This Auckland ArtWeek, St Matthew-in-the-City Church will be host to:
- Pลhutukawa Chi
- Songs for Homeless
- Pล ~ Beautiful Darkness live Maori opera
all brought to you byย Mika Haka.
Pลhutukawaย Chi –ย All week,ย 7thย (art installment opening ceremony)ย โ 15thย October
The Mika Haka Art Installationย Pลhutukawa Chiย on the Pลhutukawa treeย behind St Matthew-in-the-City remembers lives lost to suicide in the pastย twelve months, offering a voice of hope to the living.
Moulding โ606-Shapesโ in memory of the 606 lives lost to suicide this year,ย Mika invitesย passers-by to write their own messages on ribbon this ArtWeekย and add them to theย Pลhutukawa Chiย installation. Thisย sharing of voices will contributeย to NZโs future initiatives to suicide prevention where love and hope will shineย amongst the remembrance of lost ones.
Pล ~ Beautiful Darkness, Songs for Homeless โย (Late Night Art live performance)ย 10thย Octoberย fromย 8pm
an indoor performance ofย giving, under the musicalย direction ofย Penny Doddย and her piano string quartet,ย Mikaย Hakaย performsย Songs for Homelessย โ a breathing house of ancestors remembered and imagined. Heightenedย anthemsย are sungย in Te Reo and English bittersweet lullabies.ย Pลย is not a night of nice pop songs.
ย
Pลย is a neo-Maori (avant-garde), experimental works to invoke a feeling of who weย are in Arts, culture and society. Non-traditional and questioning the boundaries away fromย Eurocentric and genre-specific definitions.
Pลย – the discovery of the darkness inside; โa darkness that is beautiful and can live on eternally,โย says Mika. Doddโs arrangements create musical dreamscapes to deep rumbles from Mikaโsย collaborations | the likes of composerย Gareth Farrย to actorย Keisha Castle-Hughes.ย Music will beย accompanied by a massive canvas backdrop of digital works fromย Mika Haka, Donย Chooiย andย students ofย Media Design School.
Lightingย design by Michael (Snapper) Knapp.
Productionย thanks to Oceaniaโข & JT Entertainment.
On the night, weโll be asking for donations of healthy food upon entry for Auckland City Mission,ย as well asย raising money for a whฤnau living with cancer.ย We hope you come along! For more informationย on the event, headย to http://artweekauckland.co.nz/events/central/5675052494225408
Collaborators
Mika brings The Aroha Project | a web-series, festival and art interactive project, where recent contributors are students from Media Design School creating digital expressions around youth isolation, self-harm and their response to it.
Production by Jay Tewake.ย Filming: Lennie Hill, Technical: Oceania.ย Photography by Michelle Hyslop with thanks to Womanโs Day for sharing.