Guests from Beirut, new projects, essays and brokerages

ROLLING OUT THE CARPET

Come meet Letting Space’s first ever international artists in residence. Architect Rana Haddad and artist Pascal Hachem from Beirut are in Wellington meeting locals, exploring the history of the city and responding with urban interventions. A vacant space at 2 Tory Street (visiting hours 1.30-2.30pm from Tuesday) provides them a workshop space. Drawing from their experiences of war-torn Beirut, Haddad and Hachem perform in the streets with a piece made from used clothing - tracing the missing flows of streams and histories buried under the city. They will be found in sites including Taranaki Street, Riddiford Street and around the Wharewaka on Taranaki Wharf between 9am - 12pm May 9-12.

Come join us at a free public talk at City Gallery Wellington regarding their practice on Wednesday May 10, 6pm. More information at CGW here. Alternatively, you are welcome to join us for a talk at Victoria University of Architecture, ground floor, Vivian Street at 11.30am Tuesday May 9.

Haddad and Hachem: “We are the product of the war. And our work is still a reflection of our city and of cities. We choose to look at Beirut as it stands today: a city riddled with danger, yet ripe with potential. Learning to embrace whatsoever experience that comes to us.”

Want to get involved? We are looking for volunteer stewards to help Rana and Pascal roll out their public interventions in public spaces next week. To help email helen@lettingspace.org.nz

TRUMPETS! GIG CITY ARTISTS COMMISSIONS IN DUNEDIN

Congratulations to Trudy Lane and the Aotearoa Digital Artists Network, the two recipients of arts commissions through our Urban Dream Brokerage Dunedin for vacant spaces in Dunedin of $6500 each, funded by GigCity Community Fund and the Chorus and Digital Community Trust. Trudy’s exciting project Sunroom is the first up in June, with more information to follow.

COMMON WORDS AND IMAGES

We’ve been recuperating from the wealth of activity which was producing Common Ground Public Art Festival late February and early March, but there’s plenty to continue to show off. The project pages are now awash with great images by Dionne Ward of the projects, and Hutt writer Moira Wairama provides the first of two commissioned essays in response here. A second essay from a contemporary art perspective by Bruce E Philips will be available shortly. Meanwhile Thomasin Sleigh has written an in-depth response to Murray Hewitt’s The Rising Gale on Circuit here.

CITY DREAMING WELLINGTON

Wellington artists and supporters of all kinds are invited to two collective conversations about the dynamic ways the arts work outside conventional venues - past, present and future. We want to recognise Wellington’s out-of-the-box work across the arts, break silos and explore dreams for the future where artists play an active, visible role in the city’s social fabric. We want to explore some tools and processes that might help enable this. If you're in Wellington join us for one or both: 12-2pm Wednesday 24 May, Hub, Ground floor, Toi Poneke, 61/69 Abel Smith Street and the second still to be confirmed. Please RSVP if possible here.

OUR FUTURE MASTERTON

Got Masterton connections? Letting Space is working with the Toi Āria: Design for Public Good programme at Massey’s College of Creative Arts on a programme to create a citizen led 50-year vision for the Masterton town centre, enabling the public this year to trial new ideas and projects. Right now we are looking to employ a special Masterton-area based person for a part-time short term contract for service, starting late May/early June running potentially until Christmas – to be an Urban Dream Broker. The deadline is 15 May. More information here.

URBAN DREAM BROKERAGE NEWS

It’s been a big start to the year in Dunedin for interesting projects in vacant space, and in Wellington some strong highlights. There’s a newsletter summarising with links to all the projects image pages available for reading here.

We want to make space for new ideas: you and your friends’ submissions are welcomed. We consider them all year round: go here. Don’t hesitate to discuss.

LETTING SPACE GOES DANISH

Sophie Jerram has received funding from the Danish Arts Council to travel to Denmark in June to work with the City of Helsingør and present the work of Letting Space and the Urban Dream Brokerage. She will also be presenting a paper on urban practice at the conference Landscape Futures at Copenhagen University: http://ign.ku.dk/landscape-futures

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