Photo: Garden of Returning Souls, Hamilton Arts Festival 

Joy can be the hardest thing to pull off in a creative project. It’s easy to give the air of depth to negative emotions, like despair or grief; or to dig into an academic concept and look really smart. Joy, on the other hand, easily comes across as trite, ignorant, and empty. If you’ve ever tried to write poetry, I’ll bet $50 that you went down a sad route, because a beginner’s happy poem is all too easily vomitous. And yes, art is a useful conduit through which to understand and unravel our individual and collective darknesses – but I think we too often forget it is also useful for sparking joy and play and goodness. 

If your life is anything like mine, you’ve been stuck in Aotearoa all year while seemingly everyone else has moved to or visited exciting places overseas. Escapades to Europe, Italian summers, shopping in Japan, tequila tastings in Mexico and, most recently, hours spent playing in Mike Hewson’s installation The Key’s Under the Mat at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. Hewson was born in New Zealand and still uses a .co.nz URL although he’s been based elsewhere, including New York and Sydney, for several years. He’s known for wild, big public interventions, and The Key’s Under the Mat is the ultimate example. It’s a chaotic playground housed in a large decommissioned oil tank with barbecues, saunas, swings, spaces for music, art-making and community events. In short, it's fun.

To continue the theme of my life, if yours has been anything like mine, you’ve gotten older and older while the responsibilities and attendant stresses have piled up. Hewson’s installation looks like a memory of life at primary school, whereas if someone was to make an installation of my life today it would have a lot of email notifications, bills and scary letters, horrific news articles, vacuum cleaners, never-ending piles of smelly clothes, dark corners, and tinnitus screeching through it all. Opportunities to have fun are harder to come by and harder to dive straight into. That is why my eyes lit up when I heard that the curation for the programme for the Hamilton Arts Festival Toi Ora ki Kirikiriroa has been shaped by the theme of joy (!). 

“We know that for many, life continues to be challenging, which is why the theme of joy feels more important than ever,” says Festival Director Geoff Turkington. “It’s about creating moments that allow us to pause, smile, and rediscover what makes life beautiful.” We will have to hold out till 20 February next year, but it’s still great news.

The festival’s main venue is the Hamilton Gardens, so Rhys Mathewson’s 10th Rodeo will be performed in the Medici Court, lauded writers Kate Camp and Catherine Chidgey will discuss their creative evolution in the Indian Char Bagh Garden, and the Fijian Flying Circus will be performed at the Rhododendron Lawn. Turkington saw the circus in Fiji earlier this year and says, “it has been many years since I sat with a stupid grin from ear to ear while sitting through a show.” He hopes that the festival will be a “vibrant, uplifting reminder of the power of connection, creativity, and shared experience.” I think that is very deep and very intelligent.

💥News on the wire

CIRCUIT gets a new home on Dixon Street

CIRCUIT, the ​​non-profit Wellington-based agency that supports working with moving image, has secured a new space at Level 2, 27 Dixon St. It will be the first time in their 14-year history that they have their own public-facing space and it will host seasonal programmes, screenings, installations, residencies and artist meetings. “This is a significant milestone in the history of CIRCUIT that will make us more public facing, and allows us space to present our own projects alongside those of visiting artists,” says Director Mark Williams. “We’re looking forward to being more visible in the local arts ecosystem.”

On 10 December the new premises will be launched with an installation by Mike Heynes titled Proudly Brought to You in Standard Definition. 

Sharpen your pencil!

Expressions of interest for the two-day FutureTense writing workshops are closing tonight. The workshops are for mid-career BIPOC writers and will be guided by Sonya Renee Taylor and Junauda Petrus. Over the two days participants will be asked to imagine futures rooted in creativity, justice, and joy, experiment with form, seed new work, and take part in a community dinner.

New initiative to combat loneliness utilises creative connection

A new not-for-profit initiative, Human Time, is being developed in the Ruapehu region to address adult loneliness and disconnection. A pilot programme is set to run from 1 March to 31 May next year. Human Time is founded by Ōwhango resident Josh Thomson, and will provide structured, non-clinical companionship and support sessions. It is aimed at “people who don’t need therapy, but who would deeply benefit from consistent, caring human company,” says Thompson. 

There are several options for the structured sessions: Walk & Talk, Quiet Companionship, Help with Errands, and Creative Activity Time. These are entering a public consultation and service design phase, inviting people in the Ruapehu District to feedback through an online survey and focus groups. Thompson says that Creative Activity Time is a “gentle, optional part of a Human Time session where the client and Supporter do something quietly creative side-by-side”. This will include sketching, small crafts, journaling, or working on a simple art project. He hopes that they will give adults a “calm space to express themselves while feeling supported and not alone”.

K’ Road to be pedestrianised for one night only

This Saturday, The Others Way festival is shutting down Karangahape Road between Queen Street and Pitt Street, with the main stage right by the rainbow crossing. The festival is also partitioning areas for under 18-year-olds, so they can partake in the appropriate amount of fun. Among the local talent, I’d make sure to see Jim Nothing, Tiny Ruins, The Bats, Anthonie Tonnon and Womb.

Scott Brough wins 2025 Portage Ceramic Awards

The Premier Award of the 25th Portage Ceramic Awards was presented to Scott Brough (Heretaunga) on Friday 21 November. His winning piece was Four-Sided Bottle, a large coiled form made from Kūaotunu clay, which judge Fiona Jack praised for its deep connection to pottery legacies while introducing an innovative new language of form. He was picked from 195 entries. The finalist exhibition is now open at Te Uru until 8 February 2026.

Three Merit Awards were also announced: Jess Nicholson for Net, a work made with recycled clay and glass; Jamie Jenkins for Stragglers, a wall-mounted piece exploring the persistence of plants and fungi; Maak Bow for Like Cars Have Faces, a sculptural series playing with character and expression

Correspondence IV launches tonight

The latest iteration of Correspondence, a free serial publication published by the Physics Room art gallery in Christchurch since 2021, launches tonight at 5:30pm. Correspondence IV was commissioned, edited, and designed by Writing and Publications Coordinator Anna Welham, and includes contributions from Raine Angeles, Hāwea Apiata, Jenny Gao, Bella Macdonald, and Nell May.

New sculpture installed in Waitangi Park

Seung Yul Oh’s work KIMI/You Are Here was formally unveiled by the new Mayor of Wellington, Andrew Little, last night. The 5.5-metre-tall shiny stainless steel form emulates a dropped pin on a digital map, or an inverted teardrop. Its connection to the ground is carefully engineered, appearing delicate and almost suspended. It is the 30th permanent public work of art commissioned by the Wellington Sculpture Trust

Seung, a Korean New Zealand artist, says, “this hollow and empty invisible void alighted upon this location, absorbing its surroundings to manifest itself.” Kimi (Seek) – signifies the actions to seek, look for, delve, search or hunt. The whakatauki kimi horoa, kimi Horapa (seek far and wide) advocates for extensive exploration and the pursuit of knowledge and understanding. Seung has also been working on public sculpture commissions for Dunedin Public Art Gallery and 101 Collins Street in Melbourne.

NZ Screen Awards winners announced

Last Friday at a glammed-up Viaduct Events Centre in Auckland, the 2025 New Zealand Screen Awards winners were announced. A stand out was The Convert, Lee Tamahori’s last feature before he died peacefully on 7 November. It won five major honours, including Best Director – Feature. There are 57 categories, so I won’t list all the winners, but here’s a few other standouts.

Best Drama Series: The Gone Season 2

Best Feature Film: Ka Whawhai Tonu

Best Short Film: Rochelle

Best Documentary - Feature: Never Look Away

Best Pasifika Programme: We The South: The Manukau Rovers Story

Best Director: Documentary Feature: Katie Wolfe – The Haka Party Incident 

Best Actress in a Feature: Anapela Polata'ivao – Tinā

Best Contribution to a Soundtrack – Series: Tom Miskin, Melanie Graham, Mike Bayliss, Steve Finnigan – Secrets at Red Rocks

Over at The Spinoff, Tara Ward has put together a guide on where to watch 10 of the winners (all for free!).

Unfortunately, the event was marred by one guest. Police were called to the event as a male guest reportedly acted inappropriately towards female wait staff. After he became aggressive outside, the guest was arrested and trespassed, but later released without charge. ​​Awards organiser Justine McKay told the NZ Herald “Nobody wants that kind of behaviour around or associated with anything that we do. We don’t support it, don’t condone it, don’t want it anywhere near us, and we just feel sick for those who experienced such a negative situation on the night.”

Auckland Art Gallery announces bequest of 20 significant New Zealand artworks

Collector and philanthropist Greg Moyle has gifted the gallery works from key artists including Rita Angus, Jacqueline Fahey, Louise Henderson, Frances Hodgkins, Ralph Hotere, Raymond McIntyre and John Pule. He worked with the gallery’s curatorial team to select pieces from his collection that would complement the Gallery’s existing collection and address important gaps. Auckland Art Gallery Curator of New Zealand Art Julia Waite says, “each painting comes from a vital moment in the artist’s career, offering layers of history, meaning, and visual impact. A work of the calibre of Rita Angus’s Boats, Island Bay would be beyond the Gallery’s reach to purchase, and we are so grateful”.

Moyle says that “over the years, I have witnessed a number of important collections, including works that should remain in the public domain, being sold… I am motivated to keep the important items from my collection together for the benefit of the community, including my family, rather than having them sold upon my death, and I am delighted that they will find a permanent home with Auckland Art Gallery”.

A Wave in the Ocean funding renewed for another round

The intensive film-making programme founded and taught by Jane Campion and Philippa Campbell has had two iterations. The first in 2022 was a year long, and then students were financed by Netflix to make an original short film. At this year’s Venice Film Festival the first nine graduates of this intensive filmmaking course screened their films. The second programme, this year, was just 15 weeks and each filmmaker will complete a short film in 2026, thanks to funds from the New Zealand Film Commission Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga.

Last week it was announced that Netflix and the New Zealand Film Commission Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga have renewed their support for another iteration of A Wave in the Ocean. Instead of a new cohort and short films, the school’s alumni will be supported to create debut feature films. They will work with mentors, script consultants and peers to refine their stories and explore new ways of bringing stories from Aotearoa to the screen. The programme will run throughout 2026, with feature films selected for development early next year.

Chevron Hassett commissioned for the Objectspace courtyard plinth in 2026

Chevron Hassett (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Rongomaiwahine, Ngāti Kahungunu) often works with reclaimed materials, particularly native timbers salvaged from demolitions, and his sculptures often speak to ideas of shelter, identity, urbanisation of Māori communities, and collective memory. At the moment he has a beautiful work, Aroha Ki Te Tangata, on show at The Gus Fisher Gallery. 

His commission for the Objectspace courtyard plinth is supported by the Jan Warburton Charitable Trust and will be launched in March 2026. 

Eve de Castro-Robinson appointed 2026 CNZ Lilburn composer-in-residence

Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington have announced New Zealand composer and educator Dr Eve de Castro-Robinson as the 2026 composer-in-residence at the New Zealand School of Music Te Kōkī. She will spend a year in the former home of composer Douglas Lilburn in Thorndon, Wellington and at the Victoria University of Wellington music school. It won’t be her first time at the Lilburn residence – she says she visited Douglas Lilburn there in the late 1980s, “we drank wine and listened to his piano music”. Dr de Castro-Robinson says she is “chuffed” with the residency and “the essence of my plans involves extensive collaboration with my Wellington musical whānau.”

John Russell-Hodge announced at the Otago University Book Shop Summer Writer in Residence

John Russell-Hodge from Waimate will take up a six-week residency at the Robert Lord Writers Cottage in early 2026. A retired management consultant, John returned to writing poetry after his wife Christine died unexpectedly in October 2023. He will use the residency to work on a book about his experiences of grief and the celebration of love.

👀 Further reading 

Aotearoa's first-ever festival of Black arts has arrived! Tunmise Adebowale speaks to festival director Dione Joseph about why the festival centres Black joy, abundance, and innovation rather than trauma here at The Big Idea.

Chevron Hassett has written a wonderful piece about the reopening of the Toi Tauranga Art Gallery for The Spinoff.

Theia (Em-Haley Walker) has written a Soapbox on why her new album goes against everything music execs advise.

André Chumko at The Post reports on the latest rebirth of the Paramount on Courtenay Place, Wellington (paywalled). The upper level of the old cinema will reopen early next year as an arts venue called The Gods, and will host Wellington’s Fringe Festival.

Actor, writer, and game developer Uhyoung Choi shares his love for musicals, crowded cafes, and “toxic” personal motto in a Shameless Plug.

💌 Letters to the editor

Following last week’s Artswire about the fight to reinstate Creatives in Schools, a reader who works at a kura emailed in this excellent quote from her principal:

“STEAM is better than STEM. Gets an A with the Arts!”

📧 Say hi!

Let me know what you think about the Artswire and our other editorial coverage at editor@thebigidea.co.nz