Arts+Culture News

Producer of global arts collective, Shared Lines Collaborative, Wellington’s Ōtari Raranga Weavers and co-producer of Urban Dream Brokerage, artist, Linda Lee (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Huia, Ngāti Kuri,Te Aopōuri, Te Rarawa) has been granted the soughtafter Wellington City Council and Massey University Te Whare Hēra Artist Residency from the 3rd -24th August 2023. Linda discovered she was whāngai at age 19 and as a mixed race artist - Māori, Chinese, Pākehā, Dalmatian/Croatian, this led her to explore identity, researching and reinterpreting family, whakapapa and further indigenous histories through exhibition, installation, photography and book form. Continued study around mātauranga Māori, raranga, rongoā and te reo Māori, as well as disaster management, have been woven into her years of practice.

“We always have a themed party on the Saturday night. In the past we’ve done a snowball dance and a fire dance, and this year we’re going to do a garden party – so everyone will come dressed in green or in their fancy outfits. We’ll also have a lunch on the Sunday at the Bavarian, which anyone can come to, and there’s going to be some cruisy dancing on that day.”

The charity that the event is supporting, Headlight, helps the community to talk about mental health and breaks down barriers to mental health support. They provide mental health workshops and their team of staff and volunteers frequently engage in community events to bring to life interactive opportunities for people to reduce stigma and discrimination relating to mental illness. Gold coin/koha donations from some of the events will be donated to Headlight.

“The reason why we are such fans of social dancing, Emma and I, is because of the human connection. The most important thing for me is that everybody feels that it’s very friendly, it’s not intimidating. Etiquette of these dances is that everybody asks everybody to dance, and you’ll always say yes to at least one dance. It’s very inclusive and we really strive to make sure that people do feel included – the best thing is to see a whole room full of people dancing to music and having a fun time. It’s all about having fun, although we do have a fun competition,” says Katie.

Jive & Thrive will take over Queenstown this weekend from 11 – 13 August and includes a range of classes, performances and events. You can view the full schedule, grab tickets for selected events and donate directly to Headlight at jiveandthrive.com

by Sue Fea