this Saturday, hitting the stage with tunes from her 2021 album Iris along with her latest single release, ‘Faithless Lover’. It’s the only show scheduled for the Taite Music Prize winner in Auckland this year, and the first time the artist will play the Powerstation venue. Viva’s Karl Puschmann wrote of Iris, “There’s moments of great beauty that emerge suddenly out of dark passages to bask in the light. But it’s also quick to scuttle back into the shadows lest you get too comfy in the warmth. From the moment you press play it envelops you.” Tickets are available from Ticketmaster.co.nz
Explore film-making’s greatest heights
The Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival has begun touring the country, screening international short films and documentaries about mountaineering, sports and environmentalism. This weekend, the festival makes stops in Ōtautahi Christchurch at the Aurora Centre and Nelson’s Annesbrook Church. A highlight of the programme is the short film Nuisance Bear, which follows polar bears on their path of migration through Churchill, Manitoba. It captures the trials of navigating the tourists who attempt to photograph them and the wildlife officers who step into their desired trails. The festival is hosted by the New Zealand Alpine Club and tickets are available through Eventbrite.co.nz. The festival will also tour Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, New Plymouth, Wellington and more throughout June.
Explore photographic ‘resistance’
The Auckland Photography Festival is up and running, with over 220 artists exhibiting their work across galleries and outdoor installations in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s the 20th year of the celebration, and the theme across the 55 exhibitions is ‘resistance.’
Photographer Emma Bass will debut a vibrant collection of floral portraiture in Florassemblage. The eye-catching works blend the mediums of photography and painting, capturing fruits, flowers and ceramics in an ultra-precise collage style. The still-life pieces are intricate as the artist’s techniques allow for total control over the compositions. The works will be displayed at Mt Eden’s Ellerton Gallery, from June 1 to 11.
The late Ans Westra CNZM was a documentary photographer with tremendous influence and a deep portfolio, capturing the “ordinary life” of people and places for over 60 years. In keeping with the theme of this year’s festival, the exhibition showcases images taken by Westra during moments of protest, with coverage from the 1981 Springbok Tour, the 1982 Māori land protest at Waitangi, the trade union protest march, and the pro-abortion marches through the 1970s. Westra’s work will be exhibited outdoors, across the Queens Wharf Fence on Quay St, from June 1 to July 30.
In 1984, Wellington-based photographer Peter Scott road-tripped the North Island of NZ with a 35mm camera, capturing break-dancing performances of local dance teams. The black-and-white images offer a striking historical record of the time, filled with energy and movement. Dancing in the Streets will be shown at Pah Homestead until June 25.
Book ahead
Add films to your wishlist
The New Zealand International Film Festival has announced new documentaries that have been selected for its 2023 programme. The Grab is an investigative thriller from the director of Blackfish, which explores the structures of power behind the control and distribution of food and water. Subject is a piece that takes stock of the ethics of documentary film-making, engaging with the subjects of popular films from the past decade. Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power comes from independent feminist film-maker Nina Menkes and dissects issues of objectification and its relation to real-life discrimination.
The final programme announcement for NZIFF will come late in June, and the festival will play in July and September throughout the country. Currently, there is a wishlist option for the festival — you can highlight your personal must-sees and get notifications when tickets go on sale.
Book in for a show
Basmati Bitch is set to premiere at the Q Theatre in July, with SquareSums&Co, Oriental Madiens and Auckland Theatre Company collaborating to bring the dynamic, genre-bending showcase to the stage. The theatre piece follows retired fighter turned illegal MMA fighter Shiva in a chaotic, action-packed romp through a contraband black market in a futuristic Aotearoa. The piece is directed by Ahi Karunaharan (A Fine Balance, My Heart Goes Thadak Thadak, Tea), with Nathan Joe (Scenes from a Yellow Peril, I Am Rachel Chu) and Jane Yonge (Scenes from a Yellow Peril, The Basement Tapes) as the production’s dramaturges. Screenwriter and first-time playwright Ankita Singh is the voice behind the action-packed script, and says, “Basmati Bitch was born from a desire to see empowered South Asian women in a high-concept story.” An extra week has been added to the run due to high demand; the play will run from July 11 to 23. Tickets are available from Atc.co.nz
