Futuristic Digital Art Venue Opens In Wellington

Media release
3 September 2009

Futuristic Digital Art Venue Opens In Wellington

Two years of technical collaboration, Kiwi innovation and excavation will come together this Thursday, 3 September, at the opening of Bettys bar and function venue on Blair Street, in the heart of the Wellington’s entertainment district.

Three of Bettys walls form a 55 square metre wrap-around screen for projected still and moving images with astounding picture definition. This will place Bettys as the leading venue in the fast-growing digital art world.

What started as a highly innovative lighting concept by Peter Stobbart of AV Services, led to an extraordinary collaboration of Wellington’s best and brightest, including the Nektar team of Mike Bridgeman, Jason Naran and Gareth Moon, and Nigel Saywell of Te Papa.

In this testament to Kiwi ‘can do’ and number 8 wire ingenuity, Bettys can take you in the blink of an eye from to the beach at St Tropez, to the top of Mt Kilimanjaro, to the live-streaming footage of your niece’s wedding in Fiji.

Already companies such as Icebreaker have embraced the opportunity to hire Bettys for product launches, and John Coleman believes this will be a key function of the venue.

Mary and John Coleman run the vibrant Hummingbird bar and restaurant on Courtney Place. John and his son, Drew, are partners in this conceptually ground-breaking venture. A long-time champion of the arts in Wellington, John also plans to use Bettys to showcase up-and-coming talent through digital art displays and to promote the growing new creative genre of the video jockeys.

‘Betty has Kiwi warmth and a genuine, no-nonsense spirit mixed with the sophistication and glamour from her international jet-setting days. She loves bringing people together and making sure that they have a great time. Really, Betty is the perfect hostess’, says Coleman.

The breadth of Bettys interests and passions can be seen in the juxtaposition of world-leading technology with the nostalgia of a bygone Wellington: Bettys beers, including James Squires Amber Ale, are drawn from the Wellington Railway Station tea urn, circa 1930, and the original cash register from Kirkcaldie and Stains pays homage to a time when commerce could be an elegant affair.

A wine library enclosed in glass wraps around the staircase leading to the lower floor of Bettys, which required excavation to complete. Hidden away here is a private kitchen with a farmhouse table, and yet another screen for visual entertainment.

For the select few, there await the privileges and parties of Bettys 101 private members club.

Coleman explains: “Bettys brings together unusual sights, sounds, and tastes; old world service and futuristic technology, to achieve the unique sensory experience.”

ENDS