RD E R S E C TCI H OA N THT EE A
Kids in Toi Art look at Rainbow country by Ani O'Neill, 2018. Photograph by Kate Whitley. Te Papa
SALU TE HEART THE ART
Wellington café stalwart Roger Young (Fidels, Havana Bar, Havana Bros) rose from his sick bed last month, especially to take part in the Wahine memorial sailpast on Wellington Harbour with his yacht Rewanui, which had been part of the rescue flotilla 50 years ago. Back in the day, Mt Victoria resident Brendon Gilmore ran the dairy (now a café) opposite the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club. He was at work when boat owner Johnny Gibbons dashed in for food. He told Brendon he was going out in Rewanui to help the rescue. The weather was filthy and Brendon had never been out on a boat before. He grabbed likely stuff from around the shop including all his hot pies, locked the door and told Gibbons ‘I’m coming’. On Rewanui with Gibbons, father Gerald, and RPNYC yachtie Brian Barraclough, he helped pull 20 odd people from the sea. Seeing that Brendan Gilmore, now 88, was watching the memorial parade, in the cold on the end of the Clyde Quay Wharf, skipper Roger Young sailed Rewanui close in, stood his crew properly to attention and together they gave the very modest man a well deserved salute.
A whopping 14,796 people came through the doors during the opening weekend of Toi Art, the new $8.4-million art gallery at Te Papa. Tiffany Singh’s Total Internal Reflection is proving particularly popular with young visitors. Ruth Anthony, Te Papa Visitor Services Host, says, ‘This immersive light installation has been a real game-changer for people, especially children, as it enables you to fully immerse yourself in an artwork, completely changing the possibilities of what art is and can be.’ She says Janet Lilo’s Top 16, with its neon ‘Share the Love’ sign, has also been a great hit.
WINTER WARMER Wellingtonians on low to middle incomes can get funding for 50% of their home insulation through the Sustainability Trust. There are grants for both rentals and owner-occupied homes, but they’re only available until June 2018. Insulation makes homes easier and cheaper to heat. Warm homes are healthier, and less likely to be mouldy.
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