The Spinoff’s top picks of events from around the motu.
Welcome to our new weekly to-do list! Each Thursday afternoon, we will share events from around the motu that you can pop into on the weekend. Our focus is on local talent and things you may not already know about, whether it be music, visual art, comedy, theatre, dance or a whole new form of creativity.
We could phrase it as “supporting the arts” or we might be more honest and say that actually, we want to live a fun and enriching life, and to do so we must leave our couches and do things. This week the invitation is open to get spooked by little art demons, sway to dream pop and look closely at hundreds of taonga pounamu.
Last chance: Sometimes, the heart yearns for bananas
Te Tuhi, 21 William Roberts Road, Pakuranga
9am – 5pm until Sunday, April 13
Free
In the centre of this exhibition is an ad-hoc construction. The raft, made from banana tree trunks and bamboo, is made in a style used in tropical regions to navigate rivers and rising floodwaters. It bears a painted flour-bag banner. Written in Tagalog, the text translates roughly as “work in the Philippines, not outside”. On the raft, a bunch of bananas have ripened over the course of the exhibition. It smells sweet and green.
Sometimes, the heart yearns for bananas speaks to the emotional tensions of migration, particularly if it’s forced. The comforts of home are missed, but there’s also a declaration of resistance from afar. The exhibition is by a collective of green thumbs, Soil of Cultures, who advocate for food sovereignty. The artists are Charles and Grace Buenconsejo, Auggie Fontanilla, and Janica Bayogan.
It closes on Sunday and is at Te Tuhi, a neighbourhood public gallery in Pakuranga which consistently punches above its weight in the contemporary art world.
Northland
Comedy: Paul Douglas, Could be keen preview show
ONEONESIX, 116A Bank Street, Whangārei
6:30 – 9:30pm, Friday, April 11
$20
See Paul Douglas’ latest comedy before he takes it to the International New Zealand Comedy Festival, where he won Best Live Show in 2019.
Auckland
Dance: Tōrua
Aotea Square
6pm Friday, April 11
1pm and 6pm Saturday, April 12
1pm and 6pm Sunday, April 13
Free, bookings required
An immersive urban dance experience where the city is the stage and the audience are tapped into a poignant soundscape via headphones.
Double Whammy, 183 Karangahape Road
7pm Thursday, April 10
$25
Serebii layers vocal harmonies on sparse finger-plucked guitar. Vocalist Callum Mower says, “make sure to come say hello and catch our new music!”
Central North Island
Music: Reb Fountain, album release tour
Thursday April 10 – Tauranga
Friday April 11 – Gisbourne
Saturday April 12 – Napier
Thursday April 17 – Hamilton
(continues nationwide)
$59.99
Reb Fountain’s music is beautiful and moving music to witness live. Expect beauty and goosebumps.
Photography: A Vocabulary by Bruce Connew
Toi Mahara, 20 Mahara Place, Waikanae
10:00am – 4:00pm Tuesday – Sunday until July 6
Free
Bruce Connew spent years roaming the memorials and gravestones of our colonial wars, capturing typographic details.
Wellington
Visual art: The Brood
The Dowse, 45 Laings Road, Lower Hutt
10am – 5pm Tuesday – Sunday until June 22
Free
This exhibition features nine new commissions from “little demons” and explores a connection between contemporary art and horror films.
Nelson
Music: The Fairydogs.
The Dog’s Bone, 70B Achilles Ave, Nelson
9pm Saturday, April 12
$15
The disco funk four piece have promised dancing and cowboy boots at this occasion. Also, an incredible poster.
Christchurch
Music: Tom Lark, Moonlight Hotel
8pm, Saturday April 12
Space Academy, 371 Saint Asaph Street, Christchurch Central City
$25
If you like spacey-psychedelic-dreamy-inde-pop, you will like Tom Lark.
Dunedin
Visual art: Radicant
The Hocken Gallery, Hocken Collections, 90 Anzac Ave
10am to 5pm Tuesday to Saturday until April 26
Free
The scaffold-like structure is hollow, with little vines alive and growing inside. This delicate ecosystem is the result of Miranda Bellamy and Amanda Fauteux’s year-long Frances Hodgkins Fellowship.
West Coast
Visual art, history: Kura Pounamu: Our treasured stone
Hokitika Museum, 17 Hamilton Street, Hokitika
10am – 4pm daily until April 27
Free
A travelling exhibition created by Te Papa and Ngāi Tahu with over 200 pieces both big and small.
Southland
Visual art: Simon Richardson, Life and still life
Eastern Southland Gallery, 14 Hokonui Drive, Gore
10.00am – 4.30pm Monday to Friday until May 4
Free
Luminous, realistic tempura paintings of nationally significant creatives and daily things like buttered toast.
Have a fun week and remember that enrichment is not just for pets.
