ART - HAMILTON Boon Arts, the group behind the Kirikiriroa Hamilton Boon Street Art Festival, is launching the Boon Sculpture Trail in the city from 3 February to 31 March 2024. The trail will feature 23 temporary outdoor sculptures, along with virtual and performance pieces across eight public sites. It has been established with the support of sponsors and stakeholders, and will collaborate with other events including the Hamilton Arts Festival, the Chinese Lantern Festival and Balloons Over Waikato. WSA ArtsPost Galleries will also host a small sculpture exhibition, Our Place, for the durati ..read more

ART A new report on arts coverage in New Zealand, entitled New Mirrors, has found that the local arts sector is under-resourced and under-valued. Compounding the issue, the decline in arts critics is creating a void where reviews of arts events are concerned, leaving artists without feedback or opportunities to build new audiences, and facing difficulties when applying for future funding. In addition, the report has found that only 3.2% of media coverage in New Zealand pertains to art forms outside of film, music and TV, despite 13.5% of all coverage being arts-focused. This compares poorly to ..read more

ART - TAURANGA A prestigious awards night to celebrate the brightest artists who whakapapa to the iwi of Tauranga Moana will be held this June, as an inaugural Matariki event acknowledging the depth of artistic talent produced in the city.  Event organiser Julie Paama-Pengelly, Chair of Te Tuhi Mareikura Trust, says tribal descendants of Tauranga Moana are amongst some of the country’s most revered artists across multiple disciplines.  “The gala evening, Ngā Tohu Toi Mo Ngā Uri Iwi o Te Rohe o Tauranga Moana, is a chance to recognise the creatives from our rohe who have led the way i ..read more

ART - AUCKLAND CITY ArtLab, a new family-friendly and interactive art-making space located in the Gallery’s Creative Learning Centre opened at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki over Easter weekend. ArtLab encourages the discovery of art through play, self-expression and fun. Over its duration, ArtLab will offer regularly changing activities that encourage everyone to get creative, starting with ArtLab presents Squiggla. ‘Creativity is integral to wellbeing and plays an important role in enriching our communities. ArtLab demonstrates that everyone, no matter y ..read more

ART From interdisciplinary artist Yuki Kihara (Venice Biennale 2022) to Graffiti Artist BERST (aka Dr Bobby Hung), K-Pop Choreographer Rina Chae to Silo Theatre's newly appointed Programme Manager Ahi Karunaharan, Aotearoa is bursting with stories of pan-Asian artists at the top of their game.   Presented by Kadambari Raghukumar (RNZ's Voices podcast), ASIA: Art Stories in Aotearoa profiles 18 diverse Asian-origin NZ artists across Fine Arts, Music, Dance, Theatre, Multimedia and Design and explores how life in Aotearoa New Zealand informs their work and sense of cultural identity.   ..read more

ART - WELLINGTON CITY The Urban Art Foundation (UAF) will launch its 40th exhibition on Friday, 15 April which will comprise 106 artworks selected from The Fletcher Trust Collection. The exhibition can be viewed on Urban Art’s new Parliament TV programme called arTVox from Friday April 15 to Tuesday May 3 and on all future occasions when the House is not in session. The Fletcher Trust Collection is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most prestigious private art collections, founded as a corporate collection in 1962. The Collection is centred upon New Zealand painting from the late 18th century to t ..read more

ART From interdisciplinary artist Yuki Kihara (Venice Biennale 2022) to Graffiti Artist BERST (aka Dr Bobby Hung), K-Pop Choreographer Rina Chae to Silo Theatre's newly appointed Programme Manager Ahi Karunaharan, Aotearoa is bursting with stories of pan-Asian artists at the top of their game.   Presented by Kadambari Raghukumar (RNZ's Voices podcast), ASIA: Art Stories in Aotearoa profiles 18 diverse Asian-origin NZ artists across Fine Arts, Music, Dance, Theatre, Multimedia and Design and explores how life in Aotearoa New Zealand informs their work and sense of cultural identity.   ..read more

ART - CHRISTCHURCH Hidden in plain sight across Ara Institute of Canterbury’s campuses is a remarkable art collection of nearly 700 works. One of the earliest collections held by a tertiary institution, it features works by Shane Cotton, Ralph Hotere, Margaret Stoddard, and many other renowned artists. In a rare move, the collection has been curated for public viewing off campus. But Curate Me, A Response to the Ara Artwork Collection is more than a conventional exhibit of an established collection. Alongside each original work are the artistic responses of members of Ara’s creative community ..read more

ART While wall maps, posters, and historical prints of Aotearoa are purchased year-round by local and international art buyers alike, NZ Fine Prints reveal that an annual phenomenon occurs in their sales of New Zealand map poster designs.   According to their annual sales reports, at the start of each new year sales of New Zealand map posters and wall maps regularly skyrocket in popularity.   Increasingly popular map-themed wall art includes the Te Reo Māori Ma ..read more

ART For many years, tattoos have been frowned upon in a significant number of workplaces across New Zealand. Employers often see tattoos as ‘trashy’ or ‘inappropriate’. Many New Zealanders are now pushing back against this and calling for fairer treatment of those with tattoos. In 2019, Air New Zealand announced that it would lift its ban on staff having their tattoos visible. Why? Because tattoos allow the individual to display both their individual and cultural diversity. It’s high time that other New Zealand organisations took their lead from Air New Zealand and follow suit in not discrimin ..read more