Capital 86

CAPITAL Telly vision

Tune into Telly’s art-filled fale FESTIVE 2022

Spirit level

Te ao architecture awakens

Fine print

Book suggestions from people who read

Barbie banquet

Let’s go party – a pink Christmas feast

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Travel Plans? Our new Taranaki cellar door is now open in New Plymouth. Come for a visit, we would love to see you!

An award-winning rush of Spring flavour.

Meet Juno’s latest seasonal gin release – Spring 2022. And it’s pink! With raspberries sourced from Little Beauties and homegrown Mentha x piperata, this gin is surprising, vibrant and fun.

Juno celebrates every season with a limited release, and this gin is the perfect way to embrace the return to Spring!

Juno Extra Fine Gin is crafted in our award-winning distillery based in New Plymouth, Taranaki. Using sustainable approaches to the time-honoured craft of distilling, this New Zealand-made gin will charm your everyday occasions into something magical.

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Available at: Henry’s Three Peaks, Super Liquor Remarkables Park, The Winery Arrowtown, Liquorland Wanaka, Henry’s Cromwell.

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YOUR KIWI CHRISTMAS SORTED

Supporting our National Museum with Aoteroa design, craft and literature

tepapastore.co.nz

CAPITAL CAPITAL Telly vision

Tune into Telly’s art-filled fale

Spirit level

Te ao architecture awakens

Fine print

Book suggestions from people who read

Barbie banquet

Let’s go party – a pink Christmas feast

The stories of Wellington

The home issue THE STORIES OF WELLINGTON $11.90

FESTIVE 2022

W

e have a shiny new mayor and a new council. I think we are all hoping this refreshed body will find a fresh approach to working together and making decisions.

It is curious that at almost the same time the Wellington City Council announced it was providing $600,000 to rejuvenate the Hannah Playhouse on Courtenay Place, Creative New Zealand rejected an application for supplementary funding for the Sheila Winn Shakespeare Festival. This ignited a fierce debate about arts funding priorities. Issues around colonialism and imperialism were raised as the reason for the surprising rejection of something long established and obviously successful in engaging a diverse range of young people from schools all around New Zealand. The very same Sheila Winn recognised in the Shakespeare project was also one of two sisters who funded the building of the Hannah Playhouse.

Despite its impressive Brutalist exterior, that building is proof that good intentions and generosity are not always enough. The council risks throwing good money after bad, given the theatre’s design issues, which practitioners tried and failed for many years to overcome.

Design touches every aspect of life. We asked architects and designers about Te ao Māori. Rachel Helyer Donaldson talked to three practitioners about how they integrate this perspective into their work. And we visit two houses that demonstrate vividly the important role our houses play in nurturing the families that inhabit them.

Speaking of design, Kate Marinkovich, of Tomboy café fame, put together a surprisingly pink festive feast for us.

And Francesca Emms has added more Christmas foodie joy, with help from another famous reindeer cohort – Vixen, Comet and Cupid this year.

We like to help with gift giving, and our best books selection returns with diverse treasures. See also our essential list (on the cover) for tracking down gifts from local firms.

Meri kirihimete

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Produced by Capital Publishing Ltd

Alison Franks Editor

The opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher. Although all material is checked for accuracy, no liability is assumed by the publisher for any losses due to the use of material in this magazine.

Copyright ©. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form without the prior written permission of Capital Publishing Ltd.

8

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Staff

Featured contributors

Managing editor Alison Franks editor@capitalmag.co.nz Sales manager Milly Brunel milly@capitalmag.co.nz Campaign coordinators Haleigh Trower haleigh@capitalmag.co.nz Siobhan Vaccarino siobhan@capitalmag.co.nz Factotum John Bristed john@capitalmag.co.nz Art director Shalee Fitzsimmons shalee@capitalmag.co.nz Designer Elaine Loh design@capitalmag.co.nz Content manager / writer Sophie Carter content@capitalmag.co.nz

R AC H E L H E LY E R D O NA L D S O N Writer

ADRIAN VERCOE Ph oto g r aph er

Originally from Te Waipounamu, Rachel spent 16 years in London. In 2014 she sensibly settled in Wellington to set up as a freelance feature writer and filmmaker.

Taking part in her first-ever Round the Bays in February made her feel like a true Wellingtonian.

Adrian drinks black coffee, is attracted to semi-broken cars, and likes cameras that make clunking noises. Originally from Dunedin, Adrian now calls Wellington home and can be found enjoying a hazy IPA in Lyall Bay or navigating a dinghy around Worser Bay.

Publishing coordinator Hannah Mahon hello@capitalmag.co.nz Accounts Tod Harfield accounts@capitalmag.co.nz

Contributors Melody Thomas, Janet Hughes, Anna Briggs, Sarah Lang, Deirdre Tarrant, Francesca Emms, Dan Poynton, Chris Tse, Claire Orchard, Harriet Palmer, Jess Scott, Griff Bristed, Claire O’Loughlin, Chev Hassett, Joram Adams, Sanne Van Ginkel, Rachel Helyer Donaldson, Matthew Plummer, Fairooz Samy, Adrian Vercoe, Sasha Borissenko, Courteney Moore, Josiah Nevell, Monica Winder, Craig Beardsworth, Olivia Lamb, Wilson Matete

Submissions We welcome freelance art, photo, and story submissions. However we cannot reply personally to unsuccessful pitches.

ELAINE LOH D e si g n er

FRANCESCA EMMS Writer

Elaine is a designer and letterer from Wellington. When she's not at Capital, you'll find her brewing coffee at Pour and Twist. She loves sipping orange wine, Animal Crossing, throwing clay and dreaming of future pet ducks and dogs.

Francesca is a Wellington-born, Wairarapa-raised writer. The things she writes vary in content and length. Sometimes people say the things she writes aloud and other times they read them silently.

She enjoys tap dancing, avoids the sun, and gets carsick really easily.

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CHATTER NOTEWORTHY

BY THE NUMBERS NEW PRODUCTS

26 Tales of the city Good things come in trees

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38

Spirit level

47

Fale flair

Three advocates bring Te ao Māori to the centre

CULTURE

34 Tarrant show Deirdre pirouettes away

Telly Tuita has home down to a fine art

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Skiller instinct

Make room for Nigel Scott’s garage, turned workshop

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Eat, drink and make it pink

Kate Marinkovich’s merry and bright festive feast

LIFESTYLE

89 Bookmarked Seven bookworms, 21 book suggestions

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Dear-licious traditions Comet, Cupid, and Vixen tell us their Christmas treats

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High on the hill

Up, up and away for this sea view house

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BUG ME EDIBLES

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CPotY Snapshots

Title: Last Light Photographer: Andy Hansen Category: Inside semi-finalist

One Lucky 13

Behind the camera: Software developer and self-confessed “doomscroller” Andy admits it took him longer than it should to lose his “apathetic teenager mindset.” Now he’s finding plenty to enjoy, photography being one such pastime. He grew up in Dunedin and completed his undergraduate degree there, before heading to the capital.

Poet, editor, and regular Capital columnist Chris Tse has been announced as Aotearoa’s 13th poet laureate. Born and raised in Lower Hutt, Chris has been writing poetry since the age of 16, and now, at 39, he has published three poetry collections, edited several anthologies, and performed at literary festivals here and abroad. Chris’s tenure as laureate covers the next two years, during which he will receive a $100,000 stipend to fund his role of promoting poetry and producing new works.

Why photography? It is a “fusion of hobby and compulsion.” Capturing the “coming and going” in the world is what he loves about photography – recording change, decay, and growth. Andy has recently begun shooting for Capital.

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The snap: Last Light varied from Andy’s usual black and white work. The image was captured at the Workingmen’s Bowling Club in Newtown, which closed in 2021. Arriving with his camera just as golden hour was starting, he says it “felt like a bit of a time capsule.”

The club is now boarded up. “I think of the years of great memories that were likely had there. Now they have to happen somewhere else.”

A WOW w i n Wellington writer, illustrator, and costume and props maker Fifi Colston won the Aotearoa category of this year’s World of Wearable Art competition. Her design, which she co-created with Bruce Mahalski, artist and director of the Dunedin Museum of Natural Mystery, was called Fera Dei and featured animal bones on the bodice. Fifi has been entering WOW since 1995, notching up 27 finalist designs. Hawke’s Bay artist Kate MacKenzie was crowned Supreme WOW Award winner for the second time, for her garment Wanton Widow.

Judge’s thoughts: Te Papa curator Lizzie Bisley: “I was impressed with this image, using an empty room and still life objects to convey pathos and loss. I loved the fact that this photograph turned away from the view of the outside – focusing on light cast in from a window, rather than allowing us to look out.”

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C H AT T E R

New in town

Three Ve g g i e S u n d a y s Coffee in one hand, carrots in the other, artist Tallulah Farrar finds the Sunday Harbourside Market the perfect compound of all the things to she loves about this city. “The people, music, the water, the colourful fresh produce, friendly dogs, and the line of amazing food tents and trucks.” Tallulah used the market as her inspiration when she designed this year’s Capital tea towel, which features fruit, veggies, and flowers on sunny stalls. Over the festive period all Capital gift subscriptions will receive a limited-edition tea towel with the first magazine (while stocks last). Visit capitalmag.co.nz/shop to purchase.

Jane on the go Artist Jane Hyder has moved into new studio digs, Studio Two, at the Toi Pōneke Arts Centre. To celebrate she’s launching a new range of gifts which feature her vibrant artwork. Mugs, prints, and cards are available as well as her original paintings, which can be viewed by appointment.

Four Tr y t e r e o Art unmissable

Wellington City Council has launched a free app to encourage people to give te reo a go. Mahau offers phrases with easy pronunciation guidance, which can be incorporated into our daily lives. There are phrases for use in particular locations, such as the classroom or the pool, and lists of items including food, body parts, and colours. The app will hopefully bring Wellington a step closer to the goal of being a bilingual city by 2040.

Get ready for the ARTBOURNE 2022 exhibition at Wellesley College, Eastbourne. Featuring works by more than 40 artists, including multidisciplinary digital artist Tim Christie, photographer Catherine Cattanach, Jo Kreyl, Esther Bunning, Jane Blackmore, and Sarah Albisser. The exhibition will open with a gala opening night on 10 November, and runs until 13 November.

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S E C TCI HO AN T TH EE RA D E R

S eve n F i ve Ta g g e d Earlier this year Kāpiti Coast District Council replaced its non-recyclable plastic dog registration tags with aluminium tags, designed to last a dog’s lifetime. However, dog owners have reported that the information on them quickly rubs off, and are annoyed by the metallic clinking sound they make. Kāpiti Coast District Council has now created an alternative, introducing a recycled plastic version, which is intended to last 10 years.

N ew ( i n ) tow n Graphic designer Mia Breitenmoser has opened a colourful store on Constable Street in Newtown. MIMI stocks curated goods, homewares, and jewellery. The shop is just around the corner from Mia’s childhood home, “I used to get my hair cut in the building as a child, so it feels very full circle,” Mia says. With help from her dad, the space has been given a makeover, and Mia plans to eventually host events there, “pop-ups, exhibitions, gigs – who knows what!”

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A g l a s s fu l l

Six Big shoes to fill After 76 years beloved shoe shop Gubb’s will be closing its doors. Laurie Gubb opened the store in 1946, using a rehabilitation loan he received after World War II. His son Paul Gubb began working in the shop at the age of 17, and has kept it going through 53 years and five relocations, with extensive help from his wife, Julie. Christmas Eve will be the shop’s final day, after which the pair plan to devote more time to their charter boat business.

It's cool to kōrero Ki tō nā whakaaro, he aha te tae pai ake ki te peita i te kāuta?

What do you reckon is the best colour to paint the kitchen?

Art glass lovers will descend on Whanganui on 3 December for the annual Glass Market at New Zealand Glassworks. Well known local and national artists, such as Emma Camden and David Traub, will have stalls selling samples and seconds.

Nine P h o t o s a t P ā t a ka If you missed it the first time, this is your second chance to catch Capital Photographer of the Year: The Exhibition.

Back by popular demand, this time the exhibition is being held in Porirua’s Pātaka Art + Museum until 11 December.

Providing a fascinating window on Wellington, it showcases the best images from the 2022 competition, including all the category winners and our official Capital Photographer of the Year.

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N O T E W O R T H Y

AT T H E BA N K The RiverLink project will get under way from next year after the Hutt Valley Council received $98.9 million from central government towards its construction. The project will improve the stop banks at Melling, and build new vehicle and pedestrian bridges across the Hutt River. The plan is intended to turn the central city towards the river, encourage investment in building, and help provide more affordable housing. The funding accounted for over half of the $192 million set aside by the government for infrastructure spending nationwide.

NOT BABE Wild pigs have been appearing around the city suburbs, with sightings in Aro Valley, Brooklyn, and Karori. They have been terrorising dogs and livestock, and even eating young goats.

The species was introduced during the late 1700s, and are spread across around a third of Aotearoa. It’s likely that the ban on hunting in these areas during lockdown allowed their unmanaged numbers to skyrocket.

PARKS AND RECREATION

MELLOW YELLOW

Construction work on a new commemorative park in Titahi Bay will begin in 2023. The design will acknowledge the history of the area, including the Marines Hall, which was deemed unsafe in 2012. Porirua Parks and City Services Operations Manager Mark Hammond hopes the mix of wananga spaces, seating, planting, and shaded areas will make up for the ten-year delay while permission was sought to demolish the hall and develop the site.

After missing out on social activity during lockdown, many dogs are now suffering from separation anxiety as their owners return to work. There has been a rise in dog attacks in Wellington, with attacks on people rising from 37 in 2021 to 63 in 2022, and on other animals from 65 incidents in 2021 to 94 in 2022.

Earlier this year Wellington City Council launched a campaign to encourage owners to tie a yellow ribbon around a nervous dog’s collar to let others know to give them extra space.

Gift the stories of Wellington with a subscription this festive season.

Each Capital gift subscription will receive a limited edition designer tea towel, free.

capitalmag.co.nz/shop

N O T E W O R T H Y

HEY M AY O R Tory Whanau has been elected as the new mayor of Wellington city. The 39-year-old won by a landslide 34,462 votes, more than double the number for incumbent Andy Foster, who came in second with 16,711 votes. It was the biggest victory margin in the 18 years since Wellington moved to Single Transferable Voting (STV). Tory is the capital’s first Māori mayor. She says her top priorities are to fix the pipes, provide more homes and efficient public transport, and take action on climate change.

DONATION SUITE

IN AND OUT

PROBLEM SOLVERS

A premier venue for performance, seating 200, will be part of the new National Music Centre thanks to donations from Infratil, H.R.L Morrison & Co, and the Lloyd Morrison Trust.

Redeveloping the former Ilott Theatre in the Town Hall is part of the plan for the music centre – a collaboration between Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and the Wellington City Council. The Lloyd Morrison Theatre will open early 2025.

After two terms as deputy mayor Janet Holborow has won the top role as Kāpiti mayor, by a tight 200 votes. The Wairarapa has also seen big changes at the helm, with three new mayors.

Former Carterton mayor Ron Mark is returning to the role; for Masterton it’s Gary Caffell; and South Wairarapa’s new mayor is Martin Connelly. Incumbent mayors in the Hutt and Porirua have been re-elected.

Massey graduates Jillian Miller and Sarah Lakomy are among the 20 finalists in the international James Dyson Award for engineering design, judged by its founder. Somnum (pictured), Jillian’s entry, improves the fit of animal sedation masks. The currently onesize-for-all mask means isoflurane gas leaks out and is breathed in by veterinarians. Sarah’s design, called Hatch, is an adjustable bassinet which will make it safer for mothers to pick up their babies while recovering from labour in a maternity ward. The winners of the $59,000 award will be announced on November 16.

Pick up the perfect Christmas gift in Porirua 5

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Saskia Hendrikse Ceramic Cups: facebook.com/shpotterynz

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Haumanu Body Oil: facebook.com/behumbleskin

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Solid Oral Care Toothpaste: solidoralcare.co.nz

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Wild Eden Earrings: facebook.com/wild.eden.earrings

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Mrs. Rockett Earrings: Toi Store, Pātaka, 17 Parumoana Street

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Little City Kombucha: littlecitykombucha.co.nz

Moana Road Sunglasses: Palmers Plimmerton, 99 Saint Andrews Road

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Stella + Gemma Socks: Magpie at Paremata, 99 Mana Esplanade

Tiki Tiki Necklace: Aloha Friday, 24 Bay Drive

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Monarch Butterfly Necklace: juliahuyserdesign.com

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Orven Planter: utilize.nz

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Dark Chocolate Shortbread: Regal Shortbread Co, 109 Discovery Drive

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#discoverporirua

Pali Basket: Blue Bell Club, 16 Parumoana Street

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Città Costa Pillar Candles: Enjoy Store, 44 Steyne Avenue

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Mushroom Chips: mushroomhouse.co.nz

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Abandoned Brewery Rigger: abandonedbrewery.nz

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Littlespoon Sourdough Crumpets: littlespoon.life

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Platter Box: platter.co.nz

B Y

T H E

N U M B E R S

CO M P I L E D BY HANNAH MAHON

House hunting

Welly Christmas

16

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5.5

50,858

the angle in degrees of Fore Street, Kaiwharawhara, the steepest street in Wellington

the width in metres of Taranaki Street, Welly’s widest street

the width in metres of Welly’s narrowest road, Randolph Road in Crofton Downs

new homes consented in NZ

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500

days of festivities on 26 and 27 November

Santa in a sleigh to have your photo taken with

music stages, including carols in Midland Park

activities, such as an ice-rink and snow dome

entertainers, including face-painters, magicians and street performers

Collated by Wellington City Council

Stormy weather

2022 – the bumps in the road

in the year ended March 2022

776

158

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200.5

total winter rainfall in milimetres recorded at Karori reservoir, making it the wettest winter on record

speed in kilometres per hour of wind gusts recorded at Baring Head in July

height in metres of waves recorded off Wellington’s south coast during the storm in May

hours of sunshine recorded in June and July (3.3 hours of sun per day)

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728

4,429

96

the age in years of the Victoria Street pipe which burst in June

days that Transmission Gully was overdue

bus services cancelled in August (out of a scheduled 57,448)

the age of Queen Elizabeth II when she died in Wellington City in June 2022

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P R O D U C T S

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All that glitters

1. Meri Meri gold tinsel chandelier, $65.99, Small Acorns 2. Tom Dixon bash vessel wide, $1375, ECC 3. Cotton pointelle cardi, $369, Standard Issue 4. The Griffin Méthode Traditionnelle, $55, Palliser Estate 5. Olivia obi matte gold earrings, $39, Smith and Caughey's 6. Crushes bonne nuit candle, $36, Wellington Apothecary 7. Kartell Componibili metallised storage unit, $650, Smith and Caughey's 8. Terrazzo face and body soap, $18, Felt 9. Retro mushroom lamp, $105, Tickadeeboo 10. Kartell metallic dining chair, $1,490, McKenzie & Willis 11. Deknudt Decora gem gold pouf, $2,295, ECC 12. Pols Potten rabbit money box, $270, McKenzie & Willis

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now open / old bank arcade, lambton quay standardissue.co.nz

TA L E S

O F

T H E

C I T Y

Good things come in trees

BY M A D E L E I N E B O L E S D E B O E R P H OTO G R A P H Y BY A N DY H A N S E N

CAFÉ Midnight Espresso

COMPOSER

WALK

ACTIVITY

HOLIDAY

Josin

Wellington waterfront

Longboarding

Kathmandu

Nicknamed “Woody,” it’s fitting Jarrod Wood spends his weekends as a tree.

C

amouflaged in fake leaves, flowers, and fairy lights, Jarrod is Cuba Street’s resident performing tree. You’ve probably seen him playing one of his many flutes or a saxophone, delighting (and often surprising) onlookers with his energetic performances and colourful costume.

But it’s only recently that Woody became Tree.

Back in New Zealand after living overseas, and grounded by the pandemic, the musician was filling time watching prank videos on YouTube. He came across tree prank artists – performers scaring the public dressed as highly convincing trees – and was inspired.

After a series of lockdowns, Jarrod thought Wellington needed some light relief. So in June 2021 he hand-made his first costume, and Tree was born.

In the 18 months or so since Jarrod conceived his alter ego, Tree has become an enigma of the capital. Often standing in the city’s flowerbeds or alongside actual trees, it’s fair to say that Jarrod leans into the mystery – but in a way that ensures fun, not fear, for his audiences.

“The responses are 99% wonderment and joy, but there are a few people who just can’t get their head around it.”

It’s not just Tree’s costume that surprises people, but also his musical talents. Armed with a saxophone or Indian flute, Tree plays everything from traditional jazz to Celine Dion, adjusting his repertoire to the mood of his audience, and often taking requests.

Born in South Africa, Jarrod moved to the Hutt Valley with his family as a teen, and thinks of Wellington as home. He first started performing when he joined the Royal New Zealand Navy Band in the 80s. He has spent 36 years as a full-time musician, in roles ranging

from high school music teacher to saxophone-playing DJ, and studying everything from classical to jazz, and Indian classical and Chinese folk music. Before the pandemic, he spent 14 years in India, working as a luxury-hotel musician and DJ, and performing for Bollywood movie soundtracks.

Back in his hometown, Jarrod’s days look rather different now.

Usually performing at weekends, he practices yoga in the mornings, before a “healthy and large breakfast and an even larger cup of coffee”. Heading into the city to perform, he carries Tree’s costume in a sack on the bus, feeling the need to “reassure the driver it’s not a dead body”. Once he’s in costume, it’s showtime.

Tree doesn’t break – even to cross roads, or to say hello to curious children. He often attracts a large crowd, and loves interacting with people in cars and diners in restaurants and cafes along Cuba Street.

Realising his goal of bringing joy to Wellingtonians is what keeps Tree coming back every weekend.

“To see the joy on their faces and to see the positive effect it has on people has been overwhelmingly heart-touching.”

Despite some challenges – including his donation box being stolen, and occasional harassment – Jarrod is committed to being the magical, joyful Tree.

“Being Tree has been my most important performance. It is so helpful and meaningful to so many people on a daily basis in the city where I grew up performing. It’s a real honour for me to be able to provide this for the people of Wellington.”

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Celebrating 120 years of service to Pōneke Wellington Widely recognised as a symbol of Wellington, the Cable Car is New Zealand’s only remaining funicular railway.

The Cable Car was first thought up all those years ago when a growing residential area in both Karori and Kelburn meant reliable transport was needed. The Kelburn & Karori Tramway Company was established to start work on a transport facility in the form of a Cable tram. The building of the tram line began in 1898, with three shifts working around the clock to construct the system, including digging three tunnels. Work was completed, and the operation started on 22 February 1902.

The original operating system, a hybrid of a cable car and funicular, was replaced in the 1970s and the original cars made their last run in September 1978. The current funicular system opened in October 1979. Since then, the cars have completed almost one-million trips.

The five-minute ride takes you from the heart of the city centre, up through the hillside terraced houses of Kelburn, to the lookout perched high above the city to see the best views of Wellington.

The top provides you with lots of unique experiences. Grab a coffee from Cable Top Eatery and then walk through to the Victorian Perfumery, where you can have a scent created especially for you.

A stone’s throw away is the free Cable Car Museum, with further details about how the system operates, and is home to two of the vintage cars. Next, you can wander down to Space Place to discover the stars.

Finally, get in touch with nature by following the flight path of our native birds down into the Wellington Botanic Garden, or hop onto the free shuttle to Zealandia. A full day of entertainment and excitement for all ages.

The iconic red wagon has celebrated this milestone of a birthday and looks forward to serving Pōneke Wellington for a further 120 years.

Cable Car Lane 280 Lambton Quay Wellington

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C U L T U R E

ON E WOM A N SHOW Harris Street in central Wellington used to be home to The Women’s Gallery (1979-2003). City Gallery now sits near the original site and hosts an exhibition dedicated to a founding member of the Women’s Gallery, Joanna Margaret Paul.

Imagined in the Context of a Room displays Paul’s painting, drawings, poetry, photography, and experimental film work.

Her work, spanning 30 years from the 1970s to the 2000s, was both deeply personal and quietly political, legitimising her experience as a woman and a mother, and as a feminist interested in the interior and domestic.

MINISTER OF FICTION

ON THE HUNT

WELL FRAMED THEATRE

Documenting the personal possessions of his uncle was a mammoth task for artist Lucien Rizos. His uncle, Gerald O’Brien, was Labour MP for Island Bay from 1968 to 1979. On his death in 2017, his private world of hand-written fictional histories, maps, painted figures, and imagined battles was discovered. Even his wife of 60 years hadn’t known about the world O’Brien had been creating since childhood. Rizos has photographed and documented it in Everything, showing at Te Pataka Toi Adam Art Gallery.

Disability activist and writer Robyn Hunt is Toi Pōneke’s inaugural deaf and/or disabled artist in residence. During her six-week stay in November and December Hunt will work on a collection of personal essays with a disability focus. Primarily a non-fiction writer, Hunt also helped co-found creative writing group Crip the Lit to help deaf and disabled writers have a voice in mainstream writing.

When Malia Johnston studied dance at UNITEC in Auckland, the dance studios were in the old Carrington Psychiatric Hospital, where author Janet Frame spent time. This sparked a lasting interest in one of New Zealand’s most famous writers, and has culminated in a collaboration with Red Leap Theatre to produce Owls Do Cry. The adaption of the book for stage takes a multidisciplinary approach, with Frame’s rich imagery reimagined as physical and visual theatre.

At Circa Theatre from 3 November.

THERAPEUTIC MASSAGE WITH ISABELLE H O L I S T I C T H E R A P I E S | H E R B A L R E M E D I E S | F R E S H P L A N T B A S E D S K I N C A R E | A R O M AT H E R A P Y | W O R K S H O P S | B E S P O K E O P E N 7 D AY S / ( 0 4 ) 8 0 1 8 7 7 7 / 1 1 0 A C U B A S T R E E T, T E A R O / S H O P O N L I N E AT W E L L I N G T O N A P O T H E C A R Y. C O . N Z

C U L T U R E

LIE OF THE LAND Hidden dramas of power and politics lie beneath the surface of landscape painting, according to Te Papa’s historical art curator Rebecca Rice. “There is no such thing as a ‘simple, realistic’ picture of land.” The new exhibition Hiahia Whenua | Landscape and Desire mixes contemporary landscapes with historical ones, and explores how artists past and present have expressed their relationships with the land in Aotearoa.

The length of the motu is represented with works depicting landscapes from Kororāreka in the far north to Tamatea in Fiordland.

WAVE ENERGY

PARTY OF FIVE

TRUSTED VOICE

The vast oceans surrounding Aotearoa have an enduring influence on our cultural histories – this being the premise for the National Library’s major November to May exhibition.

The Long Waves of Our Ocean seeks to draw connections between established authors and early-career Māori and Pacifica artists.

The artists will be commissioned to respond to a series of texts relating to the ocean in its various roles – as ancestor, pathway, influence, provider, and threat. The exhibition is curated by Hanahiva Rose (pictured).

It’s cool to kōrero at Footnote Dance Company. The 2022 ChoreroCo season features five emerging dancers and the work of choreographer Elijah Kennar, who will present the third work in his trilogy Mea Uma. ChoreroCo is an initiative established in 2014, providing short-term contracts for three to five dancers. A first paid dance contract helps establish them as freelance artists.

With a collection of over 550 art works, the Fletcher Trust Collection is one of the most prestigious private art collections in New Zealand. This year an exhibition marks the 60th anniversary of the corporation’s collecting. The New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata assembles a selection of the collection’s pictures depicting figures. Gathered Voices tells the story of this country and those who call it home.

Showing New Zealand art to Wellington since 1882.

Contemporary art, gifts and indulgences or unique venue hire.

Visit our beautiful waterfront galleries, open daily: 10 – 5 pm Free entry.

Te wahi e kitea ai nga mea ataahua – The place where beautiful things are to be found

Visit us : 1 Queens Wharf, Wellington Call us : (04) 499 8807

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C U L T U R E

P L AY I N G HOUSE Mothballed since 2020, the Hannah Playhouse has acquired new funding, new management, and a new modus operandi. Wellington City Council and the Hannah Playhouse Trust are collaborating to re-open the venue as an affordable theatre space for developing the professional performing arts sector. Creative Capital head Gisella Carr says, “Theatre laboratories are a known development tool across the world. We welcome actors, directors, choreographers, dancers, musicians, composers, literary performers as well as the city’s arts organisations, to consider how the Hannah might be of interest to them.”

FIT FOR PURPOSE

HEAVENLY VOICE

ACCLAIMED CLAY

Cross-fit with dance moves is how choreographer Sarah Foster-Sproull describes her new work To The Forest // To The Island. The distinguished graduate returns to the New Zealand School of Dance to direct her new work. It is one of five contemporary works being showcased in the school’s 55th Anniversary Performance Season showing mid November. The contemporary works will be performed on alternate nights with five classical ballet works playing on alternate nights.

Giant of the symphonic stage Mahler features in Heavenly, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra’s November tour. The final movement of his fourth symphony will feature lyric soprano Madeleine Pierard (pictured). The New Zealander regularly sings in the United Kingdom, her most recent engagement at the Royal Opera House being credited with “stylistic panache.”

Pots of talent are on display at the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts. Local pottery award Ceramicus features Wellington Potter’s Association members.

Norwegian-born Karin Amdal (work pictured), who now lives and works on the Kāpiti Coast, is adjudicating the annual award. The full time potter also holds a Master of Design and a Diploma of Ceramic Art.

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Not to be missed Splash and Ceramicus 2022 5 - 20 November 2022 The New Zealand Watercolour Society and Wellington Potters’ Association wonderful Annual Shows.

Summer 9 December - January 2023 An Academy members’ exhibition of art of all styles and genres.

Splash Visit us : 1 Queens Wharf, Wellington Call us : (04) 499 8807

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S O C I A L

Tarrant show P H OTO G R A P H Y BY J OS I A H N EV E L L

The Queen of Cuba Street is being priced out. She talks to John Bristed about leaving “her building and her street.”

“I

started teaching when I was 14 and never stopped.”

Deirdre Tarrant says “her” Barber's building, home of the Tarrant Dance Studio and Footnote New Zealand Dance, was given by the Borren family to the Nikau Trust to administer as part of a bequest to Victoria University. The building is now being handled by a property management company.

Deirdre Tarrant says sadly the rents they want have become unaffordable, and the studio is to close.

For nearly 50 years Tarrant-trained dancers have appeared in every imaginable dance chance in Wellington. There have been end-of-year performances, Christmas parades, Chinese New Year celebrations, Kids Magic, Artsplash, Cuba Dupa, carnivals, and innumerable openings, closings, and community celebrations. Many of her dancers have become internationally successful. Think Amit Noy, Lucy Marinkovich, Elizabeth Alpe, Oliver Connew, Joanne Kelly, among many.

Deirdre Tarrant began and managed Footnote Dance Company for 30 years, and says a key reason that company succeeded was that the Tarrant studio provided a home for it.

Her final effort for the Tarrant Dance Studio will be a series of films projected on the outside of their 125 Cuba St studios to celebrate and honour the vitality and energy the dancers have added to the street.

This year’s dance scholars will be filmed dancing at the Opera House, another performance space with many memories for Deirdre. She held her first show there in 1966. The film and others will run from December 8 to 14.

Don’t expect Deirdre to disappear, though: “I’ll be teaching dance somewhere,” she says.

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S O C I A L

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S O C I A L

The much awarded Deirdre Tarrant CNZOM fell in love with dance seventy-odd years ago when she had her first ballet classes as a seven-year-old. “My mother was a painter and on Thursday went to art classes, so she sent me to ballet.”

Dance became her major interest. She danced all the way through school whenever and wherever she could.

She wasn’t at all discouraged by Jean Horne, her teacher, telling her aged 12: “You’ll never dance, you’re too tall.”

At 14, with her sisters, she taught her first ballet pupils in Upper Hutt.

For three years she found herself parts as an extra with the Royal NZ Ballet, which had only six or eight full-time dancers in those days. And at 15 she toured New Zealand with the troupe.

Deirdre was on her way, but her dad told her that if she wanted to be a dancer she had to get herself a university degree. So off she went to Dunedin to become a doctor – but in Dunedin, there were no ballet classes.

So she promptly came back to Wellington, where she completed a BA, and was awarded a dance scholarship which she took to London.

As a 19-year-old in London she did “anything and everything” to survive, teaching, working, and studying.

She learnt a lot as a demonstrator at summer courses with the remarkable Russian-trained classical ballet teacher Maria Fay, a teacher at the Royal Ballet School.

Later Deirdre travelled on three-month teaching contracts in Canada and America.

That big overseas experience was seminal, in that she discovered with “huge excitement” that there were more kinds of dance than what she calls “valid” ballet, the ballet of “turned out and pointed toes”.

Robert Cohan started doing contemporary dance in London, his classes attracting “everybody” at a time when there was no contemporary dance scene in New Zealand.

This swung her away from ballet toward contemporary dance, and at the same time she became more interested in production and choreography.

She spent eight years mostly in London. There were lots of auditions, and many appearances as a dancer

N O T E S

on stage and on TV in France, Scandinavia, London, Canada, and the United States.

Deirdre came home to be a teacher at the New Zealand School of Ballet (now the NZ School of Dance) and started a family.

But she’d made amazing contacts, and she says now, “My avowed intent was not to spend the whole year living in New Zealand. Keeping contacts internationally was so important.” She went to Canada in the northern summer for 11 years to teach at the Banff Dance Academy.

In Cuba Street, the wonderful old Barber’s building at number 125 (which started out as a dye works and at one stage hosted the local Communist Party) first became a dance school nearly 100 years ago. First there was Kathleen O’Brien in the 1930s. She was followed by Dorothy Daniels, who was an examiner for the Royal Ballet, and then Valerie Bayley. Ballet paintings from those earlier times still hang on the walls.

Deirdre Tarrant took over in 1976, and with her special brand of enthusiasm has been teaching ever since. The polished wooden floors have felt the feet of many thousands of aspiring dancers of all ages. “There are grandmothers who came here, their daughters, and even their granddaughters. And now the mothers and grandmothers come and watch, and its lovely.” Deirdre particularly likes to teach young dancers.

A woman she didn’t recognise walked up the studio stairs recently. She explained that she used to dance there. And now she was 68. She said “I just want to see if it’s the same. I’m so glad to see that people are still dancing and the room is full of people.”

Deirdre Tarrant is sad that “the nature of Cuba Street is changing as buildings are being bought by corporations. Many of the buildings in the street have been owner-operated and people cooperated and the street had a real feel.”

“These studios have such a history. Leaving is going to be hard.”

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SELWYN MURU: A LIFE'S WORK 17 November – 12 February 2023 FREE ENTRY New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata Shed 11, Queens Wharf, Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington, 6011 Selwyn Muru, Te Whiti with the Sacred Birds of Taranaki, 2003. Private collection, Auckland

Chris and Kathy Parkin

F E AT U R E

Spirit level P H OTO G R A P H Y BY A N DY H A N S E N

Sustainable values and the values of Te ao Māori are being incorporated into architectural practice. Rachel Helyer Donaldson discusses this with three players in the Wellington scene.

“

W

e create the built environment so we have a massive responsibility for climate change.

And if we’re not doing something about it, then who is?”

Stephen McDougall, a director of Studio Pacific Architecture, speaks of the duty of care he says all architects and landscape architects (along with the rest of the construction industry) must exercise, if the world is to be pulled back from the brink of climate catastrophe. The construction sector is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and landfill.

There is, he says, an opportunity to make great changes. “The sustainable built environment must meet the needs of future generations. It’s about doing what’s right for both people and place.”

Stephen says Pākehā architects and landscape architects can learn a lot from Te ao Māori (the Māori world view), in which sustainability is deeply rooted.

Collaborating on projects, architects can do this if they “sit alongside” mana whenua.

“Just being together, listening, and learning to build trust is the start of any co-design process. It’s how we develop our understanding of Mātauranga Māori, tikanga and story-telling.” He sees such patient collaboration as vital to ensuring “an enduring and sustainable built environment.”

Studio Pacific has been working with Tauranga City Council and the Otamataha Trust, which represents mana whenua, on a $300 million civic precinct intended to revitalise the city centre. To be called Te Manawataki o Te Papa, it will include a new library, museum, civic whare for council and community meetings, an exhibition space, and an upgraded art gallery. The involvement of mana whenua is vital, and the work includes regular meetings with kaumatua.

“We look to them to guide us. They may not be designers, but they know their place, the history, their stories. We’re the catalysts.”

Stephen follows advice from Professor Piri Sciascia, who was Government House’s Kaumatua until he died in 2020. Asked about improving cultural intelligence, “He talked about hokey pokey ice cream: If you’ve got issues or challenges, just have an ice cream, have a cup of tea. It’s about building a relationship, and just spending time together.”

Currently there are “very few” Māori architects and landscape architects in Aotearoa, and Stephen has observed that those few are “often burdened with taking charge of these processes. The young are having to learn fast to take on that responsibility. Most have broad shoulders and deep reserves.”

Wellington-based architect Whare Timu and landscape architect Tama Whiting, who are profiled on the following pages, began their careers at Studio Pacific, leaving in 2018. “They both left on the same day, the buggers!” says Stephen.

It was emotional. “Losing the two of them and also celebrating them: people move on to do other things.

Tama was heading off to America and Whare was off to work at First Light and find his feet in another way.”

Among the gifts showered on the pair was a copy of Dr Seuss’s Oh the Places You’ll Go! It was for Tama, but, Stephen says it was “a fitting tribute to both of them”.

Stephen is pleased to be working with Whare again.

Now principal architect at Warren and Mahoney, he is involved in Tauranga’s civic precinct project.

Meanwhile Whare and Tama are also collaborating on joint projects.

“I have a huge respect for them both. I’m very proud of the fact that we helped them get a foot in, that they had a place here; and they both made big contributions to Studio Pacific. Whare and Tama are natural leaders with their quiet, unassuming characters yet strong mana. They both have bright futures ahead of them.”

Right: Stephen McDougall

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Tama Whiting

his love of East Coast hip-hop. He knew no-one there but quickly found work, primarily for SCAPE, a landscape and urban design studio, which seeks positive change in communities via regenerative living infrastructure and new forms of public space.

Tama says he’s proud of having worked on largescale, high-calibre projects with some big-name clients including Facebook and Amazon.

His biggest achievement was being part of the core design team on the US$60 million revamp of a 30-acre waterfront park on the Mississippi River in Memphis.

Tom Lee Park is named after a heroic African American river worker who saved more than 30 people from drowning when a steamboat capsized in 1925. The project involved working with renowned artist Theaster Gates to retell some of the black history from that area of Memphis, which began as an industrial area.

Tama is back in New Zealand – his J1 exchange visa ran out in January. He was unsuccessful in his application for America’s O1 Visa “for individuals of extraordinary ability”, the only option left open to him. The US visa system is extreme. There’s nothing in-between a Work and Travel Visa and being a world-renowned Nobel Peace Prize winner, in order to stay there, he said.

When his application was turned down, Tama had 14 days to leave the country, after creating a life there. But he was locked out of New Zealand despite months of trying to book an MIQ spot. He quit his job and headed to Mexico with longtime girlfriend Katarina, 26, an Ecuador-born New Yorker.

It was “pretty crazy” but everything worked out. He had saved for just this, knowing he might be locked out of New Zealand for a long time.

“I was jumping through countries where I could get a tourist visa. But it was honestly the best time I've ever had in my life, just travelling and not working.”

After Mexico, the couple flew to Italy, and back to New York, to pack up their apartment in Williamsburg in Brooklyn.

They have been in New Zealand since March, starting with a road trip that began at the Whiting family home, once owned by “my nanny and koro” (his grandfather was master carver Cliff Whiting). “Then we zig-zagged down the country.”

Returning to Aotearoa has been “definitely grounding [and] a lot less stress.” Between covid and the Black Lives Matter protests and the US elections, the past three years have been “pretty hectic” in New York. He and Katarina took part in several anti-racism protests in support of Black Lives Matter. Seeing body-bags stacked up outside the hospitals at the peak of the pandemic felt apocalyptic.

W

hat to do with urban spaces can be a divisive issue in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, between heritage advocates and those who see intensification as the answer to the housing crisis. The meaning of community is always at the heart of the debate. Wellington could learn a lot from New York City, says landscape architect Tama Whiting, who recently returned to the capital after living and working there for three and a half years. “Denser living is better for building stronger communities, if designed well.”

In New York, wealthy and not-so-wealthy apartment dwellers alike use the available green spaces. “Whether you’re rich, poor or in between, you all use the same spots to socialise, to exercise, to relax, read, suntan, whatever.”

Higher-density living means that New Yorkers don’t spend their weekends weeding, hanging out in hardware stores, or doing DIY. Though DIY is “part of our Kiwi ingenuity culture”, Tama points out, “not everyone needs a huge lawn that they spend every weekend mowing.

You'll probably be much better off with a smaller planter box that you can manage, producing stuff that you use, while giving yourself more free time to actually enjoy the weekend.”

It’s also “a very New Zealand thing” to spend weekends fixing your house, he adds. The housing stock needs it, being “quite run down or not well-insulated.”

It’s inevitable that Aotearoa’s cities will move to denser living, but the understanding of what that could look like needs to change. He has seen a lot of poor quality local developments, using cheap materials. “They don’t focus on best design practices, and will probably turn into really rundown or decrepit buildings in the near future.”

It’s also crucial that public spaces are well designed and used. “With enough amenities and activities, then people feel like the park is better than their little plot of land.”

Tama, 30, is from Te Whānau-ā-Apanui in the eastern Bay of Plenty and East Coast regions, but was born and raised in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. He attended Miramar Central Primary, Evans Bay Intermediate, and Wellington College. He studied architecture at Te Herenga Waka/Victoria University, and gained his Master of Landscape Architecture in 2017, while working for Studio Pacific Architecture. Then he bought a oneway ticket to New York, after landing a J1 Visa, drawn by

Right: Tama Whiting

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Whare Timu

“Most people we knew knew someone, either family or friends, who had died of covid. All of that was pretty eyeopening, and it took its toll.”

The pair are currently living at Tama’s childhood home in Miramar. Tama has set up his own landscape architect consultancy, Maka Co-Lab, and is still consulting for SCAPE in New York. Tama and SCAPE are part of a design team working on Te Ara Tukutuku, the redevelopment of Auckland’s waterfront at Wynyard Point.

The project, for Eke Panuku Development Auckland, will be co-designed with mana whenua, says Tama. It will also see him team up again with former Studio Pacific colleague Whare Timu.

Growing up, Tama was surrounded by artists – koro Cliff designed Te Papa's marae and was the museum's first kaihautū (leader). As a five-year-old, Tama and another child cut the ribbon to open Te Papa. Dad Dean Whiting is also a master carver and the kaihautū/director of Māori Heritage at Heritage NZ Pouhere Taonga. Painter Séraphine Pick is Dean’s first cousin – “we call her ‘aunty’”.

They were all big inspirations, he says, but it was Studio Pacific architect Stephen McDougall (also related by marriage) who swayed Tama toward the design side. “My cousin and I would go hang out in his studio. You’d see all the models and people doing drawings. I always thought it was super cool.” It was like being an artist, he says, “but slightly more technical and with computers. Seeing that as a kid was like, ‘Wow! They’ve got all this fancy gear’.”

Stephen had “flash suits” and used to drive “fancy architect cars”, too. “It’s a bit superficial but when you're a kid you kind of look up to that!”

In New York Tama worked alongside indigenous communities such as Native American and African American communities to help them articulate their own design principles. These principles were based on “their cultural values, their own tribal principles that they might have for that particular area,” then their practical application to certain projects was worked through.

He says diversity in landscape architecture is vital for society, especially as we move towards densification, allowing designers to create “a sense of belonging, a sense of identity”, and impart a uniqueness to a place.

It also allows people who are underrepresented to see themselves in local spaces, after centuries of colonial design dominating cities the world over, he says. “It’s super important to start bringing forward some of these other narratives and histories.”

P

lace has always been important to architect Whare Timu (Ngāti Kahungunu, Te Arawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa), in both his life and work. He is proud of coming from Heretaunga-Hastings which is, he says, “known for its qualities around place”, such as wide, open landscapes, and abundant orchards and vineyards. Whare’s father’s whānau is from Hawkes Bay, and their papakāinga, or place to return to, is Te Hauke, near Hastings.

Hawkes Bay is also where the late legendary John Scott came from. As one of New Zealand’s most highly regarded architects, he is renowned for his Māori mid-century modernist aesthetic.

Scott, of Taranaki and Te Arawa descent, is widely credited as the first Māori architect. His best-known building is Futuna Chapel in Karori, but he was prolific in Hawkes Bay, building more than 200 houses in the region.

One of his earliest commissions was designing, in 1954, a chapel for St John’s College, the Catholic boys’ high school that he’d attended.

It all had a massive impact on the teenage Whare, who also went to St John’s, and over five years sat regularly in Scott’s chapel. “Learning about him opened up my world…. Once I knew who he was, I saw his architecture, no matter where I went.”

They also came from the same marae – Whare’s grandparents are buried next to John Scott at the Matahiwi Marae in Clive. After high school, Whare did an internship with Scott’s son, Jacob Scott, also an architect.

Now a principal, senior design lead, and cultural adviser at architects Warren and Mahoney, Whare says Scott’s stripped-down realist style of design, and the way he brought a te ao Māori sensitivity to architecture, has been a huge inspiration.

Whare flourished at St John’s. He was the top academic student in his sixth-form year, and achieved results in the top five percent for national NCEA results in art, graphic design, and physics. He was enlisted by his teachers to help develop consenting plans and landscaping schemes for properties owned by the Marist Brothers.

It seemed that his path to architecture was all set. But the reality wasn’t so simple. Whare never planned to go

Right: Whare Timu

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to university, because no one else in his family had. Then, when he was 17, Whare and his then-girlfriend had a baby daughter, Taylin. It didn’t faze his parents, who “weren’t too overbearing [and] fairly liberal.” His dad's family are “deep in the gang life”, he adds.

“My dad played a big part in forming the Mongrel Mob, so my life has been quite colourful. I was exposed to a lot of things pretty early."

School kept him focused, he says. “I always did well at school. I always had a knack for having quite strong working relationships with my teachers.”

He felt different, he adds. Although “All my family are patched”, he “always thought there was something else for me.”

His daughter’s birth was a chance for change. “Part of why I went down to Wellington was to get myself out of Hastings, to start afresh.”

Whare and his partner moved to Wellington when Taylin was one. He went to Wellington Architecture School at Victoria University, while his girlfriend went to teachers’ college.

“We went straight into flatting, and juggling family life with our study life.” They are no longer together, he says, but have a good relationship, sharing Taylin’s care. Taylin is now 17, the age he was when she was born. Whare, 35, says he’s happy to share his past. “It feels like it was yesterday, that she was just a baby in my arms!”

There were multiple scholarships for financial support, but architecture school was isolating. From his second year on, he was the only Māori student in his cohort at Victoria University. There were no Māori staff or lecturers to help him express “who I am as a Māori, to speak about the whenua, and moana, and the wai”.

He struggled to find a supervisor who understood what he was trying to do and eventually sought a critique from architect Derek Kawiti, then at Auckland University.

His dissertation looked at “decolonising, declaiming and decarbonising” Wellington’s Te Aro Park, aka “Pigeon Park”, once the site of Te Aro pā. “He saw the struggle, and I’m grateful for him.”

He graduated with Honours, and his first job was at Studio Pacific Architecture for around a decade, working on largescale projects and government work, and collaborating with iwi and hapu in a co-design environment. He developed a cultural unit within the studio, boosting the company’s understanding of te ao Māori, te reo Māori and tikanga Māori.

From 2018, Whare worked at First Light Studio, before joining Warren and Mahoney in 2021 to lead their indigenous design unit, Te Matakīrea, as an associate principal. Six months later he was promoted to principal.

Te Matakīrea (meaning the sharp end of a spear, or to drive forward and advance) is dedicated to empowering indigenous architecture in Aotearoa, Australia, and around the Pacific Rim. Whare heads a core team of around 10 people working across Warren and Mahoney’s seven studios, including

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Melbourne and Sydney. The unit includes experts in technology, sustainability, and cultural design.

Current projects include one in Seattle, with First Nation clients, and Tonga’s new Parliament. In Australia Te Matakīrea is working on the North East Link Project (NELP), a multibillion-dollar motorway scheme and the State of Victoria’s biggest-ever road project. The new freeway covers a lot of tribal areas and borders, and the unit is collaborating with Victoria’s first indigenous architect, Jefa Greenaway.

Co-design means architects must change their practice and thinking. There’s another layer to the design process: “the idea of a multi-layered kōrero, or conversation. Leaning in, with our ears first, and our pencils in our back pocket.”

Building relationships, understanding protocols, and using te reo Māori – both verbally and in documentation – go a long way. Understanding the Māori arrangement of spaces, such as where the ātea or courtyard traditionally goes, is crucial.

Sustainability goes hand in hand with mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge). But the concept of kaitiakitanga has been “warped” by central and local government, says Whare. “It’s probably the most bastardised word in our dictionary.”

Too many people, he says, understand it as a word for “guardian”. The correct concept is stewardship of the land, which is very different, he argues.

“A guardian is a protector that stomps its foot and places its own ego in protecting something,” but kaitiakitanga, he explains, is about reciprocity. “If you want to take, you should be able to give back.”

Kaitiakitanga includes caring for people and involves past, present and future. It is not exercised just “for ourselves”, says Whare, but also “for our mokopuna’s mokopuna”.

“Architects have a pretty colourful track record of just plonking down buildings and creating these big sculptural forms that don’t really resonate or respond that well to the whenua.” For Whare, a successful project is “when a building actually fits in with the trees, and gives back to the waterways, and sits lightly on the earth. You can look at it and say, the architect that designed that designed it with love. Love towards the whenua, for the wai, for the moana.”

In terms of his work, he is proud of He Tohu, the Studio Pacific award-winning exhibition room at the National Library which displays taonga, including Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Built using windblown West Coast rimu and mechanically carved, the room’s design evokes the inside of a waka huia, or wooden treasure box. “It’s a once in a lifetime project... it’s a core space for all New Zealanders, to learn about our shared history.”

Outside of work, Whare enjoys painting. He lives in the CBD, and has a studio in his warehouse-style apartment “It’s just the perfect area to spend time and mellow out, yet you feel the buzz around you.”

Whare doesn’t exhibit, but he sells the occasional piece.

Many find their way back home to Heretaunga, to his whānau’s 130-year-old villa. “The whole house is my gallery.”

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P H OTO G R A P H Y BY A N N A B R I G GS

Home is where the art is – and art is in every corner of this fale. It’s on the walls, in the studio, and even under the rug.

From Tonga, to Sydney, to Wellington, artist Telly Tuita tells Melody Thomas how this Lyall Bay bungalow became the place for him.

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“H

ome” means different things to different people. For some it carries memories of love and safety, for others uncertainty or distress.

Those who’ve had to leave one home for another might spend their lives suspended between the two, never feeling fully accepted in either. But “home” is always more than just a structure.

For artist Telly Tuita, home is the Tonga recalled by his inner child, bathed in the hues of nostalgia. It’s in Australia, with the aunty and uncle he calls Mum and Dad. And it’s the Lyall Bay bungalow he shares with his husband Hoani, their chow chow Bella, and regular visitors, including their daughter Molly Mae, who lives down the road with her Mums.

The bungalow sits on the flat between Kilbirnie and Lyall Bay, close enough to the beach to be technically part of the latter. It’s a sweet, pale mint whare snuggled cosily between the houses either side.

When Telly opens the front door, his trademark bubbliness announces itself immediately. He ushers me into the lounge, insisting on getting us sponge

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cake and coffee. The house is simple and tidy, newly renovated with walls painted grey-white, windows and doors framed in natural wood, and mid-century and Georgian furniture thoughtfully placed. Telly’s artwork brings it all to life. His paintings, photographs, and collages hang on every wall in every room, a riot of colour, pattern and texture. In a cluttered space it might all be too much, but here it’s perfect. It’s like a cosy gallery, with comfy couches, well-tended plants and a fluffy canine companion.

Telly and Hoani first met in 2016. Hoani had been visiting Sydney, where Telly lived, and was headed out for a morning run on his last day in the city. He bumped into Telly, who was returning from a friend’s three-day long birthday bender. The meet-cute is a perfect snapshot of their personalities: “Hoani’s lovely and quiet, and I'm loud and a bit of a show-off ,” says Telly.

Hoani was charmed into accepting a ride to the airport from Telly the next day. “That was the game changer for him,” explains Telly, “He said what he’d seen the night before, and what he saw coming and picking him up were two completely different people… [Here was] this nice young man in loafers and a shirt, and a dog, in a nice car.”

The rest – as they say – is history. Telly and Hoani fell in love over FaceTime and via trips between Sydney and Lyall Bay, where Hoani was living, and they eventually began to discuss how they might close 49

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“Heading off to God knows where” I say.

“God knows who and God knows what,” he finishes.

Telly arrived in Minto, a working class neighbourhood in south-west Sydney, and moved in with his Dad, step-Mum, and her three daughters from a previous relationship. It was a huge change for Telly, and he struggled to adjust. He clashed with his step-Mum, who Telly believes had pushed to bring him into their home, but then found it wasn’t as she’d expected. “You assume that you’re gonna get a child you can sort of mould, but I wasn't mouldable or changeable,” he says.

At age 14, Telly was kicked out, eventually settling in the nearby suburb of Campbelltown with his uncle, aunt, and their three sons. Telly had had a little taste of something like home with his Grandad in Tonga, but in Campbelltown he got to settle in. His aunt became like a Mum to Telly, helping him get through high school and university, supporting him when he came out, taking him to

the geographical distance between them. In the end Telly decided to come to Aotearoa, and they bought the Lyall Bay bungalow. Moving countries and buying a house with someone is a big commitment, but Telly’s used to uncertainty. “I thrive in the unknown. I thrive in the whatever,” he says.

Telly was born in Tonga in 1980, but his Dad lived in Australia, and his Mum left when he was a baby, so he lived with extended family. When Telly was seven or eight, his Grandad came to collect him from wherever he was (there are no records and Telly is uncertain). He was enrolled in school, given his first taste of routine and stability, and then in 1989, he was told he was being sent to live with his Dad in Australia. Telly had no idea what Australia was. He hadn’t met his Dad, had never left Tonga, and didn’t really speak English (his Grandad had started to pass on bits and pieces.

The first two English words Telly learned were “apple” and – somewhat fittingly – “house”).

In a photograph taken at the time, Telly stands next to his Grandpa Solomone Tu’niua Tuita and a cousin, staring forlornly at the camera. It’s the earliest existing picture he has of himself.

“I look sad as hell, in my little uniform and sandals… Spiky hair, big eyes, probably snot running down my nose,” says Telly.

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his first musical and his first art gallery. These days Telly has relinquished the anger he once held towards his step-Mum, understanding things must have been difficult for her too, but he has only immense love and gratitude for his aunty-Mum. “A big part of my success is due to her,” he says.

After leaving school, Telly applied to both art school and the army, an unlikely combination of choices, but “because of the way my life was, nothing ever was set in stone,” he explains. Luckily for us, Telly got into art school first.

Telly finished his Fine Arts degree at Western Sydney University in 2003, but in a working class family there was pressure to get a “real job”, and “artist” didn’t cut it. The day after he graduated, Telly registered to do a bachelor’s degree in art teaching.

He followed this with a Master’s in Special Education and then began working as a special education art teacher. By the time he met Hoani, Telly was a deputy principal, though he’d never stopped creating.

“I always had certain materials lying around just in case I had to scratch that itch”, he says, but “teaching took over, and art was just going to be a hobby.”

Teaching might have remained Telly’s career, if he hadn’t moved to Aotearoa, where Hoani suggested he focus on art full-time instead. Telly had already converted the bungalow’s sunroom into a studio, 52

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and not having to worry about paying for a space when he wasn’t making money from his art made the idea of pursing it feasible. “In some ways, the art has been made because of the house,” he says.

Telly’s studio might be my favourite room here. It’s also an aesthetic outlier: messy and cluttered, shelves nearing collapse under the weight of raw materials, walls splashed with paint and scrawled with the first bursts of creative ideation. Showing me around, Telly pulls open a filing cabinet and begins rifling through piles of old work (earlier he pulled up a rug to reveal his photographic backdrops, and behind the shower curtain hid materials waiting to go to a storage unit).

Despite telling me mere moments ago that both Hoani and the gallery that represents him have told him to stop giving artworks away as gifts, he presses one into my hands: a small collaged painting depicting figures in silhouette, a moonlit ocean, and the words “Love is not an emotion, it is a skill we need to learn.”

Given what he’s just told me I know I should refuse, but I can’t. I adore it, the words as much as the images.

It’s soon framed and hanging on my bedroom wall.

Telly’s energy is explosive; his art-making can’t be contained by the studio’s walls. Some mornings, he takes over the dining room table, painstakingly drawing and colouring ngatu over coffee. When it rains, Telly stalks between the house and the shed with 53

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spray cans, willing newly lacquered canvases to hurry up and dry. When it’s fine and his photographer is in town, Telly poses in front of elaborate faux-photo-studio sets in the backyard wearing bright masks, costume pieces, or sometimes just underwear, capturing the Tongpop aesthetic he’s become known and celebrated for.

Because these days, art is his “real” job. Since moving to Aotearoa, Telly has exhibited all over the country, been a finalist in a handful of art awards, secured representation from Bergman Gallery Auckland, and participated in high-profile group shows – including Whetūrangitia / Made As Stars, showing at The Dowse until February 2023 – as well as delivering his hit Tongpop shows. It all adds up to a successful second career, made possible in no small part by the bungalow he now calls home, and the boundless love and support of Hoani.

“I think I was lucky to have found him,” Telly tells me, “I hope he’d say the same thing about me.”

Later, I email Hoani to see how he defines home. His reply is perfect: “Home could be anywhere for me. At the moment it is in this house because that is where I feel safe and nurtured – and that is because of Telly.”

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F E AT U R E

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Skiller instinct P H OTO G R A P H Y BY J O S I A H N E V E L L

Through his MakeRoom workshops Nigel Scott encourages both kids and adults to design, tinker, and develop their practical skills. DIY-phobe Craig Beardsworth tries his hand.

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B

ouncing eight-year-olds have taken over the driveway of a house in suburban Miramar.

Large plywood boards laid on the ground to protect the concrete and act as work benches, spray paint colours have been chosen, and wooden templates for a game controller are ready to be decorated. They are being taught how to shake the cans. For an eight-year-old, shaking a spray can is a full body experience and must be accompanied by giggling. The tutor explains how to avoid spraying your face – it sounds important. I leave them to it and walk down the driveway to a garage.

I am visiting MakeRoom. It once was a garage, but is now an extensive complex of workshops and classrooms devoted to teaching hands-on skills.

Proprietor (and evil overlord, according to the website) Nigel Scott oversees three programmes in the ever growing space: STEM Club (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths), a holiday programme series, and adult classes.

Hanging from the rafters near the front of the main workshop, a sign encapsulates the essence of the space. Each letter is in a box and has been individually treated – some spray painted, others silhouetted with astroturf or screws and washers behind, others with cogs and wheels nestled behind perspex. All are handmade and whimsical.

In 2017 Nigel and his partner Lucy set up a workshop downstairs in their recently purchased house. He wanted his boys, then nine and 10 years old, to have a space in which to tinker and create things.

News of the workshop spread among the boy’s friends and Nigel began creating projects to amuse a few kids in his spare time. By mid-2018 the few grew to 28 students, and MakeRoom turned commercial. By the end of the year 50 students were descending on the house every weekend, and a waiting list formed. “I was no longer getting any weekends to myself. I knew I needed help, and it was time to leave work.”

N O T E S

Work was at Park Road Post Production, where Nigel had been a sound editor for 12 years, and garnered four nominations in the Hollywood Motion Picture Sound Editor’s awards. He’d worked on The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Hobbit trilogy, and many others, often acting as emissary between director Peter Jackson and composer Howard Shore. Earlier there had been a Chapman Tripp Award for theatre design, lecturing at Toi Whakaari, and stints at the Edinburgh Festival, the Sydney Olympics, and sound engineering for royal events across the United Kingdom. Why abandon such a storied career for MakeRoom? “I’m incredibly grateful for my time in the film industry,” Nigel says. “I needed a fresh challenge. I spent a long time realising the vision of other people, and now I get to realise my own vision.”

Part of Nigel’s vision is parked in the driveway – a large white van. “We had parents from Ōtaki to Wainuiomata willing to travel to us. Now we can go to them.” Next term MakeRoom is hiring Scout and community halls across the region and taking their mix of electronics, robotics, and woodwork on the road. The 28 students from 2018 will now grow to 260, with a staff of four part-timers. The longterm plan is to have a space in the city for projects involving larger equipment while the van covers the outer suburbs. “My boys are now old enough to be eyeing up this space for a teenage pad”.

Nigel admits to missing the freshness that a new film project brings, but this is countered by the buzz that teaching gives him. Parents are encouraged to attend along with their children, and many end up being involved in classes. “There is something wonderful about watching children watching their parents learn alongside them. Seeing that everyone struggles and has to problem solve. It’s the best type of learning.”

Get the bigger picture with a subscription Subscribe: artzone.co.nz/shop Instagram: @artzone_nz Facebook: @artzonenewzealand Online: artzone.co.nz

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F E AT U R E

High on the hill P H OTO G R A P H Y BY A D R I A N V E RCO E

Their family house is many steps up from the roadside and enjoys glorious seaside views. The Thurston family tells Sarah Catherall what they love about their about their renovated home.

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W

hen Richard Thurston visited his parents in Seatoun he often looked up at a modernist house on the hill with a signature porthole window. He assumed the 70s house had been designed by Ian Athfield on the basis of its style.

Thurston, a Wellington artist and Weta art director, and his wife, Cushla, an architect and associate director at Solari Architects, often dreamed of moving to Seatoun. Richard had grown up there, and his parents and sister still live there. Richard and Cushla thought it would be a lovely place to raise their daughters, Nina and Amadee. On their wish list: a house with a sea view, which was close enough to walk to the beach to swim.

But with Wellington’s house prices surging, they expected their ideal to be out of reach – until the very house Richard had admired from below popped up online for sale. There were several reasons why it was within their price range. It needed considerable renovation and maintenance work, which was to the Thurstons’ advantage. And with about 70 steps up to the house, access was a barrier to many potential buyers, but they didn’t mind the walk. They bought the house about two years ago, and moved in last July.

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“We love everything about being here. It’s like being on holiday at the beach,’’ Richard says.

They discovered the house had been designed by Dave Launder, a seminal figure in Wellington architecture in the 1970s and 1980s. He also designed the house next door, further up the hill, and his own family home in Karaka Bay, also with a porthole window.

Richard began an extensive renovation, keeping the bones of the house.

Fortunately they love mid-century objects and furniture, so their existing pieces fit seamlessly into the environment. The living room is where they spend the most time. Their mid-century couch runs along one wall and they bought a round dining table from a vintage store for the other end of the room.

Their mainly New Zealand art collection is displayed throughout the house. The living area represents a wonderful use of space. When they bought the house, the stunning 180-degree view across Wellington harbour to Eastbourne was broken up by french doors. In one corner, a freestanding woodburner took up too much space. “The deck was also shaky, and it wasn’t nice being out there. With all the verticals you couldn’t see the view, and we just wanted to tidy that up,’’ Cushla says. “But for all that, the house still had a lovely, beachy view.’’

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Richard ripped the fireplace out and lined the ceiling with cedar, which gives the space a honey glow and makes it feel warm and inviting. He built a new deck. He also renovated the kitchen, which came with original cabinetry. A huge pantry blocked the view.

He installed kitchen cabinets from Bunnings, and replaced the kitchen floor.

Some structural work was needed. The house proved to have “a lot of rotten beams,’’ says Cushla. In the laundry, two-thirds of a 300ml beam was rotten.

Nina’s room has the signature porthole window, which was redone and made to open. And Richard added space by building a mezzanine floor, so she can have friends to stay in her room.

Amadee stands in the living room and looks out through binoculars at the panoramic view below. Her bedroom is the largest one, with a low vertical window giving a view of the street below. Richard and Cushla’s bedroom is on the lowest level. Eventually the plan is to build a deck off it, linked with the other outdoor spaces.

From the main deck, Richard can spy the primary school he attended as a child. In her former job Cushla helped redesign the school in its new life as Te Kura Kaupapa Maori O Nga Mokopuna, Seatoun. At Solari

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Architects, she now specialises in medium density housing for Kainga Ora and private developers.

Living on Seatoun’s hillside inspires Richard to create art. Many of the photographs in his most recent exhibition are images of the sea and Orongorongo ranges in the distance.

Orongorongo shows the peaks in the distance, while Warm Glow features the fog rolling in.

“The view is always changing and I never get sick of it.’’ Richard loves watching the sun come up and the ships coming in across the Cook Strait.

“I get up early for the magic hour.’’

They’ve kept their Brooklyn home, where Cushla designed a studio for Richard at the back of their house, using timber from her father’s own mill. They run it as an Airbnb.

Dave Launder is still a practising architect, living on the Kāpiti Coast. They invited him over, curious to know what he thought of their iteration of the house he designed more than four decades ago. “He said he always really loved the house, and he was impressed with what we have done to it,’’ Cushla says.

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KIND CR ACKERS Refill store Hopper is hoping to keep Christmas crackers out of the 50,000 tonnes of extra waste that gets sent to New Zealand’s landfills over the festive period, with their clever recyclable version.

Inside are hand-crafted gifts made from upcycled or natural materials, an adjustable crown, which is assembled using the cracker itself, and of course a couple of jokes to tell at the dinner table. This year Hopper is giving 30% of cracker proceeds to Forest and Bird.

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Pearl Delaney-Girdlestone and Cruze McFarlane have set up lifestyle store Hendrix at Waikanae Beach, in time for the summer. The Kāpiti Coast locals were inspired by their years travelling and living abroad to source homeware items that make a house feel like a holiday home.

Launching the store, which sells New Zealand and international brands, has been a long-term dream of the pair who live locally with their son Atlas and Boston terrier Rocket.

In the spirit of the season Metlink has waived fares on their trains and buses on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Eve for all passengers in the Wellington region. General manager Samantha Gain says, “Helping to bring friends and whānau together for free at Christmas and New Year’s Eve is a way of supporting the community hard hit by cost-of-living increases during a difficult year.”

White Ferns cricket player Amelia Kerr has created an online video series featuring seven people who have struggled with mental health issues. Treading Water will be released weekly over the coming months, with stories from Amelia’s friends and family, sports personalities, and Amelia herself, who has been open about struggles with her own mental health. They discuss grief, depression, and ways parents can help their children.

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NO GYM PASS REQUIRED California’s Muscle Beach ethos has arrived in the capital. The upgraded Pirie Street play area now features a calisthenics park, suitable for adults to use for a workout. Calisthenics is a form of exercise that involves little equipment and uses one’s own bodyweight. The park’s equipment includes a set of monkey bars, parallel bars, and soft surfacing underneath to cushion falls.

MOVIE FANS REJOICE Popcorn at the ready, Event Cinemas is set to reopen in Lower Hutt’s, Queensgate shopping mall this December. The cinema closed in 2016 after the Kaikōura earthquake meant it had to be demolished. The new and better cinema will be largest in the region, with seven screens, state-of-the-art IMAX 4K projection, comfy seating and an arcade area.

SUS-PLANE-ABLE Wellington Airport has been rated third best in the world for sustainability. In an independent assessment by the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark, airports were judged on their management of environmental, social, and governance efforts. In recent years Wellington Airport has replaced a third of its fuelled vehicles with electric alternatives, improved the energy efficiency of its buildings, and recycled 100% of the asphalt removed during their 2021 runway resurfacing (almost 18,000 tonnes).

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Contemporary Dance Students - Minami Kurota & Sofija Milic. Photo by Stephen A’Court

F E AT U R E

Vixen Kate Hardwick, pictured here with her colleague and right-hand woman Daniella Smith, is the owner/chef at Vixen Burger. Kate opened the popular burger joint two years ago in the “lovely wee town” of Featherston.

“I wanted to get out of Wellington and accidentally found the perfect wee shop to lease,” she says. “It’s called Vixen because we’re in Fox Street and I’m a chick. And the word ‘Vixen’ is very satisfying.”

Kate’s favourite Christmas traditions all revolve around food.

“From croissants, panettone and Champagne for Christmas breakfast, to scarfing leftover trifle on Boxing Day straight from the fridge.” She loves new potatoes and peas in their shells, her Auntie’s cheese ball with Snax crackers, and “those faux-crystal compartmentalised trays with dried fruits and dodgy nougat. Don’t know if they still exist.”

A standout memory from her childhood is the bowls of whole nuts with nutcrackers that were always part of her grandmother’s festive table: “They just seemed to taste better that way.”

She remarks that it has got harder to find nuts in shells – “Haven’t seen Brazil nuts in years. It was mostly the ritual and drama of pinging the nutshells. My very favourite are fresh hazelnuts, which are one of the defining tastes of Christmas for me.”

Deer-licious traditions

BY F R A N C E S CA E M M S

We met the first three of Santa’s reindeer last Christmas. This year we asked about the next three in the lineup. Francesca Emms found a Vixen, a Comet, and a Cupid, and asked them what ingredient really makes Christmas feel like Christmas.

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Comet

Cupid

Alex Kinzett always had an interest in the night sky, which turned into a lifelong passion once he started working at Space Place, the planetarium and observatory in Wellington Botanic Garden. As site supervisor Alex manages the day-to-day operations. “My favourite part of my job is to take visitors on a journey through space and time to the edge of our universe from the comfort of our planetarium.”

He’s well placed to give us the lowdown on comets. “Comets can be a mix of frozen water, gas, dust, and rock.

Comets greatly differ in their orbital period around the Sun, from 3.3 years to potentially millions of years. The coolest thing about them (other than being frozen!) is that the debris from comets is what causes meteor showers or shooting stars here on Earth!”

When Alex was growing up, his mum would make mini pavlovas for the family to decorate with their own choice of toppings for Christmas breakfast-dessert.

She maintains the tradition, and Alex’s favourite topping is lemon curd. “Making scrumptious lemon curd and dolloping huge mounds onto pavlova with mascarpone and grated chocolate for Christmas brunch; the sweet-sour twang instantly transports me back in time.”

This year (besides the lemon curd) Alex is looking forward to spending Christmas with his whānau and celebrating his daughter's first Christmas.

A red, heartshaped fruit is the hero ingredient on Christmas day for modern-day Cupid Sasha Madarasz.

The professional matchmaker says strawberries often play a big part at Christmas. “On a pav, in a bowl on their own, or sometimes dropped in a glass of bubbles.”

Sasha opened her dating agency Two’s Company in 2003. “I researched what people liked about what was out there at the time, and what they didn’t like, and came up with a one-on-one introduction agency. I meet with all clients, find out about their lives and what they are looking for out of the future and out of a partner, and then let them know if I think I have the right people to introduce them to.” It’s a job she loves. “I meet with awesome, positive, happy, driven, and motivated people every day. Then I make their lives even better. What’s not to love?”

Every year Sasha’s Christmas starts with the Hungarian side of her family meeting on Christmas Eve for a traditional meal of paprika chicken. This dish is slow cooked with lots of capsicum, tomatoes, chilli, and paprika, and served with cucumber salad, pickles, and chilli.

“My Oma and Opa escaped Hungary when my father was six and arrived in Wellington as refugees, so this meal is a link to their heritage that they brought with them.”

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Nursery web spider

BY M E LO DY T H O M A S

Name: Nursery web spider Scientific name: Dolomedes minor Status: Endemic, widespread.

Description: If you don’t know these spiders, you’ll know their webs: the big, white ones you see thickly webbed to the tips of gorse and other shrubs. The webs are beautiful, and used to protect their young rather than trap food (hence the spider’s name), but seeing an adult spider might still give you a fright! They’re big, with a leg span of 6cm or more in adult females, brown or greyish in colour, with a yellowish stripe running lengthwise along their bodies, and they can move quickly.

Habitat: Dolomedes minor is found throughout Aotearoa in a variety of habitats, from sea level to subalpine areas, including scrub and grasslands.

They hunt without webs, feeding nocturnally on prey unlucky enough to bump into them, including locusts, other spiders, dobsonfly larvae, earthworms, bees, and other small insects.

The Capital online shop is full of goodies from local makers.

From gift sets to subscriptions, get Christmas sorted.

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Look/listen: Sightings of these spiders start to rise at this time of year, continuing through the summer months. When you spot a web, have a peek around the base of the plant, where she’s likely to be hiding out during the daytime. If it’s night, you’re likely to have spotted her already – perched on top guarding her babies.

Tell me a story: When summer hits, the female nursery web spider is often seen roaming about carrying a large white ball underneath her. This is her egg sac, and she totes it wherever she goes, like a weird, gestational handbag – until her young are ready to emerge, at which point she builds them their nursery web. The spiderlings will spend a week or so inside the web, after which they disperse via a process called “ballooning”, sending long strands of thread up into the air, to be carried out into the big wide world on updrafts.

HOST YOUR NEX T

PRIVATE FUNCTION AT CINDERELL A

For event enquiries, please contact

info.cinderella@yugroup.co.nz

278 W IL L IS ST R EE T

@ CI N DE R S _W I N E

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DITCH PLASTIC Some forms of food and drink packaging are now illegal to sell, buy, or provide, under the Plastic and Related Products Regulations 2022. The ban came into force from 1 October and includes polystyrene takeaway packaging, pre-formed PVC food containers, plastic drink stirrers, and noodle cups made from expanded polystyrene. There are two more tranches of regulation planned, with plastic tableware, straws, produce bags, and noncompostable plastic produce labels to be prohibited by the middle of 2023. Remaining polystyrene and PVC food and drink packaging will be banned by mid-2025.

LIT TLE ITALY

HOMEGROWN

LICK OF PAINT

Kāpiti and Wairarapa olive oils came out on top at this year’s New Zealand Extra Virgin Olive Oil Awards. Olive oil producers from the regions took out four of the five major awards, including Best in Show, which was won by Kāpiti brand Waikawa Glen, and Best Boutique, won by Pressed Gold from Greytown. The soil and climate of the two regions are ideal for growing the fruit, which has contributed considerably to their success.

On 3 December the Kāpiti Food Fair will be showing off homegrown talent. Alongside local food vendors, there will be cooking demonstrations by Kaibosh Kāpiti chef Fiona Greig, and co-founder of Sustainable Foods Kryan Rei. Aotearoa Music Awards Best Country Artist Jody Direen will headline the festival, with other musicians performing throughout the day. At the Mazengarb Reserve, Paraparaumu.

Chef and barista Thobias Joby is opening a new café on Ballance Street.

He raised funds for his new venture, Kākāriki, driving for Uber, where as luck would have it he met an employee of Pynenburg and Collins Architects, who then helped him with the design. Avid painters Kezia Fairbrother, an architectural graduate at Pynenburg and Collins Architects, and the firm’s office manager Olivia Hamilton have painted murals of native foliage to give the space a new lease of life.

Oxfam Trailwalker

A TARANAKI SUMMER LINE-UP LIKE NO OTHER

TSB Festival of Lights

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NO CUP? NO PROBLEM Havana Coffee has joined forces with reusable cup lender Again Again, to create the Coffee Cup Library. Using a system similar to borrowing a book, customers can grab their cup of Joe at a participating café, and use the Again Again mobile app to check out a stainlesssteel loan cup at no extra cost. Customers then have two weeks to return it. Havana hopes it'll help reduce the 295 million single-use cups discarded in New Zealand each year.

PAEKĀKĀRIKI PIT STOP

PADD O CK TO PLATE

SMART CO OKIE

Beach Road Deli in Paekākāriki is celebrating its first year under new management. Kāpiti Coast locals Hope Broderick and Izzy Asplet took over the 12-year-old café in November 2021. “We were both at points in our life with careers that were unfulfilling and uncertain,” Hope explains.

They noticed the great team at Beach Road Deli and jumped at the opportunity to own it. Hope says, “I feel proud to be contributing to the community I grew up in.”

The four founding producers of the Horowhenua Taste Trail have teamed up again and the local tasting event is back after a three-year absence. Genoese Foods, Woodhaven Gardens, Lewis Farms, Turk’s Poultry and others will open their doors to the public on 26 November.

A seven-stop trail has been developed.

Visitors can sample the food produced at each site, tour the farms, view demonstrations, and meet the growers. Each of the locations will host several producers, offering a wide variety of tastes.

After a successful run during the Wellington on a Plate festival the Little Cookie Shop has announced it’s here to stay. Starting as a pop-up on Tory Street in August, just around the corner from sister café the Little Waffle Shop, the shop quickly gained popularity and repeatedly sold out. It specialises in freshly baked cookies, with a regularly rotating menu, including flavours such as Biscoff-filled, and vegan raspberry and double chocolate.

Bowl of Brooklands

Taranaki is known for its world-class events. With a stacked summer events line-up, now is the time to plan your ultimate escape to Taranaki. Come for the arts, culture or gardens, and stay for the picture-perfect scenery, decadent dining, and fascinating local history.

WHAT’S ON TSB Festival of Lights - 17 Dec - 22 Jan | Oxfam Trailwalker - 11-12 Mar UB40 at Bowl of Brooklands - 30 Dec | Summer Feastival - 16-19 Feb Find out more about these and other events happening in Taranaki at taranaki.co.nz/visit AN INITIATIVE OF VENTURE TARANAKI

Curated items for you, your home and garden at Palmers Miramar

69-71 Miramar Avenue, Miramar, Wellington.

04 388 8435 www.palmers.co.nz miramar@palmers.net.nz

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Eat, drink and make it pink P H OTO G R A P H Y BY A D R I A N V E RCO E ST Y L E D BY S H A L E E F I T Z S I M M O N S

Elvis had a blue Christmas, Bing Crosby’s was white, but for Kate Marinkovich it’s got to be pink. Make the season bright with rosy recipes for the big day, and a festive theme Barbie would be proud of.

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If there’s one thing Kate Marinkovich knows it’s making pretty food. Each day fluffy, floral cakes and glistening glazed donuts delight customers at her Mount Victoria café Tomboy. Completely self-taught, Kate inherited her flair for food from her family, who regularly lend a hand in the café she opened six years ago. She shares her recipes and wisdom for a Christmas with a difference.

“I

love pink. I love pink food. And focusing on pink feels like a beautiful way to end yet another crazy year,” said Kate, discussing her Christmas menu.

It has to work when “something fun and festive” is called for.

Vibrant cherries, apples, beetroot, radishes, and salmon take centre stage at this flamboyant feast. “The earth provides us with a bountiful rainbow to enjoy,” says Kate, who makes the most of seasonal, local ingredients. Kate’s love for local even extends to the tableware she uses, which she purchases from small businesses, One of a Kind Ceramics and Plain and Simple.

These meals are for the maximalist – full of flavour combinations that shift with each bite. “I love lots of things going on on my plate,” says Kate, “a little sauciness with a little crunchy fresh texture, and a little protein.” The dishes can be enjoyed together, or separately for a light meal. Summer ingredients make them great for this time of year, but elements can be easily swapped out for year-round eating.

As always Kate will be spending this Christmas with her family, but she won’t be getting hot and bothered in the kitchen. “Start your Christmas cooking with a glass of French Champagne, relax and enjoy the process of cooking something delicious.”

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Salty pickled pork fat potato salad 1 box baby potatoes 3 tbsp pork fat 1 red onion 1 jar pitted Kalamata olives Forvm Chardonnay vinegar extra virgin olive oil 1 c Italian parsley 1.

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Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Slice all the potatoes lengthways and arrange cut side down on a large flat tray. Blob the pork fat over the potatoes and generously sprinkle with sea salt.

Cook in oven for 40 minutes. You don’t need to flip them, let the bottoms caramelise in the fat.

They will be easy to lift off once they have a crispy shell. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

While the potatoes are cooking, prepare your pink accompaniments.

Slice the red onion into semicircle slices. The thickness is up to you. Place in bowl, and add 2 tbsp caster sugar and 1/2 cup vinegar. Toss, top up with water till everything is covered, and allow to pickle.

Roughly chop the olives and parsley and place in a bowl. Add the potatoes and pickled red onion. Gently toss to combine. Season with sea salt and pepper.

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Creamy chive and roe dip 250 gm crème fraiche 250 gm sour cream 1 tbsp capers 1 lemon 1 c chives, finely chopped 1 c dill, finely chopped 1 shallot, thinly sliced 2-3 jars salmon roe 1.

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In a blender combine the crème fraiche, sour cream, capers, lemon zest, juice and herbs.

Season with salt and pepper. Blitz until smooth. Add more seasoning if required.

On a large platter spread the creamy dip over the base. Top with roe, thinly sliced shallots, edible flowers and chopped herbs.

Serve with lavosh.

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Cherry and pistachio chicken roulade

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3 chicken breasts 6 pork chipolatas 3/4 c bread crumbs 1 egg white 1 shallot, finely sliced 75gm pistachios 1 c dried cherries, finely chopped 2 tbsp semi-dried parsley 1 lemon, zest only salt and pepper 3 packets prosciutto

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To make the stuffing place the sausages, breadcrumbs, egg, shallot, cherries, pistachio, parsley, and lemon in a blender. Season. Pulse until it all comes together nicely, and then set aside.

Take the chicken breasts and butterfly. Slice through the thickest part of the meat but not the whole way through.

You want to open it up to make it larger and flatter.

Witloof, apple & honey almond salad Salad

Dressing

2 heads witloof (we used one red and one white) 1 bunch of soft fluffy lettuce 1 c pomegranate arils 1 crunchy red apple, diced 1 green apple, diced 1 celery stalk, diced 2 radishes, diced 2 c slivered almonds 3 tbsp honey

1/2 c extra virgin olive oil 1/4 Chardonnay vinegar 1 garlic clove, crushed 1 tsp Dijon mustard 1 tsp sugar sea salt pepper

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Place the breast between two pieces of baking paper and, using a rolling pin, gently whack the meat until it’s all the same thickness and relatively thin. Repeat the process.

Arrange two long pieces of plastic wrap overlapping along your work surface. Lay the prosciutto lengthwise in the centre of the wrap, running its full length. The edges need to overlap slightly. Next place the chicken on top of the prosciutto, manipulating it to fit the length. Season with a little salt. Spread the sausage mixture on top of the chicken.

Taking the side closest to you, carefully roll the the meat using the plastic wrap to create the pressure to keep it tight.

Don’t roll up the plastic wrap inside the meat. Once your roulade is rolled nice and tightly, roll it up in the plastic wrap. Twist each end in the opposite direction until your roulade is firm and secure. Tie each end.

Set aside in the fridge for at least 2 hours to settle. This can be done the day before.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Remove the roulade from the wrap. If it’s too long to fit into your oven, slice it in half. Arrange on an oven tray and cook for 30 minutes or until the juice runs clear. Allow to rest.

Heat a little neutral oil in a pan. One section at a time, add the roulade and gently cook to crisp up the proscuitto.

Let cool slightly before slicing to serve.

Pink speckled butter 1 block butter, softened 1 bunch radishes, washed and trimmed sea salt 1.

2.

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Preheat oven to 165 degrees.

Place the almonds on a tray and toast until golden. Dollop the honey on top and put back in the oven. Give them a stir every 3 minutes until the honey is nicely melted through.

Allow to cook until you can smell the roasting honey and they look gloriously golden.

Tip out onto a piece of baking paper. Allow to cool before breaking up into little pieces.

To make the dressing, put all the ingredients in a jar. Close with a lid and shake. Dip a little lettuce into the jar to test the seasoning. Adjust to your liking.

On a large platter arrange the witloof and lettuce leaves.

Top with the remaining ingredients and scatter through the leaves.

Drizzle over the dressing when you are ready to serve.

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In a blender gently blitz the radishes till they are teeny tiny little pieces.

Arrange a few layers of paper towels and tip out the radishes onto the towel and squeeze the moisture out.

Now it’s going to smell funky and there will be a lot of liquid but it’s worth it (trust me). Once the radishes are dry, set aside.

In a bowl beat the butter until it’s pale and creamy.

Add the radishes and a pinch of salt. Beat until combined. Arrange on a plate or roll in plastic wrap to make cute butter discs for your guests.

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Charred peppers & pink hummus

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In a blender put all the ingredients together except the water and beetroot. Blend. Add water to create the desired consistency.

Take out half of the hummus and set aside in a bowl.

Add the beetroot to the remaining hummus in the blender and pulse until smooth. Set aside.

Over a flame gently char the peppers until the insides collapse and they have a lovely mottled dark exterior.

I put a cooling rack over my hobs and gently rotate them.

Set aside.

In a large pan heat 1/2 cup neutral oil to a medium heat.

Add the tin of chickpeas and shallow fry until they are crisp and golden. Keep shaking the pan slightly to allow them to turn in the oil.

Drain thoroughly once they are done. Toss with nigella seeds, sea salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

On a large flat plate spread the first batch of hummus.

Blob and smear the beetroot hummus over it.

Arrange a mix of the crispy chickpeas and grilled peppers on top. Garnish with micro greens, a drizzle of lemon juice, and salt.

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Pink Hummus

Sprig + Fern Berhampore Open 7 days a week Mon–Thurs: 3pm–late Fri–Sun: Midday–late

What’s on? // Quiz every Tuesday 7pm // Vinyl sessions every Sunday from 3pm // Naughty Naughty Burger pop-up – see social media @sprig__berhampore @berhamporebeer

Q. As the new owners of Sprig + Fern Berhampore, what’s changed since you took over?

A. We’re having fun creating the craft beer tavern we’ve always wanted. The bar is looking sharp with a coat of paint and new modern furniture - call in and check out the vibe. The outdoor area has expanded and become a welcoming family and dog friendly space. A beer garden is next on the list! We invested in a DJ set and promote the Sunday Sessions where vinyl enthusiasts are welcome to spin tunes for all to enjoy.

Q. What kind of vibe and experience can customers expect to have?

A. A fresh and relaxing tavern with fridges and taps full of quality craft beer and cider for the adults, games for the kids and chill spots for the dogs. We offer a small in-house menu, host regular pop-ups and allow you to BYO food if you want to enjoy a beer with your kai.

Q. Tell us about yourselves…

A. Hospitality runs in John’s blood. He left Ireland travelling the world and honing his skills before following the rugby world cup to New Zealand 10 years ago. He met Rachel and has never looked back. Our son, Finnbar was only 5 weeks old when we took ownership of Sprig + Fern Berhampore. The locals have loved watching him grow. We also have a Labradoodle called Togo who treats the pub as his own and has many dog friends that visit.

Q. What’s your current fave beer on tap?

A. John “Nectaron Pale Ale, also top fan of Grizzly Porter due to my Irish roots.” Rachel “loves the Mango and Lime cider that’s back on tap for summer.”

Spring/Summer at Circa Theatre

We are Many

Sāmoa mō Sāmoa

By D. F. Mamea Directed by Sarai Perenise-Ropeti Proudly supported by Shoreline Partners and Giddy Up New Zealand Presented by arrangement with Playmarket Choose your price: $15–$55

1–5 Nov

A development season of a new play by D. F. Mamea, award-winning writer of Still Life with Chickens and Goodbye My Feleni. A work of fiction based on true events, We are Many teaches history with heart, highlighting the challenges faced by the Women’s Mau Movement and celebrating the resilience and strength of tāngata Pasifika.

Image by Alfred James Tattersall, ‘THE LEADERS OF THE WOMEN’S MAU’ REFERENCE PA1-O-795-05, ALEXANDER TURNBULL LIBRARY, WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND

Owls Do Cry

A response to the novel by Janet Frame Directed by Malia Johnston Produced by Red Leap $25–$54 12pm School Matinees on 4,8, and 9 Nov

3–13 Nov

Considered the first great New Zealand novel, Janet Frame’s Owls Do Cry follows the story of the Withers siblings and their lives in small town New Zealand following a family tragedy. Filled with fierce heart and visual splendour, Red Leap Theatre’s energetic response to Owls Do Cry is a surprising and moving experience delving into the poetic world of Janet Frame.

Image by Andi Crown Photography

Olive Copperbottom

A Dickensian Tale of Love, Gin and the Pox Created by Penny Ashton and Charles Dickens Directed by Ben Crowder $25–$38

9 Nov–4 Dec

After the completely sold-out smash-hit successes of Promise and Promiscuity and Austen Found, Penny Ashton returns to Wellington!

A rollicking, romantic, musical journey through 15 gin-soaked characters told with song, dance, and questionable personal hygiene. It’s Oliver! meets Blackadder with a saucy feminine twist.

Image by Philip Merry

Pinocchio The Pantomime

A magical Wellywoodington adventure!

By Simon Leary and Gavin Rutherford Directed by Gavin Rutherford Musical Direction by Michael Nicholas Williams Proudly sponsored by Te Papa and by arrangement with Playmarket $18–$54

26 Nov–23 Dec

Wellywoodington is the place to be this Christmas! Jump inside a fantastical storybook adventure with whale watching, a topsy-turvy parliamentary circus, and toys and treats for all the family. An original pantomime featuring all your favourite Pinocchio characters and pantomime players, contemporary songs, high energy dance, and shape-shifting design.

Photo: Roc+ Photography; Design: Rebekah de Roo

Shows daily Tues–Sun 1 Taranaki St Wellington 04 801 7992 I circa.co.nz

ART GALLERY | FREE ADMISSION

Women’s Art Initiative Standing In My Own Light – E tū ana i tōku ake marama, a powerful and breathtaking exhibition by WAI the Women’s Art Initiative.

This exhibition marks WAI’s 10 years as an arts activist initiative for women who have experienced violence and abuse. Visit the art gallery and take in this remarkable collection of works by local wāhine.

8 OCT – JAN 2023

OPEN DAILY | 326 MAIN ST PALMERSTON NORTH 10am-5pm | Free General Admission 0800-4-A-MUSEUM | www.temanawa.nz | @temanawanz

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Book marked

Looking for some summer reading, or a gift for the bookworm in your life? Sophie Carter asks seven bibliophiles what’s on their bookshelves.

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Dan Henry

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Carmel Sepuloni

Gemma New

Founder of the Predator Free Miramar conservation initiative

Minister for Social Development and Employment/Arts, Culture and Heritage

Principal conductor of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra

I’m currently reading: Gone Bush by Paul Kilgour.

My current reading fixation is books about walking long distances, and Paul writes with such honesty and openness about his life spent tramping in the back country of Aotearoa. I’m not sure if it’s research for my own future long walk, or simply a no-fitness-required replacement for the same!

I’m currently reading: Before You Knew My Name

by Jacqueline Bublitz. The author is based in New Plymouth where I grew up.

It begins when a jogger on her morning run discovers a murdered young girl.

Instead of a whodunit murder-mystery, the story asks who this girl was, and follows the jogger’s struggle to move on from what she saw. It’s proving to be a great read, and one which has captured me in the first few pages.

I’m currently reading: The Bookseller at the End of the World by Ruth Shaw. It was given to me by the NZSO’s chief executive Peter Biggs, and I started reading it on our NZSO tour. It’s really gripping and I’m on a bit of a cliff-hanger so I’d like to know what happens next, but I accidentally left the book at home before heading to America, so I’ll have to wait until I’m back to read the rest of it.

I’d like to read next: A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson.

Yes, it’s another walking book. And yes, I know everyone else read it 15 years ago. I actually started reading it but then left my Kindle by my bed before going away for work – hence having to buy Gone Bush at the airport. But the first couple of chapters of Bryson’s adventure were equally inspiring and hilarious and I’m looking forward to enjoying the rest.

I would like to give: The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown. I’d like to give this book to anyone who likes historical stories with a solid dose of inspiration. It’s an incredible tale of triumph over adversity, and also triumph over 1930s Nazi Germany, which is strangely relevant again these days.

I’d like to read next: Men Without Country: The true story of exploration and rebellion in the South Seas

by Harrison Christian.

Although, technically, I’d already started reading it but then my husband picked it up to read, so once he’s finished, I’ll continue reading. It’s a fascinating story about Pitcairn Island and how it came to be settled – stories like this always pique my interest.

I’d like to read next: Malcolm Gladwell’s book Talking to Strangers.

Being in a job that requires so many layers of communication, I feel like this book would give some fascinating insight into the way we connect to one another. Malcolm is actually my cousin. He invests many years of research and thought into his books, and I’ve enjoyed the other books of his like Blink and The Tipping Point.

I would like to give: Rough Lives Speak to my friend and colleague Megan Woods. It’s an anthology of poems written by a group of Aucklanders who are supported by the Auckland City Mission, and which my husband, poet Daren Kamali, edited.

I would like to give: Alex Ross’s The Rest is Noise is a fantastic journey for music lovers and new listeners alike, so I would share this book with anyone who is curious about music. It’s filled with delightful backstage stories of music performance.

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Viahav Vishen

Rhiannon McKinnon CEO of Kiwi Wealth (see Cap #79)

CEO and co-founder of beverage company Native Sparkling

I’m currently reading: A Baghdad Cookery Book

by Muh.ammad ibn alH.asan Ibn al-Karīm. It’s been one of the favourite Arabic cookery books for the Turks for centuries. It is also said to be translated from the world’s first cookbook, which was formerly held at the Hagia Sofia mosque in Turkey. It’s an interesting insight into how the culinary techniques of the modern day which we mostly assume to be born out of the west/haute cuisine actually belong to the eastern world.

I’m currently reading: Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman. I thought this would tell me how to manage my time better, but actually the message is “time is short so stop trying to do so much – do less instead.” It makes you really stop and think about what’s important to you.

I’m currently reading: The One Thing by Gary Keller.

This book is great for helping you understand that once you find that important “thing” everything else will either be easier, or not necessary, to achieve your goals. The point is to “not chase two rabbits as you will never catch either one.” A business coach of mine told me to read it to focus more with fewer distractions.

Owner and chef at Chaat Street

I’d like to read next: Les Dîners de Gala by Salvador Dali. It is a unique cookbook which was a collaboration between Dali and leading French chefs.

The intention was to create a grand meal for the elites and royals of the day. It also talks about how royal feasts included Woodstock (bird) flambé, where its excrement was used as one of the ingredients.

I would like to give:Walden

by Henry David Thoreau to my wife, Maanvi.

The book is a great insight from Thoreau’s experiment with living in nature, selfbelief, and his voyage of spiritual discovery.

I’d like to read next: Wellington Architecture by John Walsh. I’ve dipped into this a few times but need to go deeper. It’s already got me looking up more, to see the facades I’ve never noticed, and a further read may well encourage me to pause, step back and take in all of a building rather than just its entrance.

I would like to give: Come back to Mona Vale

by Alexander McKinnon.

A shameless plug for my husband’s debut book, which is truly a delightful read. He masters a difficult subject with an unusual mixture of grace and suspense.

Alex used his way with words to woo me, and our friends say reading the book is like spending time with him. So I’d give this to old friends we haven’t seen in a while – they might enjoy hearing his voice.

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Guy Hobson

I’d like to read next: I’d re-read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R Covey. The last time I read it was in 2015, and it helped me make what is most important a daily practice, something I need again now as Native Sparkling grows.

I would like to give: Wilding by Isabelle Tree. I’d give this to any landowner for them to examine the impact of increasing biodiversity on their property, starting with under-utilised land. Similar to what is described in the book, Native is attempting to rewild certain areas.

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It’s been 76 fantastic years...

We’ve had a great run but we’re calling it a day at Christmas.

Between now and then we will be counting down the days with amazing savings on our already best everyday prices.

Over 30% off Winter Josef Seibel’s

Bria $69

Gentiane Lupi

Professional boxer, kickboxer, mixed martial arts and Muay Thai fighter I’m currently reading: The Disinvent Movement by Susanna Gendall. It shocks me how clever and dry the humour in this book is. I keep laughing and wanting to grab a highlighter, but then an unexpected sober line arrests me, and I feel guilty for finding it so funny. What I’m enjoying is her search to find accomplices for her missions – her search to find her tribe.

I’d like to read next: Lolita

by Vladimir Nabokov. I had heard of it but never picked up a copy until my son gave me his. I have tried to read it before, but just didn’t make it through for much the same reasons I don't like watching horror movies... wish me luck!

Over 30% off Summer Reiker’s

Pixie was $169 now $129

Life’s complicated nowadays but you can still buy shoes!

04 499 7044 | gubbsshoes.co.nz | 102 Wakefield St, Wellington continuing to offer you the best styles and prices 76 years on

I would like to give: The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupéry. This book makes a great gift because it can be enjoyed by young and old. While it is directed at children, it has a cleverly disguised lesson on what’s most important in life. Through the story we are exposed to nuggets of truth about the world, such as how important curiosity is, and how our perspective can change our lives.

i’m glad my mom died

57 Willis Street, Wellington unitybookswellington.co.nz

Take a story home with you.

National Library’s gift store.

Shop online at shop.natlib.govt.nz

Shop in store at 70 Molesworth St, Wellington

19 High Street, Auckland unitybooksauckland.co.nz

Open 24/ 7 at new townhouse.co.nz

A celebration of contemporary ceramics.

64th annual exhibition of the Wellington Potters’ Association.

Saturday 5 November to Sunday 20 November 2022.

With guest artist and selector Karin Amdal.

Academy Galleries, 1 Queens Wharf, Wellington.

Open daily, 10am - 5pm. Free entry.

2022

Cards, boutique magazines, books, Italian stationery, art jigsaws and special gifts 237 Cuba Street, Wellington | 934 3424 www.minerva.co.nz

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B O O K

About the author: Nick Ascroft was born in Oamaru but now lives and works in Wellington. An editor by trade, a linguist by training, and a competitive Scrabble player by choice, he is the author of several collections of poetry and a novel, As Long As Rain. In 2003 he was awarded the Robert Burns Fellowship.

In brief: The poem’s title is the reader’s first clue that Ascroft is riffing off the well-known Oscar Wilde quote, “Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, but the highest form of intelligence.” However, the “wit” of the original is swapped out for “whist”, a popular card game widely played in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The poem itself starts to play out like a game, as each line and stanza seeks to outwit what has come before, resulting in a list of seemingly random and surreal definitions of sarcasm. Ascroft leaves much for the reader to ponder – is the poem a riddle or an elaborate joke? Or perhaps neither?

Re-verse I N T R O D U C E D BY C H R I S T S E

SA RCA S M I S T H E LOW E ST FORM OF WHIST Sarcasm is... the lowest form of limbo. the tallest monkey puzzle tree in Mid-Canterbury. the lowest note on the piano and sounds like murrr, almost unmusical.

Why read it: I would bet money on Ascroft having the most expansive vocabulary among modern New Zealanders, which serves him well in both poetry and his side career as one of our top Scrabble players.

Although the poem might have you reaching for Google to help you unlock its wordy wonders and uncover its meaning, it’s best to approach it as a collage of loosely related images that subvert the original Wilde quote, which has become somewhat of a cliché.

Ascroft uses his verbal dexterity to both create and manipulate meaning. In doing so, he’s asking the reader to reconsider the meaning of Wilde’s line and the place of sarcasm in modern parlance.

Reverse

Sarcasm is... an archaism of an orgasm. the least impotent of all rage. less cutting than cutty sarcasm, which is a meaningless play on whirs.

(Cutty means short and sark means shirt.

So in ‘Tam o' Shanter’ by Robert Burns when the witches cast off their rags to reel to the devil’s bagpipes, they are left wearing only nightie-like underthings.)

Sarcasm is... the lowest incantation of witchery. the bottommost and blackest depth of wit, which is a compliment, the lowest form of compliment.

By Nick Ascroft From The Stupefying (Te Herenga Waka University Press, 2022)

Why I like it: There’s something very auditory about this poem, from unexpected but pleasing turns of phrase (“archaism of an orgasm”) to its references to music and sound (piano, bagpipes, incantations). In this respect, the line “a meaningless play on whirs” seems apt because the poem itself could be seen as an act of play or experimentation that isn’t intended to be taken seriously, just like some sarcasm. Also worth noting is how Ascroft deviates from the structure of the poem in the third stanza, in some ways breaking the fourth wall, by stepping in to “explain” his choice of words by way of a reference to a Burns poem. It’s the most transparent moment of the poem, lifting the veil to reveal the machinery and thinking that is driving the poem.

Read more: Ascroft’s latest collection The Stupefying shows off both his waggish wordplay and command of traditional forms mashed with a modern outlook. He also has some of the best titles in the game: “No More Experimental Reincarnated Cat Poetry” and “Greatgrandad Rants about Current Affairs’’ are just two exemplary instances.

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G O O D

S P O R T

TA K E A HIKE Don your hiking boots and grab your scroggin for a week of walks. The Wairarapa Walking Festival encourages people to get out and explore the countryside. From 11 to 20 November more than 30 organised walks are on offer across various terrains, distances, and difficulties. They include cultural trails, vineyard strolls, tough climbs, star-gazing nighttime walks, and orienteering. Most of the walks are free to join, but participants will need to register online.

PHOENIX RISING

PEDAL TO THE METAL

Michaela Robertson is the first Wellingtonian to sign for the Women’s Phoenix football team, after two years of training with the Phoenix academy’s emerging women’s programme. The 26-year-old is likely to be the smallest player on the team at just 1.47 metres tall, but her height has never slowed her down. She played for the New Zealand football team in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Year 11 Kāpiti Coast student Yoshi Comeskey has won the 2022 KartSport Wellington Club Championship in the Senior Briggs Light class. Yoshi has quickly climbed the go-karting ranks, having received the Wellington club’s Rookie of the Year award last year, before moving to Junior, and then Senior class. The race took place at the Gazley Raceway in Kaitoke where Yoshi won three out of the five races, earning him the club championship title.

WALK IN THE PARK After a gap of eight years, Ōtaki’s triathlon is back on 27 November. The event was dropped in 2014. Ōtaki Pool’s new manager Andrew Adeane has fought to bring it back, to promote enjoyable exercise in the community.

The renamed ŌT will start with a 400-metre swim in the pool, followed by a 20-kilometre bike ride, finishing with a five-kilometre run around the Haruātai Park trail.

W E L L Y

A N G E L

What would Deirdre do?

Tricky but it is your call. Somehow you are working with this situation now, so think about it. Teams and togetherness are very “now” but clearly this person is good at his/her job and delivers for the business. So what is actually the priority? You are the leader and there are many ways of working in a team.

Everyone is an individual and valuable. Good thinking.

A DV I C E F RO M D E I R D R E TA R R A N T

F R I E N D S W HO D O N ’ T U N D E R STA N D

WA R R IO R D R I N K E R S

When we had our son five years ago, it was an easy decision to make my best friend his godfather. A few months ago the same friend had a baby and they haven’t asked me to be the godfather. We’re a big part of each other’s lives so I’m surprised the privilege hasn’t been reciprocated – am I just being silly?

Fretting, Whitby

My family always drink too much, usually fight and bring up ancient quarrels over Christmas. Generally they don’t get upset about it, and forget it the next day – not always, sometimes there is a non-speaking period of weeks afterwards. It really bothers my partner and other extended family. Additionally my partner says our children will develop the same behaviour patterns. How do I get my immediate family to see it’s unacceptable, and without belittling them to our children?

Festive family fighter, Featherston

I don’t think there can be expectations – it is special and an honour, I agree, but I feel you can’t expect it. Have they named someone else? Maybe they are not in a hurry. Be pleased for the decision you made and let it go. Enjoy your son.

Unpleasant, but sounds pretty ingrained, so could you find a way to minimise the negatives. You do not say but I assume that this is about Christmas Day and dinner? Could you change the routine so it is a Christmas lunch? If you can get them to start the day earlier, then you can decide to leave when this seems to be in the interests of your children. You are right to want their behaviour not to be modelled this way. Start a new tradition of a Christmas Day walk for your own family, perhaps, or go and visit family graves or …?

Are there other relatives to consider? You have every right as parents to want your children to have a happy family day, and not to be there if things get nasty. Set new traditions that you enjoy. Happy Christmas.

M A K E A N E F F O RT I started seeing someone a few months ago. I’ve organised every date since we met (which takes up more of my brain space than I care to admit). When I ask him to organise something we end up at home watching Netflix with a bag of chips. How do I get him to put in a bit more effort?

Tired, Thorndon People are people and all different! He probably enjoys you being the organiser, but maybe having a talk about it has potential ? Just saying….. staying at home on the couch sounds pretty good, so maybe just enjoy the mix? If it is a biggie for you maybe the relationship will falter. A lot of maybes! Be happy.

M O R A L R IG H T S ?

Does the giver of a present have any right as to how a present is used or spent? Obviously it’s tactful, for instance, to spend a money gift on something the giver would be comfortable with, but is it morally wrong to spend it on something that would upset them? Or once given is it completely up to the recipient?

Christmas Grinch, Karori

G U E S T S A P L AT E Is it rude to ask everyone to bring an assigned plate of food to Christmas this year? I’m sick of being in the kitchen all day.

Julia Child, Khandallah Not at all! Many Christmases are shared. Tell everyone in time and make a plan so everyone knows what they can contribute, how many for and any food requests/restriction etc. I suggest you ring around and ask what each guest would like to do? But be sure it all adds up to a Christmas dinner! And maybe you should do the turkey, as you have the oven? Our families do a shared Christmas and the planning is the key. A real military operation, but it works and leaves everyone happy. Get on to it – Christmas is close.

No. Given is given. A gift is a gift. If you want to determine what the gift is spent on, give vouchers. That is what they were invented for! Or be radical and give a present you actually choose for the receiver. It can have an exchange card, but will still make it clear what you would like them to have from you. Most retailers have well presented vouchers and will provide exchange cards. Or consider giving food, via a voucher for a treat meal out. Ultimately you are giving, and it is all about that act of generosity.

A L AU G H - A- DAY I manage someone who’s good at their job, but really impersonable, or impenetrable maybe? They don’t interact with the team and are rarely social. Their contract is up soon and I’m tempted to not renew it, but as they’re good at their job, this seems petty. Help!

Tired team leader, Stokes Valley, Lower Hutt

If you’ve got a burning question for Deirdre, email angel@capitalmag.co.nz with Capital Angel in the subject line.

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WĀ H I N E

Play

BY M E LO DY T H O M AS

J

ust like that, we find ourselves in the final throes of 2022.

I know it’s a familiar feeling, as the Halloween decorations come down and the Christmas push begins, but this year the urge to avoid eye contact with the New Year feels even stronger. Weren’t we just wishing goodbye to 2021? How is it nearly 2023 already?

That said, nothing could persuade me to return to winter.

The season is always a struggle, but this past one – one of Wellington’s wettest on record – was especially harrowing.

Every family I know was plagued with illness: covid, flu, stomach bugs, a vague but persistent malaise. The longest period of wellness I experienced was three weeks, and I believed it to be a real accomplishment, until I bragged to someone who doesn’t have kids and they said, “Is that all?” I reckon this is one of the most excruciating parts of parenthood, one you can never prepare yourself for: that you can’t rest when you’re unwell. Everyone else is always worse off, more in need of care, and you just have to keep going: pushing through nausea and pain and dizziness and headaches to make sure they’re all ok.

So I cannot overstate how ready I am for summer. To be healed by the rays of the sun and the cooling kisses of breeze and ocean water. I’m ready for strawberries and raspberries and cherry tomatoes! To lie on a blanket under a tree devouring a book as insects buzz about me. To run and bike and hike in the hills. Please, Wellington, give us a stunner!

We’ve never needed it so badly!

Through winter, I spend a lot of time advocating rest as an antidote to the ceaseless busyness expected of us, which is driving more and more people to burnout. There is rest to be found in summer, too. But there’s also another antidote to exhaustion at the hands of capitalism, and it’s one that’s perfectly suited to the hedonistic heights of the season, play.

Play is defined as an activity engaged in for enjoyment or recreation rather than any serious or practical purpose.

It’s the difference between riding a bike for the joy of it and

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doing so for the commute. Our kids are great at playing, and once upon a time we were too. But at some point along the road we forgot how to do it, coming to see it as pointless or a waste of time. But play in adulthood is linked to better stress management and general wellbeing. Romantic partners who play together are more likely to ride out the tough times than those who don’t. If you’re looking for a practical reason to play, surely one of these is enough?

If play is something you’re keen to relearn, but you’re not sure where to start, ask yourself what you loved to do as a kid. If tree climbing was your jam, get yourself up some trees or sign up for rock climbing. If you loved theatre or dance, join a class or an amateur troupe! Pick up a pen and start drawing again, take up roller-skating, play frisbee, bake elaborate cakes for no occasion, jump off the highest diving board, go ten-pin bowling, decorate a dolls’ house, join a choir, dance while you cook, find an old film camera and start taking photos, blow up a balloon and don’t let it touch the ground, make a daisy chain crown and be queen for the day.

The possibilities are endless.

And if at any point a voice pops up in your head saying “this is stupid” or “you look like an idiot”, pause for a moment and write the thought down. Write down every self-critical thought that comes to mind, as well as the things other people told you that made you feel not good enough, that stopped you playing in the first place. Put it all out in the open where you can see how horrible it is, how the weight of carrying it all around has been crushing you, and then screw it up and put it in the bin where it belongs.

In a world where productivity is the be-all and end-all, where every hour is accounted for and time spent on something with no practical purpose is “wasted,” play is a radical act. It is also replenishing, reminding us of the joy life has to offer, and giving us more energy and motivation to fight the fights required of us. But even if this weren’t all true, if happiness in the moment were the only outcome, play would never be a waste of time. You deserve joy. You deserve to feel good for the sake of feeling good. You deserve every beautiful, carefree experience coming for you this summer. Don’t squander a moment of it.

C U L T U R E

D I R E C T O R Y

ChoreoCo 2022: Mea Uma

Katherine’s Room

Footnote New Zealand Dance presents the 2022 season of ChoreoCo, Mea Uma

by Elijah Kennar. This experimental work in development explores the intergenerational world of women and the secrets of the stories that are passed down. Presented at the newly reopened Hannah Playhouse as a part of their Performance Laboratory.

1910, London. The young writer Katherine Mansfield is shedding her Victorian and Edwardian upbringing and experimenting with new ways of living inspired by her experiences in the city and the different cultures she has encountered. Step into a room in her flat and make yourself at home.

16–19 Nov Hannah Playhouse 12 Cambridge Terrace, Wellington. footnote.org.nz

28 Nov 2022–26 Mar 2023 25 Tinakori Rd, Wellington. katherinemansfield.com

{Suite} Westra Musuem New Zealand Arts Icon photographer Ans Westra is responsible for the most comprehensive documentation of New Zealand culture over the last 60 years. The {Suite} Westra Museum is a dedicated exhibition space for Ans' photographs. Prints are available for sale.

Tue–Fri 10am–5pm Sat 10am–4pm 241 Cuba St, Wellington.

Instagram: @answestra suite.co.nz

THE 2022 EXHIBITION If you missed it the first time, this is your chance to experience the finalists and winners of Wellington’s largest photography competition.

28 October – 11 December Free entry Pataka Art + Museum 17 Parumoana Street, Porirua Located in the cultural heart of Whanganui, the Museum is housed in it's original 1928 heritage building, in harmony with a mid-century modern 1968 extension.

Prints available for purchase. capitalmag.co.nz/cpoty for more info

Famed for its Taonga Māori collection, the stunning Gottfried Lindauer Gallery is also a must-see.

Free admission

Open daily 10am-4.30pm

wrm.org.nz

C A L E N D A R

NZ SOCIETY OF ARTISTS IN GLASS MEMBERS’ SHOW Work by new and established artists. Prepare to be wowed.

31 Taupo Quay, Whanganui JOANNA MARGARET PAUL: IMAGINED IN THE CONTEXT OF A ROOM A major retrospective celebrating Joanna Paul’s diverse range City Gallery Wellington, Te Ngākau Civic Square CENTURIA TARANAKI GARDEN FESTIVAL Various locations, until 2 November HE RIRI AWATEA: FILMING THE NEW ZEALAND WARS New Zealand history through films, TV series, and digital storytelling New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata, Queen’s Wharf, until 6 November HOLLY WALKER: CURRENTLY Multi-disciplinary works re-connecting to her identity as Pākehā and Tangata Tiriti Toi Pōneke Arts Centre, until 18 November GRAHAM FLETCHER: TWILIGHT’S EDGE A post–Tylee Residency exhibition Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua, Whanganui, until 20 November PĀUA: A CONTEMPORARY JEWELLERY STORY Dazzling style or cultural cringe? Check out the work of 30 contemporary jewellers The Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt, until 20 November VITRUVIAN TUNNEL Artist/architect Matt Liggins’ interactive light sculpture Te Manawa, Palmerston North, until 6 December

GATHERED VOICES: HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE FLETCHER TRUST COLLECTION A selection of figurative paintings of national significance NZ Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata, Queen’s Wharf, until 11 December CAPITAL PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2022 finalists and winners extended show. Be inspired to enter next time Pātaka Art + Museum, Porirua, until 11 December

November

3 TUATARA OPEN LATE A monthly feast of art, music, film, and talks City Gallery, Te Ngākau Civic Square, 5–10pm 4 TARANAKI ARTS TRAIL Take a roadie and visit any of the 79 artists’ studios and galleries in the region Various locations until 6 November 5 WELLINGTON POTTERS ASSOCIATION: CERAMICUS Exhibition of members’ new work – just in time for Christmas Academy Galleries, 1 Queens Wharf, 10am–5pm, until 20 November LITCRAWL One night, 25 events, and one big after-party, Verb Various city locations from 6pm KĀPITI COAST ART TRAIL Over 125 artists welcome you into their studios and galleries Various locations from Ōtaki to Paekākāriki, 6, 12 & 13 November, 10am–4pm daily

PŪKAHA WAIRARAPA GARDEN TOUR Fundraiser for Pūkaha Mt Bruce Wildlife Centre Locations around South Wairarapa 6 CHRISTMAS AT TAUHERENIKAU RACES A festive day of racing and shenanigans Tauherenikau Racecourse, Wairarapa 9 OLIVE COPPERBOTTOM One woman, 15 characters, many journeys, and far too many gins Circa Theatre, 7.30pm, until 4 December 9–10 JONATHAN CRAYFORD & LUCIEN JOHNSON An intimate concert with two of Wellington’s finest musicians Suite Gallery, Cuba Street, 7pm 10 ARTBOURNE: GALA OPENING NIGHT Eagerly awaited art exhibition and fundraiser Wellesley College, Eastbourne, 7pm Exhibition until 13 November SPIEGEL FEST No arts festival is complete without a show in the Spiegeltent New Plymouth, Taranaki, until 20 November 11 COME TOGETHER – ALBUM CONCERT SERIES 2022 NZ Supergroup perform the Beatles’ White Album Opera House, 8pm

C A L E N D A R

12 2022 PATILLO WHANGANUI ARTS REVIEW A radical mix of emerging, established, amateur, and professional artworks Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua, Whanganui 13 SCARECROWS’ BIG DAY OUT Pack a picnic, round up the tamariki and spend the day scarecrow-spotting Gladstone region, Carterton 16 FOOTNOTE: CHOREO CO 2022: MEA UMA An indigenous reflection on the generational secrets of women by choreographer Elijah Kennar Hannah Playhouse, 12 Cambridge Terrace, 7pm, until 19 November NZ SCHOOL OF DANCE: PERFORMANCE SEASON 2022 Alternating programmes from the new graduates. Go on, book for both shows.

Te Whaea: National Dance & Drama Centre, Newtown, 7.30pm, until 26 November 17 SELWYN MURU: A LIFE’S WORK Exhibition affirming the legacy and leadership of this senior Māori artist New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata, Queen’s Wharf 18 NEW ZEALAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: REQUIEM Mozart’s Requiem closes the 2022 season. With Voices NZ and conductor Gemma New Michael Fowler Centre, 6.30pm BLACK CAPS v INDIA T20 The first of a three match series Sky Stadium, 7.30–11pm

20 TOAST MARTINBOROUGH Enjoy fine wine, gourmet food, and scintillating summer sounds Various venues, Martinborough, 9.30am–7pm WELLINGTON PHOENIX WOMEN V MELBOURNE CITY Debut home game – the first of eight over the summer Sky Stadium, 3pm 24 ROYAL NZ BALLET: VENUS RISING A trio of celestial ballets by internationally celebrated choreographers St James Theatre, until 26 November PINOCCHIO: THE PANTOMIME It’s not Christmas without a mad, high energy romp that welcomes audience participation Circa Theatre, until 23 December 26 HOROWHENUA TASTE TRAIL The big foodie day out. Gastronomic delights from 16 specialist producers Seven locations, from Levin to Foxton, 10am–4pm MARTINBOROUGH FAIR A bonus fair to finish off the Christmas shopping Martinborough Square, 8am–4pm 27 THE ŌT (ŌTAKI TRIATHLON– TAUWHĀINGA-TORU) 2022 A sprint-distance triathlon through some of the best terrain and views in the Kāpiti area Beachfront, town, and Haruātai Park, 7.30am

December

3 KĀPITI FOOD FAIR An indulgent day of food, fun, and music Mazengarb Reserve, Paraparaumu, 10am–4pm

ARMAGEDDON EXPO Pop culture comes alive Sky Stadium, 9am. Until 4 December 4 FINE SIGNS CRAZYMAN Wellington’s longest-running multisport event Various Lower Hutt locations from 7.30am 8 DEIRDRE TARRANT: HOMAGE TO THE BUILDING A light installation marking the end of an era as Deirdre bids farewell to her dance studio 125 Cuba St, until 14 December 9 NZ OPERA: IHITAI ‘AVEI’ASTAR NAVIGATOR The story of Tupaia, the star navigator who sailed with James Cook on Endeavour’s maiden voyage in 1769 Te Rauparaha Arena, Porirua, 8pm; 2pm matinee 11 December 10 NATIONAL DRAG RACING CHAMPIONSHIPS Hi-octane racing from Group One cars. Ear plugs mandatory Masterton Motorplex, Wairarapa 17 TSB FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS Light installations, music, and events for the whole whānau Various locations New Plymouth, until 22 January 25 CHRISTMAS DAY 31 NEW YEAR’S EVE CELEBRATIONS AND FIREWORKS Whairepo Lagoon, 8pm to midnight

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Merry and bright

Answers will be published online at capitalmag.co.nz/ crossword

Answers will be published online at capitalmag.co.nz/crossword

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44.

Ac ros s

Down

4. Myrrh, gold and ____ (12) 7. Christian play performed at schools and churches (8) 8. Santa’s seventh reindeer (6) 11. “We three ____ of Orient are” (5) 13. Knitted, the gaudier the better (6) 15. Sung by a choir (6) 16. Hopefully filled with presents (8) 18. Home away from home (4) 19. A groan gift for dads (5) 21. Film starring Macaulay Culkin (4, 5) 24. Counting down the days (6) 27. Sun-safe essential (3) 28. “_____ roasting on an open fire” (9) 29. Famous for “Do they know it’s Christmas” (4, 3) 33. Festive covering (8, 5) 36. NZ Christmas tree (10) 37. Tree topper (4) 40. Leave them out for Rudolph (7) 41. Festive greeting, “Glad ____” (7) 42. Neaten up, coniferous tree (6) 43. Alcoholic drink mixed with egg, milk, and sugar (6) 44. Fruity orange stocking filler (8)

1. Expensive type of beef (5) 2. Gift on the 11th day of Christmas (6) 3. Sold in chocolate form at Christmas (4) 4. Pet Rock, Furby, Mr. Potato Head (4) 5. There’s no room there (3) 6 & 9. Better known as Santa Claus (2, 8) 10. Can be hard to rein in over Christmas (5) 12. Used for writing, quill and ___ (3) 14. Covered in brandy and set alight (7) 17. Can be used to make people or houses (11) 18. 1960s Californian band, “The ___ ___” (5, 4) 20. Elton John, “___ into Christmas” (4) 22. Toy maker (3) 23. Candle, te reo (6) 25. Chimney, te reo (6) 26. Small boy in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (4, 3) 30. Tree, holly, fairy lights (8) 31. Pucker up under this (9) 32. Shiny decor, spend weeks vacuuming it up (6) 34. Root vege, great in a roast dinner (8) 35. Sausage wrapped in bacon, __ in blankets (4) 38. Important part a song (5) 39. Christmas, just shorter (4)

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