Celebrate Pasifika During March

PRESS RELEASE
WEDNESDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2007

Celebrate Pasifika During March

A month long festival of celebrating Pacific culture and arts in the Auckland region begins tomorrow at Auckland Museum. Called Celebrate Pasifika, the festival incorporates more than 25 events and will run throughout March in Auckland, Waitakere and Manukau.

Ranging from Pacific Island theatre and short films to art exhibitions and workshops on making Cook Island tivaevae, Celebrate Pasifika month promises to be fresh, engaging and interactive.

Festival director Michelle Khan says Celebrate Pasifika will also give people the chance to broaden their knowledge of Pacific cultures and visit different parts of Auckland at their own pace.

“This is a collaboration between the city councils of Auckland, Waitakere and Manukau because in all our regions, Pacific peoples are achieving extraordinary things with arts and events. Spreading our programme over a month gives Aucklanders and visitors alike a chance to experience lots of different things, go to new places and plan their calendar accordingly,”she says.

Celebrate Pasifika kicks off tomorrow with Auckland Museum’s Le Folauga art exhibition. Fourteen artists including Ani O’Neill, Steven Gwaliasi, Andy Leleisi’uao and Shigeyuki Kihara will explore the notion of navigation in their works.

On Friday, movie buffs can also check out an eclectic range of Pacific Island short films in the first of five Pollywood Shorts FIVE07 film screenings. Directors Miki Magasiva (Rites of Courage, Uso), Maree A Webster (Like Milk, Brown is the Flavour) and Popo Lilo (Hidden Pain) will hold interactive sessions with audiences after each screening.

The tapestry of Pacific arts continues on Saturday with the launch of Genetic Pasifika, a popular range of workshops and demonstrations featuring crafts women from Niue, Tonga, Rotuma, Tahiti and the Cook Islands.

Celebrate Pasifika incorporates next Saturday’s annual Pasifika Festival and will have an Arts Arena at the festival with actors, visual artists, poets and musicians. An oasis of calm, the Arts Arena will be a great place to hang out away from the crowds.

Later in the month, Celebrate Pasifika will also present choreographer Lemi Ponifasio’s tribute to Mozart with Requiem and his Mau company’s performance Tutau; the third Pasifika Playwrights Development Forum; the Manuland Sculpture Symposium; the Hauraki Hoe Waka Ama Race; an Artstation exhibition; a music workshop and a Pacific arts fono.

Celebrate Pasifika warmly invites you to engage, experience and celebrate the innovation, adaptability and evolution of Auckland’s Pacific cultures.

For more information on these events, click on www.celebratepasifika.co.nz.

This event is part of Celebrate Pasifika, a regional programme of arts and events which aims to showcase the extraordinary achievements of Auckland's Pacific peoples and provide opportunities for Aucklanders and visitors alike to engage with Auckland's Pacific cultures.

ENDS

Pollywood Shorts FIVE07
Friday 2nd March - premier at the Moving Image Centre.
Saturday 10 March, Arts Arena at Pasifika Festival
Thursday 15 March, Te Tuhi, The Mark, Pakuranga
Thursday 22 March, Corban Estate
Wednesday 28 March, The Auckland War Memorial Museum

Le Folauga Exhibition
Auckland War Memorial Museum
Friday 2 March

Genetic Pasifika
Auckland War Memorial Museum
Saturday 3 - 9 March

Pasifika Playwrights
Friday 9 March
Herald Theatre, THE EDGE.

Arts Arena activities at Pasifika Festival
Saturday 10 March

Manuland Sculpture Symposium
Waterfront Reserve, Mangere Bridge in Manukau City
Monday 12 March – Friday 23 March

Love Me Tender Exhbition
Artstation
Friday 16 March

Hauraki Hoe Waka Ama Race
Little Shoal Bay, Birkenhead
Saturday 17 March

APRA and NZ Music Industry Commission Music Workshop
APRA office
Unit 113, Zone 23, 21-23 Edwin Street, Mt Eden
Tuesday 20 March

Requiem
ASB Theatre, The Edge
Thursday 22 March

Pacific Arts Fono
Otara Music and Arts Centre
Saturday 24 March

TUTAU
Corban Estate, Henderson
Saturday 24th March

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