High street to the hills, issue 26

Events worth noting around the country

Words: Ann Warnock

2009 New Zealand Body Art Awards Show

25 July, Bruce Mason Centre, Auckland

Think hunchbacked, scaly swamp monsters, glow-in-the-dark children and ethereal other-worldly beings gliding across a catwalk … this is the stuff of the annual body art awards that celebrate the work of practitioners engaged in this unique medium. The event showcases the creative excellence of students, graduates and professionals and will feature hand-painted, special-effects and World of Fluorescent categories as well as a cutting-edge interpretation of New Zealand culture in the Maori Myths and Fantasies section.

Phone (09) 486 8028, www.bodyartawards.co.nz

Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park

Wednesdays 5.30 to 7.00pm, 22 July to 12 August, Central Library, Otago University, Dunedin

Compare the light and sparkling novel Pride and Prejudice with its successor, the seriously hued Mansfield Park, in a short course tailor-made for Jane Austen fans. The course is conducted by international authority Emeritus Professor Jocelyn Harris and includes discussion on recent film and television adaptations.

Phone (03) 479 5191, www.otago.ac.nz/courses/continuingeducation

Petone Winter Carnival

18 July, Petone foreshore

Mid-winter madness takes hold as several hundred hardy souls, dressed in outrageous ensembles, charge into Wellington Harbour as part of Petone’s family-focused festival. The carnival includes circus workshops, the creation of a giant communal chalk drawing, a cluster of the country’s top sculptors creating artworks from combustible materials which are lit and floated off the foreshore and a dramatic 15-minute fireworks display along the length of the Petone wharf. Phone (04) 560 0309,

www.wintercarnival.co.nz

Ronnie van Hout: Who goes there

4 July to 18 October, Christchurch Art Gallery / Te Puna O Waiwhetu

Billed as a twisting journey through new and recent works by the Christchurch-born, Melbourne-based artist, this collection of absurdist installations asks viewers to think well outside the square. Unfolding through a series of linked rooms, the journey takes in peep-holes, failed robots, shadowy room-sized sculptures and includes something strange and new from Antarctica. The artist is revered for his funny and haunting variations onthe self-portrait – this show delivers.

Phone (03) 941 7300, www.christchurchartgallery.org.nz

2009 Tarnished Frocks and Divas

20 to 22 August, Baycourt Theatre, Tauranga

The theme of this year’s retro fashion and performance-art show, embracing inventiveness and the joy of life, is Frockumentary – Travelling with Divas through the Decades. Begun in 2005 by a group of women in memory of a friend lost to cancer, the show has burgeoned into a bi-annual national event. It comprises a catwalk presentationof retro clothing revamped and contemporized and open to all who dream of seeing their creations under lights. The Divas, all of whom are 40-plus, will sing, dance and pull some surprises. Comedian Jackie Clarke is part of the jollity. Phone (07) 928 0284,

www.tfandd.co.nz

Quest – works by Pippa Sanderson

Wednesday to Saturday,14 August to 12 September, Photospace, 1st Floor, 37 Courtenay Place, Wellington

A curiosity about the relationship between this world and the other has consistently informed Pippa’s practice and the photographs in her Quest series are infused with a milky, ectoplasmic quality reminiscent of the spirit photography of the late-Victorian/early-Edwardian period. Using a second-hand Polaroid Spirit 600 camera, she has produced photographs that explore the eerie world of the subconscious and appear to offer the viewer a glimpse of the other side.

Phone (04) 382 9502, www.photospace.co.nz

Ballet for Boys

9 August, Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch

Young male dance students often work in isolation and this Royal New Zealand Ballet initiative is a chance for them to mix with professional role models. Participants meet the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s male dancers, watch them in an everyday company class and take part in a class led by company ballet master, Greg Horsman. The session is open to boys aged 10 and over. Similar workshops are scheduled for Wellington and Auckland.

Phone (04) 381 9001, www.nzballet.org.nz/community

French & Saunders First and Final Farewell New Zealand Tour

31 July to 4 August, The Civic,THE EDGE, Auckland

For the first-ever – and final – time, Britain’s grandes dames of comedy bring giggles, snorts, tee-hees and titters to New Zealand. Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders have given the world some of TV’s most iconic comedic characters from the lovesick Reverend Geraldine Granger to the champagne-swilling, drug-hoovering Edina Monsoon. The show features the best sketches from the duo’s illustrious three-decade career as well as some brand-new material. Phone 0800 BUY TICKETS,

www.the-edge.co.nz

New Zealand Affordable Art Show

31 July to 2 August, TSB Bank Arena, Wellington

Designed for the recession budgets of both serious collectors and newcomers to the art market, this feast of talent under one roof comprises a vast array of styles and mediums. More than 800 new, emerging and established artists showcase and sell over 2500 works priced between $100 and $5000. Now in its sixth year, this event started with a bevy of art-loving Wellingtonians wanting to create an opportunity for Aotearoa’s artists to ramp up their profiles.

Phone (04) 387 4370, www.affordableart.co.nz

Wanganui Festival of Glass

19 September to 4 October, Wanganui

Wanganui has forged an international reputation as a hub for glass artists and this vibrant festival reveals the true extent of the city’s talent. The 2009 event also salutes the bright future of the Wanganui Glass School, the only place in New Zealand to offer the globally recognized Diploma in Glass Design and Production. Exhibitions, glass-blowing demos, lectures, artists in action and a public lecture and workshop by acclaimed American glass artist Josh Simpson are part of the big buzz.

Phone (06) 347 1921, www.wanganuiglass.co.nz

Foxton Spring Fling

5 September, Foxton

With its big-time carnival atmosphere, Foxton’s spring celebration offers merrymaking Horowhenua-style with a massive street parade, horse and tram rides, food stalls, an arts and crafts market, a display of big boys’ toys and music from local bands. Tulips and daffodils add colour to the main street of this historic little township and there’s even a best-spring-bloom competition. Phone (06) 363 5333,

www.foxton.org.nz

Winter Games NZ

21 to 30 August, Otago

Watch some of the best snow action ever seen in New Zealand during this elite winter sports event when 800 of the world’s top athletes compete in 26 different snow-sport disciplines. From figure-skating and alpine skiing to curling and ice hockey, this Kiwi-based competition is viewed as a vital training ground for the forthcoming Winter Olympics in Vancouver next year. Away from the competition, join the spectator action in downtown Queenstown and Wanaka.

Phone (03) 443 4085, www.wintergamesnz.com

Central Hawke’s Bay: The Festival 2009

3 to 6 September, Pukeora Estate, Waipukurau

Billed as the best country fair in the land, this follows a tried-and-true formula – superb art, antiques, oriental rugs, more than 80 craft stalls, food and wine stalls, fresh coffee, country lunches and the best view in Central Hawke’s Bay. It is staged in an old hospital building on a hilltop near Waipukurau and has quickly established itself as a serious social event. This year Alison and Simon Holst will show off their culinary skills and there is a chilli cook-off and market bonanza in Waipukurau’s main street with live music from The Lady Killers.

Phone (06) 858 8388, www.thefestival.org.nz

NZ Landscape and Garden Design conference

4 to 7 September, Waipuna Hotel & Conference Centre, Auckland

September's conference will see local and international experts examining our potential to create beautiful landscapes and gardens - and how we relate to them. Don't miss the Auckland garden tour.

www.landscapeconference.com/nz

The New Zealand Post Season of The Pohutukawa Tree

3 to 26 September, Maidment Theatre, Auckland

Iconic Kiwi actor Rena Owen, who made her name playing the battered but courageous Beth Heke in the movie Once were Warriors, returns from her Hollywood commitments to star in what is hailed as New Zealand’s best play by the late, great playwright Bruce Mason. Proud and spiritual, Aroha tries to imbue her children in Pakeha ways but the post-war world of the 1950s has arrived and she is increasingly isolated as all that she loves and stands for comes under siege. Life moves on but not everyone moves with it.

Phone (09) 309 0390, www.atc.co.nz

The Motor Neurone Charity Day

Waiana Garden, 4 October, Havelock North

Enjoy a stunning Tuscan inspired garden, taste fine Hawke’s Bay wines, relish the wares of a local cheese factory and enjoy tasty gourmet barbecue treats - all in the beautiful environs of the Tuki Tuki Valley.  Auckland landscape designer, Patrick Corfe, will be sharing his part in the creation of the glorious grounds at Waiana – including the development of its magnificent walled garden.  Numbers strictly limited.

www.blackbarn.com