Kia ora and a mid-winter welcome to ARTbop. Yes, it’s been some time since ARTbop has told you what we’re up to. We’ve got new contributors, contents and on-going projects. This is the first month of our ARTbop Reader Competitions: small, quirky and interesting reader prizes.
Want to lower the use of plastic supermarket bags? The ARTbop Reader Prize featured in the Enviro & Political Art article about the Sustainable Art Challenge 2016 exhibition at Creative Tauranga is a reusable shopping bag from the Countdown range. We’ve chosen the butterfly dress and
If you remember reading Roald Dahl or you’re reading Roald Dahl we have a vintage Puffin paperback copy of Danny the Champion of the World as the ARTbop Reader Prize in WORDS, From the Library: our article about the wonderful storyteller Nick Duval-Smith.
ARTbop has some new contributors.
Published poet Sam Woodward has joined us as the Poetry Editor and
Marcus Hobson is not only the Literary Editor but a regular book reviewer in his column Hobson’s Choices. Marcus is also the ARTbop Twitter-maestro.
ARTbop has come a long way since I founded the paper version in 2009 thanks to the talent and support of the wider creative communities and Emma Frederickson of Akari Design who instigated and created ARTbop’s online presence.
What have we published over recent weeks?
There’s a series of articles by ARTbop alternative Rotorua-based contributor Miriam Ruberl about the recent Hidden Oddities Exhibition. 
You’ll also find Dhaivat Mehta’s conversations with underground hip hop artists supporting the Morbidian Music organised charity hip hop concert (Tauranga later this year).
Enviro & Political art features the Tauranga Envirohub’s Sustainable Art Challenge: the competition and the subsequent exhibition at Creative Tauranga This is one of the articles with an ARTbop Reader Competition and
Don’t miss Been & Seen’s image-rich article about the Creative Tauranga Matariki exhibition.
We feature contemporary wizard and story-teller Nick Duval-Smith in Words (From the Library). This is one of the articles featuring an ARTbop reader competition.
Hobson’s Choices has a variety of reviews including New Zealand authored war and conflict focused non-fiction. You can read about Sam the Poet’s recent Australia Times poetry publication and catch up on what he’s been doing as a member of the poetry group at the Incubator.
What have we got lined up? Articles and images of Anika Moa at the Tauranga Art Gallery, more Morbidian hip hoppers, the Thames-based work space of Fatu Fe’eu, the poetry of Marcel Currin, the TPC records the opening of the Greerton Library and Marcus Hobson has an interview with a recently published children’s author on the go. ARTbop will also be publishing a series of articles on the Festivals of Tauranga. In the year of the Garden and Arts Festival ARTbop will be looking back at some of the festival experiences we’ve already enjoyed this year.
AND
What were Dhaivat Mehta, John Baxter and Rosemary Balu discussing every Sunday morning at QVis, 18th Avenue Tauranga? And what were Dhaivat, John, Polly Moore and Rosemary doing at Totara Street Mount Maunganui? You’ll find out soon!!
We thought we’d give our fabulous Tauranga City Library a plug: Love the Books for Biscuits promo and check out Family History month coming up in August. If you want to see Tauranga buzz; get on down to the Library in the weekend and see all the children and young people getting out their books!
