A quintet of creatives have been handed their boarding passes to the Land of Opportunity.

The 2023 Fulbright New Zealand scholarship award winners have been announced this week - with 26 New Zealanders from varied fields of interest selected to further their studies and build their expertise in some of the United States' most esteemed institutions.

Five of those picked are from the creative community - with four of them receiving General Graduate Awards, which are valued at up to $64,000 - along with $4,000 travel funding - for up to one year of study or research in the US. 

Among this creative cohort is poet, performer and painter Rebecca Hawkes - one of the founding members of the self-proclaimed popstar poetry collective, Show Ponies. Methven-raised but Wellington-based, Hawkes is taking on a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Hawkes told The Lowdown "Being selected for a Fulbright and offered entry into one of the USA's most renowned creative writing programmes has been a huge and heartening endorsement of my creative efforts. This whole process isn't possible without a hefty amount of support from my peers, so all this has made me grateful for the mentors and friends who have helped bring my work into the world and encouraged me to face new challenges.

"Obviously, I'm looking forward to having the freedom to make art with a slightly less demanding work/work balance around a day job! 

"While in Michigan I hope to grow as a thinker and maker, connect with vibrant writing and publishing communities in the US, and of course make weird art as wildly as I can in the time I have. I’m looking forward to the space the MFA provides to truly focus on the hard work (and play) needed to create a brand new body of poetry and paintings, as well as the invitation to explore - not only geographically but intellectually and creatively.

"I intend to return to Aotearoa with a richer understanding of my literary craft, as well as fresh zingy work to publish! I want to be able to give back to other new artists in Aotearoa the way other established writers have supported me in my emergence."

Hamilton's Emerita Baik is headed to New York City  to complete a Master of Fine Arts at Columbia University, stating "I am honoured to have the opportunity to expand my knowledge in a way that would be inaccessible without the support of this award."

Upon her return, Baik says "I plan to bring back these newly gained skills and expertise to
mentor young artists in Aotearoa. I aim to return and teach full-time at a university, with the goal of
enriching students’ understanding of materials and tools."
 
Also bound for the Big Apple is Leah Thomas backed for a Masters of Arts Management and Entrepreneurship at NYC's New School.

Thomas (above) told The Lowdown "Living and studying in New York City is an amazing opportunity, especially at this point in my career. To be surrounded by art and ensembles that come from all around the world and have a variety of values, resources and backgrounds. This is an incredible opportunity to rethink and reimagine my artistic practice.

"I’m very passionate about classical music innovation and accessibility. My area of study will be in this field as I look at arts management, finance, policy as well as performance, arranging and orchestrating. My school (New School) is very special and prioritises community engagement and challenging the status quo in their teaching.

"As part of my course, I will be researching and launching my own project. As the subject of my Masters, I will be using my newly formed studio orchestra (Gallery Orchestra), a collaborative ensemble that works across genres. At the moment we are recording an album with jazz/soul artist Arjuna Oakes and his band. Earlier this year we collaborated with the Other Futures Big Band for Fringe Festival and Tāmira Pūoro Duo."

Christchurch local Lachlan Taylor will complete a PhD in Art History at the University of Texas.

Taylor told The Lowdown "What the opportunity really represents to me is the chance to dedicate some serious time to this idea of connecting art history - specifically exhibition history - with aspects of literature and creative writing. 

"West Texas has a really interesting history of both, and the Fulbright is an invaluable opportunity to develop my skills in this rich context and bring that learning back to Aotearoa."

Decorated writer Gina Cole has another to add to her glowing residency collection, set to use the Fulbright-Creative New Zealand Pacific Writer’s Residency to spend three months at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, working on the second science fiction fantasy novel of a planned trilogy in the genre of Pasifikafuturism.

Cole told The Lowdown “This Fulbright residency in Hawai’i means a lot to me because it will give me the opportunity to spend a substantial amount of time in the Pacific, immersed in a Pacific Island sensibility, in a Pacific Island environment, on Hawaiian whenua, with access to the university resources, the Indigenous community of writers and artists and the wider Indigenous community and its influences.

“It will be an inspiring place for me to live when I’m writing about Pacific culture and that inspiration will feed into my writing and deepen the ideas I am developing about imagining the future from an Indigenous Pacific Ocean perspective.”

Shanghai for Szymanik

Another Aotearoa writer about to soak in some international inspiration is Melinda Szymanik (above) - selected as the fourth New Zealand writer to join the Shanghai Writers’ Association’s International Writing Programme. 

Along with free accommodation in an inner-city apartment and a small stipend for living expenses/air travel, Szymanik will join writers from eight other countries around the world for two months in Shanghai in September and October this year.  

After a pandemic-enforced break, the residency is part of a partnership opportunity between the Michael King Writers Centre, the New Zealand China Friendship Society, the Shanghai Writers’ Association and the Shanghai People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries

Chris Lipscombe, National President of New Zealand China Friendship Society says "Melinda is an award-winning poet and author of stories for young people. During her residency she will have ample opportunity to soak up the sights and sounds of modern Shanghai, as well as explore the city's cultural and historical undercurrents."

Vale Jim Allen

100 years is a great knock by anyone's measurement. However, it's not just time on the planet - but what you do with it that matters.

Jim Allen did plenty with his, and we are all the richer for it. 

Only a matter of weeks shy of his 101st birthday, Allen is being remembered as Aotearoa's father of experimental art. You can read about his incredible accomplishments and reactions from the creative community is this wonderfully detailed tribute here.

Auckland Art Gallery helped shed some light on what made Allen such "a long-lasting influence on the establishment of the contemporary art scene in Auckland, aligning it with the dynamic changes occurring globally."

It's a remarkable life Allen lived - many of them an intriguing story on their own - As AAG's tribute points out, "Not only was Allen a veteran of World War II, in which he served as a machine gunner, he was also a skilled sailor, frequently journeying across the Hauraki Gulf and crossing the Tasman more than a dozen times. After the war, Allen resolved to train as an artist, and travelled to London to undertake a degree in sculpture at London’s Royal College of Art, graduating in 1952.

He then returned to New Zealand and committed himself to art education. Alongside his pioneering art practice, Allen is regarded as the most influential art educator of his generation in Aotearoa and Australia."

 One example - his radical hands-on teaching in schools in the Far North alongside the revolutionary educator Elwyn Richardson – which included taking a truck load of students’ artworks down from Kaitaia College to exhibit at Auckland Art Gallery.     

Describing his approach to teaching, Allen explained "My effort went into creating a supportive environment, encouraging experiment and exploration, insisting that people find their own answer rather than providing them with one. I guess it was backdoor teaching, not leading from the front." 

Michael Lett Gallery represented Allen for the last 17 years - and were quick to label the multi-talented artist "a central figure in the development of conceptual and performance art in Aotearoa", adding "His legacy as an arts educator, both here and in Australia, lives on in the generations of artists who have taken inspiration from his relentless sculptural innovations and dedication to the teaching and learning of artistic practice."

A man with an unassuming name but an unrelenting desire to push boundaries both as a performance artist himself and on behalf of others - Jim Allen's contribution is irreplaceable. 

"Utterly singular, a visionary for our time"

Owen Connors' big year has added another accolade.

Already a finalist for the prestigious Walters Prize and the current McCahon House artist in residence - Connors can now add Tauranga Art Gallery's $25,000 Rydal Art Prize to their list of 2023 accomplishments.

Connors' exhibition Incubations (shown at Robert Heald Gallery in September, 2021) earned them the coveted bi-annual prize - awarded for a work or body of work deemed to be outstanding in the field of painting over the prior two-year period. The judging panel of Abby Cunnane, Megan Dunn, Nathan Pohio, and Serena Bentley positively effused with praise for them.

“We haven’t seen works like these before. Connors has developed their own unique visual language to create searing paintings that investigate the queer experience, often from the inside out. They may not represent the easiest works to digest for a wide public, but Connors (below) is utterly singular, a visionary for our time”.

Incubations comprises five double-sided tondo paintings in egg tempera. The works are all circular paintings on board - on one side scrupulously arranged food platters, and more erotic and disquieting scenes of the male body on the other.

As the winner of the Rydal Art Prize, Connors will also receive a solo exhibition at Tauranga Art Gallery in 2024.

FAFSWAG hit the film fest 

This year's New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) will have some extra swag in its step.

Some of the leading lights of powerhouse creative collective FAFSWAG have combined to make the final cut for NZIFF's Ngā Whanaunga Māori Pasifika Shorts selection, with eight films picked from across Aotearoa and the Pacific.

FAFSWAG co-founder Pati Tyrell has written and directed Tulounga le Lagi  - which judge Craig Fasi describes as "Visually confrontational with ritualistic connotations of an environment we may have never considered" - with fellow Arts Laureates Tana Gago (animation), Jermaine Dean, Moe Laga and Falencie Filipo also credited.

Also making the cut is He Pounamu Ko Āu, directed and produced by Tia Barrett, one of the Arts Foundation's 2023 Springboard Award winners - recognised as "A contemplation of heritage and spirituality in an endless journey of healing."

Kōkako (directed by Douglas Brooks), Whakaako kia Whakaora / Educate to Liberate (Robert George), The Last Sunday (Saito Lilo), Mako (Mark Papali’i), Bringing Mere Home (Keelan Walker) and I Am Paradise (Hiona Henare).

All finalists will be eligible for the Wellington UNESCO City of Film award for Best Film ($3000 cash prize), as judged by a jury. This award will be presented at the final Wellington screening of the Māori Pasifika Shorts. Audience members at Tāmaki Makaurau and Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara screenings will vote for their favourite short to win the Letterboxd Audience Award, a cash prize of $1000, and this will be announced at the Closing Night of NZIFF 2023 in Wellington.

Historic homecoming

A significant day for many whānau yesterday (Wednesday 14 June), with the remains of 95 Māori and Moriori ancestors - along with 6 Toi moko (Māori mummified tattooed heads) and taonga Māori - repatriated from seven institutions across Germany at a private pōwhiri at Te Papa.

Dr Arapata Hakiwai, Te Papa’s Kaihautū (Māori co-leader) states “Facilitating the return of our ancestors from six German institutions is not easy and I mihi to my colleagues of Karanga Aotearoa – their efforts offer pathways to meaningful reconciliation and healing not only for Māori and Moriori, but also for the nation.

“The connection to our tūpuna (ancestors) is continuous, despite time and location, and it is our responsibility and obligation to reunite them with their people and whenua.” 

Te Herekiekie Haerehuka Herewini, Te Papa’s Head of Repatriation reflects on this momentous occasion and the significant importance of returning these sacred ancestors.

“When I look at the work undertaken to coordinate the return of these ancestral remains from seven institutions, I’m reminded of the whakataukī ‘Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini’ – success is not due to individual effort, but through the efforts of many.

“Our colleagues from these German institutions have shown significant respect and understanding towards Aotearoa New Zealand, Māori and Moriori, and demonstrated a strong sense of doing the right thing.”

Throughout May and June, a series of formal handover ceremonies took place in Germany and included tikanga Māori and tikane Moriori (indigenous cultural customs and protocols). This repatriation is a culmination of many years of research and negotiation by Māori, the Moriori people, the Karanga Aotearoa Repatriation Programme and Germany.

Gatt to work

Te Uru Contemporary Gallery continues in its new direction with the addition of James Gatt (above) in the role of Curator from the end of July. 

With Adrienne (AD) Schierning appointed as Director only a few months ago, Gatt is another strong addition to the post-Andrew Clifford era (now plying his trade at the Sarjeant Gallery in Whanganui).

The  Founding Director of experimental project space Squiggle Space, Gatt has an impressive collection of titles accrued over the past eight years, working closely with artists from Aotearoa and Australia on curatorial and publishing projects. He has also worked as an educator at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Associate Director at Sarah Cottier Gallery and last year launched Kafay Larday, a biannual journal that publishes art-minded conversations.