Shows and Events Coming Up In Dunedin

Fortune Theatre

Jerusalem, Jerusalem - directed by Rosemary Riddell Jerusalem, Jerusalem is a bold new work based on the life and death of New Zealand's finest poet and one of her most controversial sons. Foul-mouthed, honey-tongued, social critic and wild prophet; James K. Baxter entranced and scandalised the population in equal measure. He was a recovering alcoholic, a brilliant literary critic, a dogmatic Catholic, a randy libertine, a creative genius and a perceptive showman. Thirty years on from his death at the age of 46, he comes to life again in this riveting dramatic work which continues to shock and engage audiences. Written by novelist Mike Riddell, the play takes Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral, baptises it in Maori culture and antipodean imagery, and sends it back ringing in the ears and thumping in the heart Jerusalem, Jerusalem, is based on the last year of his life, 1972. The play is a tragedy in two acts and draws on T.S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral, tackling universal themes as they arise in a doggedly local context. 6 - 14 June 2003

The Wind in the Willows - by Kenneth Graham (adapted by Alan Bennett) Ever since the publication of Kenneth Grahame's novel in 1908, his characters of Ratty, Mole, Toad and Badger have delighted generations of readers. Now Alan Bennett's acclaimed stage adaptation opens up this magical world for adults and children alike. Following in the footsteps of last year's production of 'The Jungle Book', The Wind in the Willows is certain to be an unforgettable treat for all the family. 27 June - 19 July 2003

Fortune Theatre, 231 Stuart Street, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: (media) Lisa Scott, phone (03) 477 1695 or Box Office (03) 477 8323

Regent Theatre

Dennis Locorriere - The Sensational Voice Of Doctor Hook Audiences may not instantly know the name Dennis Locorriere. Why would they? He hasn't troubled the singles charts for the best part of 20 years. But as soon as he opens his mouth to sing the opening bars of his first song they are instantly transported back to the late 1970s and the heyday of Dr Hook. Rising from the tenderest emotional whisper to a powerful roar, his voice is one of the most distinctive sounds in popular music. It may have been 18 years since pop band Dr Hook called it a day, but one of the most distinctive voices of the eighties brought back the memories. For one night only Dennis Locorriere, the voice behind Dr Hook, will take to the stage as part of his countrywide tour. His appearance may have changed a little in those two decades, but his voice definitely had not. His instantly recognisable, spine-tingling, sexy vocals will wow the audience, most of who will be there because they are ardent fans. With renditions of 'A Little Bit More', 'When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman', 'The Right To Walk Away', and a beautiful song penned for his son's departure to university called 'Shine Sun'. When he was lead vocalist with Dr Hook he won more that 60 gold and platinum albums, having number one chart hits in more than 42 countries. 14 June 2003, 7.30pm

David Strassman Tour 2003 What makes Strassman special is that he's a ventriloquist who revives a tired, old art form into sophisticated, state of the art entertainment. The biggest star of his one-man show is a misanthropic, white trash dummy called Chuck Wood. He interrupts the teddy bear's routine, spits at perfectly pleasant blokes in the front row and pukes on his speakers - and that's before he becomes possessed. 15 June 2003, 7.00pm

Mum's the Word Embark on a hilarious journey through pregnancy, nappies, temper tantrums and sleepless nights. It's all part of this riotously funny and outrageous show Mum's The Word that touches on the taboos, the dramas and the delights of motherhood. Two leading UK stars have been secured to play Blythe Duff (DC Jakie Reid in Taggart) and Victoria Alcock (Julie Saunders in Bad Girls) along with leading New Zealand actor Liddy Holloway and a cast of our country's finest. 17 June 2003, 7.30pm

Regent Theatre, 17 The Octagon, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: Regent Ticketek, phone (03) 477 8597

Mid Winter Carnival The Mid Winter Carnival is an annual community event that celebrates themes of winter in spectacular visual style transforming Dunedin's city centre into a magical world. The Carnival incorporates choreographed group performances, a children's lantern procession, live and recorded music, lighting effects, and a fireworks spectacle. A fairytale-like story is woven using larger-than-life characters represented by giant puppets, stilt performers, flag dancers and giant lanterns. Stalls and a merry-go-round add to the Carnival atmosphere. Last year's Carnival attracted over 2000 people to the Octagon to watch performances as the audience processed around the Octagon. This is a free family-friendly event held in the heart of Dunedin. One night only. When the clock above the Municipal Chambers in the Octagon sounds six, the Carnival begins. 21 June 2003 The Octagon, Dunedin Contact for media enquiries: Paul Smith, phone (03) 465 7713, or (025) 966 018, or email: birdseyeview@paradise.net.nz Blue Oyster Gallery

Blue Oyster Fourth Anniversary Birthday Show - Fruit and Flowers The Blue Oyster fourth Anniversary Birthday Show Fruit and Flowers follows their themed anniversary series. The fourth birthday show will provide the opportunity for a variety of artists to respond to the theme of 'Fruit and Flowers', the symbol of four years of Blue Oyster brilliance. Runs Until 7 June 2003

Jane Venis - The Blathering This mid-winter the people of Dunedin are invited to join The Blathering and be part of the creation of an experimental soundscape. Audiences are welcome to attend any or all sessions and be shamelessly plied with wine to have their loosened tongues recorded, edited and possibly distorted. The resulting work will be a constantly changing soundscape regurgitated through gossip mongering machines. These machines will be created in the gallery during The Blathering from components made or found by the artist. 10 - 21 June 2003

Angela Singer - Animality With a mix of national and international artists, Animality will explore the connections between our understandings of animals and the historical and cultural conditions in which these understandings have been formed. The artists featured will look at the material presence of animals in urban spaces and modern sensibilities, and how contemporary media culture is shaping our fundamental cultural expectations of animals and ourselves. The artists who will exhibit in Animality have radicalised the use of animals and animal imagery to address a range of questions about morality, responsibility, our relationship with the natural world and the nature of art itself. 24 June - 5 July 2003

Blue Oyster Gallery, 137 High Street, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: Robyn Dold, phone (03) 479 0197

Dunedin Public Art Gallery

Michael Harrison: Love in the Shadows Love in the Shadows is a survey exhibition of Michael Harrison's paintings from 1985-2001. The works are intimate, inventive, romantic and often slightly uneasy. His symbolism is both highly public and loaded with private meanings - seized from tarot cards, art history, mass media, WWII photojournalism and from life itself. An Artspace touring exhibition with support from Creative New Zealand. 7 June 2003 - 10 August 2003

Lynn Taylor: re: Kakawai Six sculptural pieces capture the artist's memories of the relationship between herself, her father and the yacht Kakawai, which he built in Milton in the 1950s. The exhibition space recreates the feel of wharves, coast and sea, providing a space for the viewer to embark on his or her own journey of memory. Runs Until 8 June 2003 Ronnie Van Hout: I've Abandoned Me I've Abandoned Me is a survey of fifteen years work by one of New Zealand's liveliest and most irreverent artists. In paintings, videos, photographs and sculptures, Ronnie van Hout explores what it means 'to be yourself' in an era of rapid communications and cultural sampling. A Dunedin Public Art Gallery exhibition. Runs Until 8 June 2003

Karin Sander: Telling a Work of Art Renowned German artist Karin Sander was recently artist in residence at Elam School of Fine Arts in Auckland. Appropriately, the show Telling a Work of Art focuses on communication at a distance. The result is an exhibition about the way talk travels, the way artists talk, and the way they talk about art that has inspired them. Supported by the Goethe Institute, Wellington 14 June - 17 August 2003

Ardour of Art: Frances Hodgkins' Path to Modernism Ardour of Art is the first exhibition in the new gallery permanently devoted to the works of one of Dunedin's most famous daughters: Frances Hodgkins. Curated by Linda Tyler, Curator of Pictorial Collections, Hocken Library, Dunedin, it offers the viewer an insight into the artist's life and work. A Dunedin Public Art Gallery exhibition. Ongoing Exhibition

Truth's Mirror Truth's Mirror features witty and thought-provoking juxtapositions of treasures from the Dunedin Public Art Gallery's permanent collection. This exhibition is drawn from the Gallery's visual arts collection and is curated by Tony Green, formerly Head of Department of Art History, University of Auckland. A Dunedin Public Art Gallery exhibition. Ongoing Exhibition

Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 30 The Octagon, PO Box 5045, Dunedin Contact for enquires: Tim Pollock, phone (03) 474 3243

Dunedin Town Hall

Southern Sinfonia - Beethoven's Fifth Symphony Presented by Dunedin's own professional orchestra, the Southern Sinfonia will perform Beethoven's instantly recognisable symphony, his "Fifth". Complementing this popular work are Milhaud's Concerto for Marimba and Vibraphone featuring Sinfonia's newest recruit, Dutch percussionist Arnold Marinissen as soloist, and English composer John Rutter's Requiem to be sung by the City of Dunedin Choir, with exciting young Dunedin soloist Emma Fraser. Saturday 21 June 2003, 8.00 pm Contact for enquiries: Philippa Harris, phone (03) 477 5623

Patsy Riggir Patsy Riggir will tour with a five piece band of special guest musicians and will perform all the songs we love her for, including the chart-topping 'Beautiful Lady', plus a few surprises. 26 June 2003, 8.00pm

Town Hall, Moray Place, Dunedin Contact for bookings: Regent Ticketek, phone (03) 477 8597 Milford Galleries Dunedin - Peter James Smith - 'Fading Light' Peter James Smith's new work refers to cinema and photography for a sense of romanticism, drama, and narrative. The painted images are typeset with applied texts, often in the form of notes, jottings, and historical records. The painted images are set into a darkened ground, like movies being viewed in a darkened room. The sense of history is all pervasive and evident in different genres of still life and landscape. Referenced are histories of literature, architecture, and the scientific age of the enlightenment. The title of the show refers to this, to the passage of history and to the changed understandings that contemporary culture shares with science. There is awe at the power of science rather than a critique of this power. 21 June - 10 July 2003 Milford Galleries Dunedin, 18 Dowling Street, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: Diana Hennessy, phone (03) 477 8275

Arc Café - What You Leave Behind This will be an opportunity to witness local rising acting star Amy Adams in action before she heads to London to partake in workshops and act on the stage at the Globe Theatre in London. Amy was invited for this invaluable experience after securing directing and acting awards at last years Sheilah Winn National Secondary Schools' Shakespeare Competition. The piece she will perform is a one-woman show entitled What You Leave Behind by Emily Duncan and directed by Caroline Claver. Along with music, the show incorporates video footage shot by Richard Jeffrey. It is a multi-media theatre, although Caroline is quick to point out that these are not tricks to divert attention from the script, but add a poignant dimension to the narrative. Black comedy takes place over spectacle in this tale of a precocious girl irreverently striking up a defence against her violently apathetic father. 25 - 26 June 2003, 8.00pm Arc Café, 135 High Street, Dunedin Contact for media enquiries: Emily Duncan, phone (03) 477 2614

Otago Museum

NHNZ Film Season Audiences have the opportunity to be the first to watch these never before seen NHNZ documentaries. This stunning series of documentaries will screen in the Otago Museum's Hutton Theatre at 7pm on the last Wednesday of every month until November. If the Wednesday screening is missed, audiences will have another chance on the following Saturday and Sunday, as there will be repeat screenings at 1:30pm in the Barclay Theatre. The June documentary is Diabetes - In Search of a Miracle and the July documentary is The Ant That Ate America. Barclay Theatre, Runs Until November

Good Morning Science We all know that we are now in a technology-driven era and we all know how important it is to educate our children about science and technology to prepare them for their futures. An exciting new programme that has been developed at the Otago Museum that will help parents and caregivers take a further step towards achieving this important aim. Good Morning Science is an interactive programme set in a social surrounding which aims to give parents and other caregivers the opportunity to learn more about science and technology, and teaches them how to incorporate it into the lives of their children. Good Morning Science raises the understanding and awareness of the value of science and technology through the delivery of unique hands-on presentations as well as providing a range of ideas to help incorporate science and technology into everyday life Runs Until 28 August 2003, Every Thursday at 10.00am

Guided Tours Take a 'Highlights of the Museum' guided tour and get some inside knowledge about various aspects that the Museum has on offer and/or take a guided tour of 'Southern Land, Southern People' and gain a greater understanding, of the Southern region. 'Highlights of the Museum' guided tours are available at 11.30am and 'Southern Land, Southern People' guided tours are available at 3.30pm (and other times by prior arrangement). Ongoing Service - 11.30am and 3.30pm daily

Communicator Presentations Each day, the Otago Museum Communicators present fascinating 15-minute presentations on objects or themes of particular interest from the Museum's galleries. Ongoing Service, 2.00pm Daily

Search Centre Weekend Presentations The Museum's Search Centre Communicators have developed a series of Search Centre Weekend Presentations designed to help familiarise people with the excellent resources provided by this facility. Each presentation runs for about 20 minutes and will be repeated for a month before the next presentation begins. Weekends at 11.30am and 2.30pm

Ongoing Exhibitions The Museum's timbered Victorian gallery, the Animal Attic, houses an extensive collection of natural history specimens from around the world, re-displayed as they would have been in the late 1800s. A 'museum within a museum', this gallery is unique in New Zealand. Explore the Tangata Whenua Gallery with its impressive displays of Maori Cultural artefacts, including a stunning collection of Southern Maori material. The Pacific Culture Galleries display outstanding collections from Polynesia and Melanesia. People of the World has world archaeological treasures including ancient Greek pottery; a mummy and other fascinating artefacts from Ancient Egypt; a striking collection of swords; exquisite decorative arts from Asia and Europe and a superb array of costume and textiles. Walk the length of the giant Fin Whale in the Maritime Gallery, then take in the intricate detail of a wealth of nautical artefacts. Come face to face with the extinct giant moa in the Extinction and Survival area and see one of the few complete moa eggs in the world.

Search Centre Otago Museum's Search Centre research facility, provides an inviting opportunity for visitors to engage in further research on objects or themes in the galleries of interest to them. It will also be the first stop for the identification of items members of the public bring into the Museum, a service that annually attracts a huge number of objects or specimens. Well resourced, with swift new computers, microscopes, modern journals and a great variety of new books, the Search Centre offers a variety of options for seeking further information. Set in a comfortable and relaxing environment the Search Centre is the perfect place in which to think, read, study, or research. Ongoing Service

Lunchtime Music A range of musicians will liven up the atrium with live performances each week. This is now a regular fixture but is subject to change according to function demands. Museum Foyer, Fridays between 12noon and 1.30pm

Otago Museum, 419 Great King Street, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: Ryan Helliwell, phone (03) 474 7474 ext 845

JULY 2003

Blue Oyster Gallery

Angela Singer - Animality With a mix of national and international artists, Animality will explore the connections between our understandings of animals and the historical and cultural conditions in which these understandings have been formed. The artists in this show will look at the material presence of animals in urban spaces and modern sensibilities, and how contemporary media culture is shaping our fundamental cultural expectations of animals and ourselves. The artists who will exhibit in Animality have radicalised the use of animals and animal imagery to address a range of questions about morality, responsibility, our relationship with the natural world and the nature of art itself. Runs Until 5 July 2003

Nicholas Spratt - World Of Pain Auckland based artist Nicholas Spratt is an artiste whose work employs a variety of mediums to explore the histrionics of modern-day life: re-investigating moments in time and the memory of space, unearthing our hidden histories. In World of Pain, Spratt will present a collection of works that examine the highs and lows of human achievement, piecing together such disparate entities as fallen footballing angel Diego Maradona, Fozzie Bear, the Columbian drug cartels and his academic record to analyse the day-to-day dramas in ordinary life. World of Pain will be accompanied by a catalogue and website. 8 - 19 July 2003

Gala Kirke, Iain Cheesman And Ana Terry - Post-Areas This collaborative multi-media installation deals with the process of jumps from real to imaginary that we consistently make. The artists will use a single found object, a postcard from the Californian Crocker Museum, as the common initiative for their works, with each artist interpreting and responding from their own concerns. Gala Kirke, Iain Cheesman and Ana Terry were some of the top graduates from Otago Polytechnic School of Art in 2002 and this show is intended to support their transition into public exhibitions and encourage their professional development. 22 July - 2 August 2003

Blue Oyster Gallery, 137 High Street, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: Robyn Dold, phone (03) 479 0197

Hocken Library

New Works by an Old Expressionist, painted wall sculptures by Michael Armstrong Born in Christchurch, Michael Armstrong studied at the University of Canterbury under Rudi Gopas and Bill Sutton, but quickly moved away from conventional painting and, by the early 1980s, was starting to sew his canvases together and paint them calligraphically front and back. His success with this innovation led to him being awarded the 1984 Frances Hodgkins Fellowship at the University of Otago, with a major exhibition being held at the Hocken Library at the end of his Fellowship year. For this "return to Otago" exhibition he has ventured into new territories again, making twelve pop riveted aluminium wall sculptures which spring to life with all-over vibrant colour. Runs Until 5 July 2003 Charles Brasch: A Literary Life A Literary Life is mounted to mark the end of the thirty-year embargo which Charles Brasch placed on his personal papers when he bequeathed them to the Hocken Library at his death on 20 May 1973. The exhibition commemorates the artistic legacy of a poet and a patron of the arts with a selection of the 461 works of art that includes Rita Angus, Doris Lusk, Colin McCahon, Toss Woollaston and Jeffrey Harris. These will be shown along with photographs and manuscript material drawn from his papers. Runs Until 5 July 2003

John Turnbull Thomson: nineteenth century painter and surveyor of the south Last year saw the unveiling of a monument to John Turnbull Thomson at Ranfurly to commemorate the role he played in shaping the unique culture of Central Otago and the Maniototo. Names like Eweburn, the Horse Range and the Pig Root all owe their origin to Thomson who was chief surveyor for Otago. This exhibition traces Thomson's origins as a civil engineer in England, and his years in Malaya as well as his involvement in mapping the interior of the south of New Zealand. For the first time in more than a decade a large collection of the 225 oils and watercolours by Thomson in the Hocken Library pictorial collection will be on display together, along with a range of previously never before exhibited works from the Hall-Jones family collection. 12 July - 4 October 2003

Hocken Library, cnr Anzac Avenue & Parry Street, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: Pennie Hunt, phone (03) 479 5648

Milford Galleries Dunedin

Peter James Smith - 'Fading Light' Peter James Smith's new work refers to cinema and photography for a sense of romanticism, drama and narrative. The painted images are typeset with applied texts, often in the form of notes, jottings and historical records. These images are set into a darkened ground, like movies being viewed in a darkened room. The sense of history is all pervasive and clearly evident in different genres of still life and landscape. Referenced are histories of literature, architecture, and the scientific age of the enlightenment. The title Fading Light refers to the passage of history and changed understandings that contemporary culture shares with science. There is awe at the power of science rather than a critique of this power. Runs Until 10 July 2003

Reuben Paterson New works by Reuben Paterson will be featured in a three-part exhibition, firstly, a series of paintings dedicated to the life of his biological Grandmother. His canvases are layered dramatically with glitter dust and primer, in familiar patterns of another time, reflecting her generation's love of patterned fabric. Secondly, there is an installation in the second gallery space, of a wallpaper 'rainbow gateway'. The Sixties wallpaper is woven and spanned across the ceiling and walls, to represent the journey taken by the soul to the afterlife, or Hinenuitepo's Gateway for the Dead. The third aspect of the exhibition continues off-site at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery 'Rear Window'. The window work is the other side of the rainbow - Heaven. 12 - 31 July 2003

Milford Galleries Dunedin, 18 Dowling Street, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: Diana Hennessy, phone (03) 477 8275

Regent Theatre

Royal NZ Ballet "Romeo and Juliet" The romance and tragedy of the world's most famous star-crossed lovers takes centre stage in the Royal New Zealand Ballet's major new commission for 2003, The Meridian Energy Season of Romeo and Juliet. Choreographer Christopher Hampson is the UK's hottest classical ballet talent, whose work is hailed as a triumph of imagination and energy. From ballroom to balcony, this new production has the look of La Dolce Vita era Italy. The sophisticated and sumptuous designs by Tracy Grant and evocative lighting design by John Rayment are set off by bold brushstrokes of the richest and bloodiest red. Set to Prokofiev's celebrated score, this captivating classical production resonates with passion and dramatic intensity. 11 - 13 July 2003

Pot Pourri Direct from the Christchurch Arts Festival Pot Pourri is a fabulous programme of Broadway, opera, dance, magic and comedy featuring songs from Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Cats, Evita, Westside Story, South Pacific, Carmen, Riverdance and lots more. This show has gained excellent reviews with the for the Canberra Times heralding it as: "Musical Theatre of the highest calibre...brilliantly crafted, a standing ovation. Don't miss them!" 21 July 2003, 7.30pm

NZ International Film Festival Founded in 1977, the NZ International Film Festival presents a highlight package of fifty features - plus shorts at the Regent Theatre, Dunedin. Dunedin's Regent Theatre is a superbly preserved venue that combines the spacious elegance of a '20s movie palace with state-of-the-art projection and sound. The world's southernmost Film Festival is not only a very popular local event; it is also one of the best places in the world to see and hear films. Festival booklets available in early July. 25 July - 10 August Regent Theatre, 17 The Octagon, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: Regent Ticketek, phone (03) 477 8597

Fortune Theatre - The Wind in the Willows - by Kenneth Graham (adapted by Alan Bennett) Ever since the publication of Kenneth Grahame's novel in 1908, his characters of Ratty, Mole, Toad and Badger have delighted generations of readers. Now Alan Bennett's acclaimed stage adaption opens up this magical world for adults and children alike. Following in the footsteps of last year's production of 'The Jungle Book', The Wind in the Willows is certain to be an unforgettable treat for all the family. Runs Until 19 July 2003 Fortune Theatre, 231 Stuart Street, Dunedin Contact for media enquiries: (media) Lisa Scott, phone (03) 477 1695 or Box Office (03) 477 8323

Otago Museum

full COLOUR - the spectrum of our world Opening at the Otago Museum, full COLOUR - the spectrum of our world - is a special exhibition that looks at many aspects of colour, including its meaning, use and application. From camouflage to combinations, from symbolism to psychology, this vibrant exhibition deals with colour in many different ways. Audiences will be surprised with the extent that colour impacts on our world and influences how we live. While we are eating breakfast or playing our favourite sport, colour has a significant impact whether we know it or not. Would people eat their toast if the bread was pink, or drink their coffee if it was blue? Would they run out onto the field wearing red and black if they were playing for Otago? Audiences are invited to give some thought to the effects colour have in their lives, and come along to the Museum and see how much it impacts on the world around us. They can also come along and find answers to their questions such as 'why is the sky blue?' and 'can bulls really see red?', and if they guess how many jelly beans are in the jar, they might just win them all for themselves. Runs until 20 July 2003 - Special Exhibitions Gallery

Viewpoints Exhibition Featuring the works of Mr Kan Shimada and Mr Yasuo Uno from Otaru, Japan, this magnificent exhibition offers audiences the unique opportunity to view some beautiful examples of Japanese art. This combined exhibition featuring the work of Mr Kan Shimada, a printmaker, and Mr Yasuo Uno, a screenmaker, is a demonstration of the modern and the traditional, the abstract and the concrete that will have a lasting impact on our public. Runs until 27 July 2003 - 1877 Gallery

Otago Museum, 419 Great King Street, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: Ryan Helliwell, phone (03) 474 7474 ext 845

Dunedin Public Art Gallery - Rose Nolan: ENOUGH Based in Melbourne and recently artist in residence at Auckland University, Rose Nolan engulfs the Big Wall with one of her signature word-works. A Dunedin Public Art Gallery project. Runs until 20 July 2003 Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 30 The Octagon, PO Box 5045, Dunedin Contact for enquires: Tim Pollock, phone (03) 474 3243

Westpac Trust Mayfair Theatre - Fiddler on the Roof Dunedin Operatic proudly presents Fiddler on the Roof, a masterpiece that has touched audiences around the world with its humour, warmth and honesty and featuring cherished songs including 'Sunrise Sunset', 'If I were a Rich Man', and 'Matchmaker'. Fiddler on the Roof is simply musical theatre at its very best. Directed by Gladys Hope with Musical Director Phillipa Hosken and Choreographed by Robyn Sinclair. 24 July - 2 August 2003 Westpac Trust Mayfair Theatre, 100 King Edward Street, Dunedin Contact for media enquiries: Lynda Wright-Sear, phone (03) 454 4721 Contact for bookings: Regent Ticketek, phone (03) 477 8597

Otago Settlers Museum

More Than a Hobby - 25 Years of the Otago Excursion Train Trust In 1978 Dunedin railway enthusiasts formed the Otago Excursion Train Trust to save the experience of train excursions for Otago people. Beginning with just a few dilapidated carriages, they restored them to develop their own train. The Trust blossomed into a vibrant volunteer organisation, running excursions all over Otago and beyond, and in 1990 saved the historic Taieri Gorge line from closure. Its daily train, the Taieri Gorge Limited, developed into one of Dunedin's premier tourist attractions. This exhibition will showcase the personalities, the ambitions, and the 'can-do' attitude that saved rail travel in Otago. An Otago Settlers Museum exhibition. Runs Until 20 July 2003

Lost Food - A Colonial Culinary Past Was old Anglo-Kiwi food dreary, heavy and difficult to make? Or did great grandparents know a thing or two about growing, preparing and enjoying food? The Museum is dusting off the old recipe books, the kitchen gear and the fancy tablecloths to celebrate some old favourites. Discover what has been lost, as our food culture has moved away from traditional colonial cookery in favour of the fast, the foreign and the fashionable. An Otago Settlers Museum Exhibition. Runs Until 20 July 2003

Otago Settlers Museum, 31 Queens Gardens, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: Val-mai Shaw, phone (03) 474 2728

Dunedin Centre - Southern Cross Soloists Chamber Music New Zealand present's some of Australia's finest chamber music soloists performing as an ensemble of stars. The New Zealand tour will premiere a new work for wind and piano by Gillian Whitehead, commissioned by Chamber Music NZ. Sunday, 20 July 2003, 4.00pm Glenroy Auditorium, Harrop Street, Dunedin Contact for bookings: Regent Ticketek, phone (03) 477 8597

- end -

For further information, please contact Dunedin City Council City Promotions, Kerry MacKenzie at phone (03) 474 3409, email kmackenz@dcc.govt.nz - or Jennifer Hooker at phone (03) 474 3815, email jhooker@dcc.govt.nz

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<<...OLE_Obj...>> MEDIA ALERT!

Issue date: 20 May 2003

Dunedin, New Zealand

Dunedin Arts and Cultural Events August 2003 to September 2003 ___________________________________________________________________________ Following is a schedule of confirmed events in the City of Dunedin. This list was prepared by Dunedin City Council (DCC) City Promotions on behalf of the attractions that appear below. Please contact event organisers directly for further information and confirmation of dates and times.

AUGUST 2003

Westpac Trust Mayfair Theatre - Fiddler on the Roof Dunedin Operatic proudly presents Fiddler on the Roof, a masterpiece that has touched audiences around the world with its humour, warmth and honesty and featuring cherished songs including 'Sunrise Sunset', 'If I were a Rich Man', and 'Matchmaker'. Fiddler on the Roof is simply musical theatre at its very best. Directed by Gladys Hope with Musical Director Phillipa Hosken and Choreographed by Robyn Sinclair. Runs Until 2 August 2003 Westpac Trust Mayfair Theatre, 100 King Edward Street, Dunedin Contact for media enquiries: Lynda Wright-Sear, phone (03) 454 4721 Contact for bookings: Regent Ticketek, phone (03) 477 8597

Blue Oyster Gallery

Gala Kirke, Iain Cheesman And Ana Terry - Post-Areas This collaborative multi-media installation deals with the process of the jumps from real to imaginary that we consistently make. The artists will use a single found object, a postcard from the Californian Crocker Museum, as the common initiative for their works, with each artist interpreting and responding from their own concerns. Gala Kirke, Iain Cheesman and Ana Terry were some of the top graduates from Otago Polytechnic School of Art in 2002 and this show is intended to support their transition into public exhibitions and encourage their professional development. Runs Until 2 August 2003

Tracey Cockburn - Unearthed Australian artist Tracey Cockburn will examine the importance of the ordinary or undistinguished history of a place. With imagery derived from small fragments of imported nineteenth century crockery that were unearthed from a site in Hobart, Cockburn recovers or reconstructs the possible history of a place for the viewer and suggests personal histories that may or may not be real. The works themselves are delicate and beautifully constructed, their decorative nature alluding to interior schemes and the action of pinning in order to link notions of the domestic, women's work or craft making as well as the preoccupation many contemporary women artists have with these. 5 - 16 August 2003

Di Halstead Dunedin photographer Di Halstead will explore hybrid New Zealand identities. Drawing from the large framework of postcolonial theory, Halstead reconfigures our heritages as a mode of cultural production in the present while specifically describing her experiences of being part West Indian. She presents a rich tapestry of many associated heritages, with culture as a patchwork of many possibilities, and offers cultural loneliness and absence in the face of the predictable stereotypes of a kiwi identity. 19 - 30 August 2003

Blue Oyster Gallery, 137 High Street, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: Robyn Dold, phone (03) 479 0197

Fortune Theatre - The Taming of the Shrew - by William Shakespeare Undoubtedly Shakespeare's most politically incorrect play, The Taming of the Shrew is a riotous romp through the battlefield of the sexes. There's hardly a moment that a modern audience won't recognise - made even more hilarious in this post feminist age. Setting the action in Central Otago at the turn of the century gives the action an even more pertinent twist as a real Southern Man takes on the feisty Kate: Good on yer' mate! 8 - 30 August 2003 Fortune Theatre, 231 Stuart Street, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: (media) Lisa Scott, phone (03) 477 1695 or Box Office (03) 477 8323

Otago Settlers Museum - Fabulous Frocks! - Glorious 19th Century Gowns from the Otago Settlers Museum Collection Settler women arriving in nineteenth century New Zealand brought with them dress conventions and a fashion sense formed in the very different societies of Europe. Once in 'the colony' they hardly adapted their clothing to suit local conditions at all. Even amidst the mud and dirt of early Otago, women's clothing was still essentially what was being worn at home. This exhibition unveils some of the fabulous frocks worn by pioneer Otago women, including ball gowns, wedding dresses and the smartest street attire. An Otago Settlers Museum exhibition. 9 August - 23 November 2003 Otago Settlers Museum, 31 Queens Gardens, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: Val-mai Shaw, phone (03) 474 2728

Regent Theatre

NZ International Film Festival Founded in 1977, the NZ International Film Festival presents a highlights package of fifty features - plus shorts at the Regent Theatre, Dunedin. Dunedin's Regent Theatre is a superbly preserved venue that combines the spacious elegance of a '20s movie palace with state-of-the-art projection and sound. The world's southernmost Film Festival is not only a very popular local event; it is also one of the best places in the world to see and hear films. Runs Until 10 August

The Irish Rovers The Irish Rovers are back for another round, after an absence of 10 years from New Zealand's shores. Their last tour in 1992 to New Zealand was a sell out and they return in August 2003 for 18 performances that promise the usual Irish Rovers fare of rollicking good time music and fun. Audience involvement is essential to The Rovers, a group that loves to perform and who makes sure no one leaves a show without having been happily affected by the sheer exuberance that marks each and every performance. 30 August 2003, 7.30pm

Regent Theatre, 17 The Octagon, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: Regent Ticketek, phone (03) 477 8597

Dunedin Public Art Gallery

Michael Harrison: Love in the Shadows Love in the Shadows is a survey exhibition of Michael Harrison's paintings from 1985-2001. The works are intimate, inventive, romantic and often slightly uneasy. His symbolism is both highly public and loaded with private meanings - seized from tarot cards, art history, mass media, WWII photojournalism and from life itself. An Artspace touring exhibition with support from Creative New Zealand. Runs Until 10 August 2003

Karin Sander: Telling a Work of Art Renowned German artist Karin Sander was recently artist in residence at Elam School of Fine Arts in Auckland. Appropriately, the show Telling a Work of Art focuses on communication at a distance. The result is an exhibition about the way talk travels, the way artists talk, and the way they talk about art that has inspired them. Supported by the Goethe Institute, Wellington Runs Until 17 August 2003

Second Thoughts NCC Art Award finalist exhibition for art works in secondary materials. Through the use of 'waste' materials, New Zealand artists raise questions about how we see the world and what we value in it. Ready-made and found objects provide the raw materials, which undergo a process of alteration and construction to form new creations. This exhibition has been organised and toured by Professional Art Services. 23 August - 5 October 2003

Dan Arps: Artist's Project Dan Arps likes to discover eccentric connections between unlikely images and objects. His starting point for this installation is 'Devil's Peak', the mysterious mountain constructed by Richard Dreyfuss in the 1977 movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Arps combines plasticine, furniture, felt, drawings and video monitors to create his own mountain, and scatter the space with clues about its maker's motivations. 30 August - 12 October 2003

Judy Millar: Visiting Artist Project 2003 Judy Millar is an abstract painter who puts the body back in the picture. Her recent works feature sweeping strokes and ribbons of paint, made not with a brush but by hand. In her Dunedin project, Millar will fill the walls of the Trustbank Galleries with her colour-rich, adventurously physical paintings. A recent Wallace Award first-prize winner with a growing reputation in Europe, Millar comes to Dunedin as a participant in the Gallery's Visiting Artists Programme. A Dunedin Public Art Gallery Visiting Artists Project, supported by Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa. 30 August - 12 October 2003 Ardour of Art: Frances Hodgkins' Path to Modernism The Dunedin Public Art Gallery is delighted to announce the opening of a permanent gallery devoted to the works of one of Dunedin's most famous daughters: Frances Hodgkins. Linda Tyler, Curator of Pictorial Collections, Hocken Library, Dunedin, has curated ardour for Art, the first exhibition in the France Hodgkins Gallery. A Dunedin Public Art Gallery exhibition. Ongoing Exhibition

Truth's Mirror Truth's Mirror features witty and thought-provoking juxtapositions of treasures from the Dunedin Public Art Gallery's permanent collection. This exhibition is drawn from the Gallery's visual arts collection and is curated by Tony Green, formerly Head of Department of Art History, University of Auckland. A Dunedin Public Art Gallery exhibition. Ongoing Exhibition

Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 30 The Octagon, PO Box 5045, Dunedin Contact for enquires: Tim Pollock, phone (03) 474 3243

Playhouse Theatre - Best Food Forward Footnote Dance are New Zealand's national contemporary dance company known for innovative and interesting contemporary dance. Best Foot Forward is a compelling dance that shows the energy, tensions, challenges, and beauty of our world through the eyes of our best choreographers and the bodies of the five Footnote dancers. New Zealand dance and music are the touchstone of their success and 2003 promises us a repertoire of challenges and charisma. 14 - 15 August 2003, 8.00pm Playhouse Theatre, Albany Street, Dunedin Contact for media enquiries: Celia Jenkins, phone (04) 384 7285 Contact for bookings: Regent Ticketek, phone (03) 477 8597

Dunedin Town Hall - NZ Symphony Orchestra Master cellist Lynn Harrell performs the Romantic Schumann Concerto and the very famous Elgar Concerto, prefaced by Hayden's famed 'Drumroll' Symphony. The NZ Symphony Orchestra is conducted by James Judd, and features a programme that includes Haydn's 'Symphony No 103 Drumroll', Schumann's 'Cello Concerto' and Elgar's 'Cello Concerto'. 16 August 2003, 8.00pm Town Hall, Moray Place, Dunedin Contact for bookings: Regent Ticketek, phone (03) 477 8597

Dunedin Centre - Eroica Piano Trio Chamber Music NZ is proud to present the Eroica Piano Trio from the United States. This dazzling trio have been wowing audiences with its passionate performances and technical mastery. The programme includes Beethoven: 'Piano Trio in C minor Opus 1 No 3', Martinu: 'Five short pieces', Brahms: 'Piano Trio in B Opus 8'. Beethoven as a young man establishing his reputation in Vienna, rhythm and polyphony in one of Martinu's greatest chamber works, and Brahms trio described as "wild" by his colleague Clara Schumann. 28 August 2003, 8.00pm Glenroy Auditorium, Harrop Street, Dunedin Contact for bookings: Regent Ticketek, phone (03) 477 8597

Otago Museum

Good Morning Science We all know that we are now in a technology-driven era and we all know how important it is to educate our children about science and technology to prepare them for their futures. An exciting new programme that has been developed at the Otago Museum will help parents and caregivers take a further step towards achieving this important aim. Good Morning Science is an interactive programme set in a social surrounding that aims to give parents and other caregivers the opportunity to learn more about science and technology, and teaches them how to incorporate it into the lives of their children. Good Morning Science raises the understanding and awareness of the value of science and technology through the delivery of unique hands-on presentations as well as providing a range of ideas to help incorporate science and technology into everyday life. A series of presentations is delivered at weekly morning sessions at the Otago Museum over a 26-week period, which started on 6 March, inviting parents, caregivers and their children to come along. It has already proved to be a very popular programme with great attendance numbers, so audiences are invited to come along and support their children's future. Runs Until 28 August 2003, Every Thursday at 10.00am

Guided Tours Take a 'Highlights of the Museum' guided tour and get some inside knowledge about various aspects that the Museum has on offer and/or take a guided tour of 'Southern Land, Southern People' and gain a greater understanding, of the Southern region. 'Highlights of the Museum' guided tours are available at 11.30am and 'Southern Land, Southern People' guided tours are available at 3.30pm (and other times by prior arrangement). Ongoing Service - 11.30am and 3.30pm daily

Communicator Presentations Each day, the Otago Museum Communicators present fascinating 15-minute presentations on objects or themes of particular interest from the Museum's galleries. Ongoing Service, 2.00pm Daily

Search Centre Weekend Presentations The Museum's Search Centre Communicators have developed a series of Search Centre Weekend Presentations designed to help familiarise people with the excellent resources provided by this facility. Each presentation runs for about 20 minutes and will be repeated for a month before the next presentation begins. Weekends at 11.30am and 2.30pm

Ongoing Exhibitions The Museum's timbered Victorian gallery, the Animal Attic, houses an extensive collection of natural history specimens from around the world, re-displayed as they would have been in the late 1800s. A 'museum within a museum', this gallery is unique in New Zealand. Explore the Tangata Whenua Gallery with its impressive displays of Maori Cultural artefacts, including a stunning collection of Southern Maori material. The Pacific Culture Galleries display outstanding collections from Polynesia and Melanesia. People of the World has world archaeological treasures including ancient Greek pottery; a mummy and other fascinating artefacts from Ancient Egypt; a striking collection of swords; exquisite decorative arts from Asia and Europe and a superb array of costume and textiles. Walk the length of the giant Fin Whale in the Maritime Gallery, and then take in the intricate detail of a wealth of nautical artefacts. Come face to face with the extinct giant moa in the Extinction and Survival area and see one of the few complete moa eggs in the world. Search Centre Otago Museum's Search Centre research facility provides an inviting opportunity for visitors to engage in further research on objects or themes in the galleries of interest to them. It will also be the first stop for the identification of items members of the public bring into the Museum, a service that annually attracts a huge number of objects or specimens. Well resourced, with swift new computers, microscopes, modern journals and a great variety of new books, the Search Centre offers a variety of options for seeking further information. Set in a comfortable and relaxing environment the Search Centre is the perfect place in which to think, read, study, or research. Ongoing Service

Lunchtime Music A range of musicians will liven up the atrium with live performances each week. This is now a regular fixture but is subject to change according to function demands. Museum Foyer, Fridays between 12noon and 1.30pm

Otago Museum, 419 Great King Street, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: Ryan Helliwell, phone (03) 474 7474 ext 845

SEPTEMBER 2003

Blue Oyster Gallery

Scott Flanagan- Constructing An Educated Idiot A Taxanomical Autobiography Scott Flanagan is a Christchurch based artist. His inquiry will deviate from the rigid application of audience response and interaction to focus on the creator. As the school for curatorship burgeons, there is an apparent danger for the creator to be misinterpreted at best and misrepresented at worst. Flanagan suggests that these misrepresentations can often be attributed to the curator's own need of ambition and he poses a divergent response to this problem based on the construction of OEan educated idiot. To ensure the artist is represented with integrity, Flanagan secures the comfort of the audience, assures them that what they view is not recondite and that it can be connected, either tenuously or obviously, to other things, times, places and perhaps an all encompassing similitude. 2 - 13 September 2003

Ali Bramwell, Curator - Drawing For Sculpture A Group Exhibition Dunedin based artist Ali Bramwell will curate a show of fellow sculptors drawings that focuses on the process of producing work; the ongoing dialogue between theory, concept and practice. Making OEArt is often mythologised. However, by exhibiting drawings and small sculptural explorations, Bramwell will frame the process of sculpture as the artists experience it. Bramwell will provide what is usually a very private process for spectator pleasure and consumption, interrogating where art begins, as well as what constitutes an art product. 30 September 11 October 2003

Blue Oyster Gallery, 137 High Street, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: Robyn Dold, phone (03) 479 0197

Dunedin Town Hall - Southern Sinfonia - Beethoven's Emperor Piano Concerto Leslie Howard was recently awarded the 'Member in the Order' of Australia by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace for 'Services to the Arts'. This distinguished pianist returns to Dunedin to perform Beethoven's 'Piano Concerto No. 5', entitled The Emperor, with the Southern Sinfonia. Continuing the Sinfonia's proud tradition of supporting new New Zealand music, this concert opens with a work commissioned from one of our country's foremost composers, Wellington-based Ross Harris. Completing the programme is Brahms's 'Serenade No. 1', one of his most joyous and contented works. The Southern Sinfonia will be under the expert baton of Werner Andreas Albert, a conductor of international stature. 5 September 2003, 8.00pm Town Hall, Moray Place, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: Philippa Harris, phone (03) 477 5623 Contact for bookings: Regent Ticketek, phone (03) 477 8597

Fortune Theatre - The Drawer Boy - by Michael Healey The Drawer Boy is another New Zealand premier. This prize-winning Canadian play tells the moving story of two farmers whose life long friendship and dependency is about to be changed forever by the arrival of a young actor in search of a story to tell. Re-set in rural New Zealand the play is touching, heart stopping and comic as it magically blends the themes of love, loss, isolation and the redeeming power of drama. The Drawer Boy will be directed by Eastenders star Gavin Richards. 8 - 30 August 2003 Fortune Theatre, 231 Stuart Street, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: (media) Lisa Scott, phone (03) 477 1695 or Box Office (03) 477 8323

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