Fashion Fans Woo NZ On Air

MEDIACOM-RELEASE-NZ-ON-AIR

FASHION FANS WOO NZ ON AIR

New Zealand followers of fashion will have the chance to see televised coverage of this month's Montana NZ Wearable Art Awards, thanks to funding from NZ On Air.

"Wearable Arts has become an icon event for New Zealand fashion and the arts," said NZ On Air Chief Executive, Jo Tyndall.

"Demand for tickets is so high that there are performances over three nights with a total of 10,000 viewing the live show. NZ On Air's decision to fund television coverage will make this event accessible to hundreds of thousands more New Zealanders," she said.

NZ On Air has allocated $79,750 to Execam Productions to produce a one-hour entertainment special set to screen on Prime Television. Prime is a free-to-air channel carried by the Sky Network.

Ms Tyndall said this was the first time NZ On Air had allocated funding for a programme to screen on Prime Television, a non- national channel.

"This is a one-off funding allocation. We have made the decision to run this particular time with Prime Television as we have had difficulty meeting our arts and culture targets in the past on the two major free-to-air networks." said Ms Tyndall.

"Viewers in regions without access to Prime will also benefit as Prime Television has agreed to make the programme available to all other regional stations, at no charge," she said.

The Wearable Art Awards began in 1987 as a promotion for a gallery in Nelson who wanted to "take art off the walls and onto the body". Since then the event has rapidly grown into a significant fashion event on the New Zealand arts calendar.

The event will revolve around a huge catwalk snaking through Nelson's Trafalgar Centre. More than 200 original and outrageous garments will be paraded in an extravaganza of sound, light and special effects.

Montana NZ Wearable Art Awards 2000 will show highlights of the event, as well as some footage of behind-the-scenes activity. The televised feature will screen later this year.

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