Matariki exhibitions, events and performances opened, happened  and occurred last night in the appropriately penetrating cold of of an Incubator evening.

As a regular attender at evening events at the wonderful Incubator Creative Hub at the Historic Village in the mid-Avenues of Tauranga I know I need to be “rugged up” and Friday night was no exception.  It was a superb, clear, star-bright evening.  A slither of moon with an undertone of orange and therefore, cold.   I wore what I lovingly describe as my “marae coat”.  It’s the second edition of an ankle length coat I wore when attending often rural marae and when I had to go to Wellington.  The second edition skims the top of my ankle boots and is dark-green wool – vintage and a $10. recycle shop find.  It provides the shelter of a tent when you’re waiting to be called on or standing on the Historic Village tarseal, it’s bliss.

Events at “the Inc” rely on the voluntary hard and well-honed teamwork of the Committed – a group who seem to have been here since the earliest days of this creative hub.   Artist and musician, John Baxter, is one of the evening’s photographers and photographer and painter Nicci Baxter is in The Artery kitchen putting finishing touches to “the kai”.  

There are also numerous non- Incubator faces including Western Bay of Plenty’s creative Mayor Garry Webber and Mrs Carole Webber – it’s so good to see them here too. I tell Mayor Webber I will not go on at him about the roads.  He laughs and I know we’re both on the same page.

The evening’s programme is opened by the Tauranga Hospital Choir group Vocal Chords  (it’s formally called the BOP Health Providers Choir)  – they are wonderful and talented and my enthusiasm for their performance is only curtailed by the cold seeping into my feet.  I used to find it hard trying to explain what participating in a kapa haka group meant to me – I’d have no difficulty talking about this with the Pakeha members of Te Hauora a Toi – the Bay of Plenty District Health Board Kapa Haka group, led by Te Pona Martin.   (There is a live video of their performance filmed by the inimitable Lynette Fisher of The Incubator on the ARTbop facebook page).   They finalise a wonderful performance with the district anthem “Tauranga Moana” and He Honore – I cannot stop myself.  On the tarseal in the semi-dark I join in.   I’m so absorbed in the performance I don’t even see I’m standing next to the team from Creative Bay of Plenty – on realising this I manage to hit up their General Manager about funding options for an original  music band.  The exhibitions are formally opened and the participating artists speak.  Then the queues form for the “kai” and the galleries – where did all these people come from….the Incubator Gallery is packed out as is The People’s Gallery a step away into the Village.

I’ve been coming to these events regularly now and know that, unless I wish to join the scrum to buy a painting (yes that’s what often happens as the works are so amazing) I’m better to come back another day.   Tonight however I do something I’ve never done before – I move the curtain and photograph part of Michelle Estall’s wonderful exhibition “Ruahine” I capture the artist’s statement for Mumu Moore

And I am entranced by the intricately painted guitar exhibited just inside The People’s Gallery doorwayI don’t stay for the food, the cold is taking my breath away so inside my marae coat I slip away.  As I turn towards the gate I notice that even the gazebo covering the supper is creatively engaged in the event – the lights and movement of the guests creating the most wonderful magic lantern show against the back wall.  I seem to conclude every article about events at the Incubator congratulating them on their professionalism and the level of enjoyment they provide.  I’ll have to do it again – this was a wonderful combination of waiata, kapa haka, creativity, food and people  – the fundamental elements of Matariki

Rosemary Balu. Rosemary Balu is the founding and current Managing Editor of ARTbop. Rosemary has arts and law degrees from the University of Auckland. She has been a working lawyer and has participated in a wide variety of community activities where information gathering, submission writing, community advocacy and education have been involved. Interested in all forms of the arts since childhood Rosemary is focused on further developing and expanding multi-media ARTbop as the magazine for all the creative arts in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand.

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 Rebecca Larsen’s “Tirama, Tirama Matariki” –  “Twinkle, Twinkle Matariki” was launched on the 8th June 2019 I’ve previously met Rebecca and loved her earlier book “Row, Row, Row Your Waka”.  We are both learning Te Reo Maori at Te Waananga o Aotearoa and were at a recent visit to Huria Marae in urban Tauranga.

Rebecca has a website and a facebook page.   https://www.rowyourwaka.co.nz/post/book-launch-t%C4%ABrama-t%C4%ABrama-matariki-twinkle-twinkle-matariki

PUBLIC LECTURE AT TAURANGA CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS:  As part of the Tauranga Moana Matariki celebrations for 2019, Historian Dr Alistair Reese will present a summary of his report, “Te Papa: Naboth’s Vineyard? Towards Reconciliation in Tauranga Moana”.        The land on which downtown Tauranga now stands is the Te Papa block. Ngati Tapu and Ngai Tamarawaho sold the land to the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in 1838 and 1839 in order to provide a base for CMS and to benefit local iwi. The missionaries held that whenua on solemn trust, knowing that it was to be returned to iwi if the purpose of the land changed. However, during the New Zealand Wars, CMS came under pressure from a land hungry government. In March 1866, following the battles in Tauranga, CMS bowed to demand and gifted more than 1000 acres of tribal land to the colonial government, without iwi approval. Historian Dr Alistair Reese has spent many years researching the Te Papa block and will present to us a summary of his report, “Te Papa: Naboth’s Vineyard? Towards Reconciliation in Tauranga Moana”.

Wed, 26 June 2019 – 5:45 PM – 7:00 PM  Tauranga City Council Chambers, 91 Willow Street, Tauranga

This event is free, but bookings need to be made through this link as numbers are limited: https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/te-papa-naboths-vineyard-towards-reconciliation-in-tauranga-moana-tickets-60091242524

Ngā mihi,

The memorial in the Otamataha Mission Cemetery acknowledging the effort by by local Tauranga Maori to protect their land

 

Exhibitions everywhere:           TAURANGA ART GALLERY

Congratulations to Christina Pataialii who has been selected as the inaugural winner of the Rydal Art Prize; chosen by a panel of three leading New Zealand public art gallery curators.

The Rydal Art Prize is New Zealand’s newest art award, established by Tauranga Art Gallery Toi Tauranga in partnership with Seeds Trust, with a specific focus on a contribution to contemporary painting. This bi-annual prize awards an artist $20,000 for a work or body of work deemed to be outstanding in the field of painting over the prior two-year period. As a non-acquisitive prize, it celebrates the role that painting continues to play within our now varied field of artistic practice in Aotearoa New Zealand.

 

Matariki 2019: Celebrating the Māori New Year, in late June are three unique exhibitions with a range of workshops and public programmes paying homage to our ancestors and indigenous histories.

 

BLOOD WATER EARTH

Louise Potiki Bryant and Santee Smith

22 June – 6 October 2019

 

This immersive video installation is an international collaboration between two prominent indigenous artists Louise Potiki Bryant (Ngāi Tahu, Kati Mamoe, Waitaha) and Santee Smith (Turtle Clan from Six Nations of the Grand River, Ontario). Blood Water Earth explores ritual renewal, sacred alignments and the impact of colonisation on indigenous women, incorporating imagery from both Aotearoa and Canada.

 

Toured by Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery in partnership with the Auckland Arts Festival with support from Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council.

 

Hā: Lewis Tamihana Gardiner

22 June – 13 October 2019

 

Lewis Gardiner (Te Arawa, Ngāti Awa, Whanau a Apanui, Ngāi Tahu) is a leading pounamu artist who is attracted to working with jade for its solidity, beauty and ancestral connection. He is known for his unique design aesthetic, use of inlay and incorporating several varieties of jade in a single work to create depth and variety.

 

Mātiro: A survey of photography by Kapua Joy Bennett

22 June – 13 October 2019

 

Mātiro (loving gaze) is the first survey of black and white photography by Tauranga-based Kapua Joy Bennett (Ngāti Ranginui, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui). For more than three decades she was a prolific photographer capturing thousands of images from quiet domestic moments, portraits, street scenes, protests and Māori communities.

 

In partnership with Tauranga City Libraries and the whanau of Kapua Joy Bennett.

 

The work of Suzanne Sturrock

The Bethlehem Pottery Club has an exhibition and sale of work at the Bob Owens Retirement Village Hall on the 15th and 16th June 2019.   Admission is free and there will be refreshments.   ARTbop has been to other Bethlehem Pottery exhibitions here – diverse creativity in a beautiful setting.  Check the Club’s facebook page for  details of opening times https://www.facebook.com/pg/Bayclayexhibition/posts/

MARK MAZENGARB & KATE MARTUCCI  at The Jam Factory Wednesday June 12th 2019.  I’ve been privileged to see and hear Mark on previous visits to Tauranga – flying fingers.  Here’s their promotional information from Eventfinda (where you can book tickets).   

Mark Mazengarb & Kate Martucci

 

 

 

Wed 12 Jun 2019, 6:30pm–9:30pm

Where: The Jam Factory, 17th Avenue, Historic Village, Tauranga, Bay of Plenty

“All the way from New York, don’t miss singer Katie Martucci on her brief tour of New Zealand! Joined by renowned NZ guitarist Mark Mazengarb (Guitar) this will be a night of world-class swing, old time and gypsy jazz music. I’m really excited to be able to bring Katie out to New Zealand ,I first saw her perform at a festival in the USA and was blown away by her voice and guitar playing!” says Mark Mazengarb, who is organising the tour.In recent years Mark has bought several groups out from the USA including the Lonely Heartstring Band, Joe Walsh, and Loren Barrigar.

If you like Norah Jones, Django Reinhardt, Swing or Old Time music – you’ll love this show!
Hailing from the rich musical history of the Catskill Mountains in New York State, Katie Martucci grew up singing and playing fiddle and guitar. The daughter of a jazz pianist, she began performing with her father at a young age.

By the first grade, she was writing her own songs and playing for tips. Her musical journeys led her to the Ashokan Western and Swing Week Fiddle & Dance Camp, vocal lessons with Laurel Masse of Manhattan Transfer, a brief stint of collegiate acapella at Skidmore College and ultimately, to the New England Conservatory. While at NEC, Katie studied voice, fiddle and songwriting in the Contemporary Improvisation Department, and had the opportunity to study with Dominique Eade, Ran Blake, Hankus Netsky, Carla Kihlstedt, and Eden MacAdam – Somer.

Mark Mazengarb is a kiwi guitarist who recently spent 7 years touring the USA full-time with American guitarist and singer Loren Barrigar. Mark has performed with many other world-class musicians, including Tommy Emmanuel and Frank Vignola. (www.lorenandmark.com)”

SHORTS FOR HOSPICE:  I was shocked to find out that the Waipuna Hospice has to raise the equivalent of $71,000. every week to provide all of its services.    Here’s another of the regular fund-raising events they undertake – basically putting it out there in winter!    If you’re brave just do it.  If you’re not what about thick tights and shorts?   ARTbop will leave that to you.  Here’s the website link for the event which happens Friday 21st June 2019!   https://www.waipunahospice.org.nz/shorts/

 

TAURANGA SOCIETY OF ARTS EXPO:

Hybrid Blues at the Black Sheep, Whakamarama Jam Session

 

SUN, 23 JUN AT 15:00

Black Sheep Jam Session 23rd June

The Black Sheep Bar & Grill · Whakamarama

 

And coming up at the end of June

 

Conducted by Justus Rozemond

Sunday, 30th June, 2019;  3.30pm, Baycourt Addison Theatre, Tauranga

The finals concert of our 6th biennial Concerto competition for 12-18 year old musicians from around the Bay of Plenty.  A panel of prestigious judges headed by well known conductor and musicologist Peter Walls will select the winner on the night.  Finalists will perform a movement from a concerto of their choice accompanied by the Symphonia. The finalists and their chosen pieces are (in alphabetical order)

• Hayden Butt (Tauranga) – Weber Clarinet Concerto No 2
• Huang Yu Li (Tauranga) – Mozart Piano Concerto No 9
• James Robinson (Tauranga) – Arutiunian Trumpet Concerto
• Leo Read (Taneatua) – David Trombone Concertino
• Rosa Hook (Rotorua) – Mendelssohn Violin Concerto
• Sumin Sarah Lee (Tauranga) – Mozart Violin Concerto No 3

During the judges’ deliberations the orchestra will play Janáček’s Adagio for Orchestra.    Prizes will be presented by His Worship the Mayor of Tauranga, Greg Brownless.

Tickets on sale from 30^th May via www.ticketek.co.nz,  phone 0800 842 538, or at Baycourt Box Office. 
Adult:  $24;  Concession: $22;  18 yrs and under: ONLY $2!   
Service fees will apply. Save costs by buying on-line in bulk, or at the box office! BOOK NOW