Mahara Redevelopment Project

Floor Talk Wednesday 29 May at 11am, all welcome, entry free

Peter F. Ireland, painter, curator and art writer, will give a talk in Frances Hodgkins and

the Field Collection, Selected Work 1, focusing on subject matter & style in Frances

Hodgkins’ work. All welcome, entry free

Now accepting entries for the Mahara Arts review!

Today is the first day for entries into the Mahara Arts Review exhibition and we've already had works of all shapes and sizes flooding through the front door!

The gallery is accepting entries until Sunday 28th of April. So get in quick! For more information and the entry form visit our website here.

Sustainability

A large crowd squeezed into Mahara Gallery at lunchtime today for our forum Making a Sustainable Kapiti. The conversation was expertly moderated by Dan Ormond from Ideas Shop.

Dr Mike Joy started off the discussion with some very sobering statistics regarding our enormous individual impact on the planet. I was stunned to think about the number of acres of land that it takes to maintain the average lifestyle of just one New Zealander. Perhaps we, all 7 billion of us, are underreacting to an issue that we have known about for years but failed to take swift and sufficient action to curtail.

The conversation moved to sustainable housing where Hugh Tennet from Tennent + Brown Architects discussed how we can house our populace sustainably and effectively. He talked about the future of Christchurch and the power of the designs for urban housing that provide an alternative to traditional apartment living.

Sophie Jerram talked to us about where she thinks sustainability is heading. She told the audience about a set of sustainability tools developed by the Sustainable Business Network which are available to businesses seeking to lower their environmental impact.

To listen to this forum now in full click here and you will be taken to the relevant page on the Mahara Gallery website.

Mahara on a Friday lunchtime

The first two of our series of six Friday lunchtime forums have kicked off with a hiss and a roar. Here are some images from the first topic - Art, Community and Activism. Special thanks to our speakers: Diane Prince, Barry Thomas, Vanessa Crowe and Derek Schulz.

Also be sure to have a listen to the recording of our forum on Health & Wellbeing which took place just yesterday. Click here to hear! We hosted some very inspiring speakers: Sara Van Der Put, Sose Annandale, Carole Sweeney, Martin Sloman and Ann Chapman as moderator. Photos will follow shortly.

Towards the Precipice: Propaganda Posters collected by WB Sutch opened on Saturday 2^nd February to the sound of political debate. Helen Sutch and Keith Ovenden spoke about this important and fascinating New Zealander and his collection of posters; some shocking, some violent and some comical, all very interesting.

For more political and social chatter come along to our six Friday lunchtime forums with a great range of panelists on topics of broad social and political interest to Kapiti communities and beyond. Entry free, all welcome.

ART, COMMUNITY & ACTIVISM

Friday 15 February

‘I think there is a responsibility for any artist to protect freedom of expression’

- Ai Weiwei.

Moderator: Mark Amery, arts writer.
Panelists include Mirek Smíšek, OBE, ceramicist; Diane Prince, Artist, teacher, activist; Barry Thomas, Artist, community arts activist and Vanessa Crowe, Artist, teacher.

HEALTH & WELLBEING

Friday 22 February

Moderator: Ann Chapman, Mahara Gallery Board.
Panelists include Sara Van Der Put, documentary-maker; Sose Annandale, Principal of Russell School; Carole Sweney, Kāpiti branch President Euthanasia Society; Martin Sloman, Counsellor, Whirlwind Stories and Ra Higgott, Pathways, Paraparaumu College.

AGE MATTERS

Friday 1 March

Moderator: Sunny Amey, educationalist and theatre director. Panelists include Jill Stansfield, President of Kāpiti’s Older Person’s Council; Chase Fox, Kāpiti Youth Council; Dr. Paul Callister, Social and economic researcher; Dr. Judith Davey, Researcher and writer on Ageing, Senior Associate of the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies, VUW; Marama Takao, Kaitohutohu/Māori Development Advisor, JR McKenzie Trust and Gabrielle Rikihana, Ngāti Raukawa, educationalist.

EDUCATION FOR LIFE

Friday 8 March

Moderator: Queenie Rikihana-Hyland, Ati Awa ki Waikanae, Raukawa ki te Tonga, Ngāti Toa Rangatira. Panelists include a Representative of Te Wānanga o Raukawa, Otaki; Silvia Zuur, Cofounder of Chalkle; Jennette Newport, President of U3A Kāpiti and Renée, Feminist writer and playwright.

MAKING A SUSTAINABLE KAPITI

Friday 15 March

Moderator: Dan Ormond, Ideasshop. Panelists include Dr Mike Joy, Lecturer in Environmental Science and Ecology, Massey University; Jack MacDonald, Alliance for a Sustainable Kapiti, Green Party Candidate; Hugh Tennent, Tennent + Brown Architects and engaged with urban design issues and Sophie Jerram, Co-curator ‘Letting Space’.

TRAVELLING THE COAST

Friday 22 March

Moderator: Jan Nimmo, Co-ordinator, Friends of Mahara. Panelists include Ani Parata, Te Ati Awa ki Waikanae; Bianca Begovich, Sustainability Adviser, Save Kāpiti; Dr Phil Battley, Avian ecologist, Massey University; Anthony Dreaver, Writer, local historian, chair of Paekakariki Station Museum Trust and Derek Schulz, Conservationist and writer.

Summer of Art

We have had a delightful child-filled summer programme at Mahara gallery which has drawn new visitors and strong feedback. Puppeteer Anna Bailey has charmed audiences of all ages with her puppets: Evaline, who painted children’s portraits, Edmund Snail, who made pasta, and a fisherman and a mermaid. Many children have also made good use of our CHILDREN’S ARTSPACE in the small rear gallery, making their own magical creations alongside Don Driver’s works in the main gallery and Natural World in New SPACE.

Anna Bailey performing The Mermaid Song
 

 

 

 

 

We rounded off our summer programme with an Ephemeral Art workshop delivered by Lisa Terreni. The gallery was a-buzz with creative hands and busy brains. It was fantastic to see kids making and remaking different pictures and patterns using only natural materials. Many thanks to Lisa for sharing her skills, knowledge and creativity with us all.