The inaugural Aotearoa New Zealand Jade Artist Award is being held in Hokitika from 8-16 November 2014.

Jade and pounamu carvers will be converging on Hokitika, on the West Coast of the South Island, Te Wai Pounamu for a weekend of jade during November 2014, to take part in a jade exhibition, symposium and awards, hosted and organised by the New Zealand Jade Artist Society Inc.

In 2012 the NZ Jade Artist Society was established and incorporated as a not-for-profit association with the aim of creating opportunities to raise awareness of jade carving and jade carvers in New Zealand. It is planned for the Jade Artist Awards to become a biennial event and it hope it will evolve into the premium event for both traditional and contemporary jade artists in New Zealand.

In its inaugural year, the awards are being hosted in Hokitika, the spiritual home of pounamu, in New Zealand. Jade artists from throughout New Zealand are invited to come to Hokitika for the weekend of 14-16 November and take part in the jade symposium events and attend the awards evening.

The weekend will be preceded by a week-long exhibition of entries into the Jade Artist Awards. Artworks in the exhibition will be for sale. Visitors to the exhibition will be able to vote for the People's Choice award. The exhibition can be viewed in the ground floor education room at Mountain Jade in Weld Street, Hokitika from 10am to 4pm each day.

Artists entering work into the jade artist awards will be competing for a share of more than $10,000 in prize money . There are three categories including a contemporary category, traditional category, based upon Maori design and shape and an emerging artist category. The judges may select one of the three category winners as the overall winner of the Jade Artist Award.

A high quality group of judges will judge the events and decide the winners. The judging panel comprises Ric Moor, Head Tutor for the Jade and Hard Stone course at Tai Poutini Polytech. Ric was recently awarded a gold medal for his carving at the recent jade exhibition in Suzhou in China. Also on the judging panel is Owen Mapp, a pioneer carver of bone, jade and other materials and world renown for his netsuke carving. The third judge is Fayne Robinson, an internationally renowned artist and Maori carver trained in traditional techniques.

Thirty jade carvers have entered the awards in Hokitika. These artists along with others coming to Hokitika for the weekend will be able to participate in a range of jade symposium events. On Saturday 15th there will be presentations on jade related topics and a tour of a jade manufacturing plant, along with a bbq. In the evening the jade artists awards will take place. On Sunday morning, weather permitting, artists will be able to take part in a walk-n-talk along the Hokitika River, guided by local jade carver, Bevan Climo. Limited tickets are available to the symposium events. All enquiries should be emailed to johncoxon@xtra.co.nz

People can follow the progress of the awards and view details of the carvers, see examples of their work and view photos of the entries on the NZ Jade Artist Society Inc Facebook page.