Various Artists with Nicholas & Beth

On Various Artists this week: 

Frances speaks to Mark Amery and Sophie Jerram about their new book ‘Urgent Moments’ on the story of public art curations in the cultural climate of the mid 2000’s, and with New Zealand fashion designer and wool enthusiast Liz Mitchell about her upcoming exhibition ‘This Raw Material’.

Liam speaks to artist and advocate Judy Darragh about the arts in the upcoming election and to Dan Arps about about his Nirvana Park exhibition at Micheal Lett Gallery 2. 

 And—of course—to round off the show, we take you through the art guide for Tāmaki Makarau this week.

Later in the month, Homestead Galleries is presenting This Raw Material, an exhibition featuring contemporary wool craft and bespoke creations by Liz Mitchell (MNZM). 

Liz Mitchell holds a prominent position in Aotearoa New Zealand's fashion industry. With her specialisation in bespoke tailoring, she has devoted nearly three decades to harnessing the inherent beauty, adaptability, and enduring qualities of wool. Her unwavering dedication has established wool as the cornerstone of her design philosophy.

Spanning all three rooms of Homestead Galleries, the exhibition encourages visitors to embrace strong wool in Aotearoa as an integral part of their daily lives, fostering a more conscious and sustainable lifestyle.

To hear about the exhibition, Frances caught up with Liz for Various Artists. 

Opening next Friday at Michael Lett Gallery is Nirvana Park by Dan Arps. 

The exhibition is inspired by the various industrial reserves found around Tāmaki Makaurau, particularly the titular Nirvana Park found in Lynfield. 

The sculptures in the exhibition aim to combine the desolate atmosphere of these reserves and ask about what else these spaces could be used for.

We’re currently a week away from the Aotearoa general election, and the majority of parties still don’t actually have a clear arts and culture policy. 

It’s been a bit of an apathetic mood for arts in politics, with Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown threatening to cut back the funding for our local arts centres. 

We also saw only one politician show up to the APRA Silver Scrolls on Wednesday Night, and unsurprisingly it was Chlöe Swarbrick. 

Thankfully, after we reached out to each major party, Chloe was also the only MP willing to chat to us about their arts and culture policy! We recorded this during Fancy New Band, so sorry about the surfy backing track.