Oliver Stretton-Pow, Hard Graft Mark II, 2025
Culture Compass
May 1, 2025
Around ngā mōtu there is art, film, comedy and literature – here’s our guide to lightning the weight of the times.
In heavy times like these, one could be fooled into thinking that going to a show or exhibition or food festival is a frivolous, maybe even meaningless, distraction. But arts and culture is what creates meaning in our lives. And as any decent therapist will tell you, sometimes a distraction from the harrowing realities of the world around us is actually good enough. Herein lies some joyous diversions over the coming days and weeks.
Forty-five galleries from Aotearoa and Australia have, with painstaking care, travelled the works of their artists to Auckland’s Viaduct Events Centre for the Aotearoa Art Fair (May 1-4). Some of the more robust, large-scale and weather-resistant works have been turned into an outdoor exhibition, the Aotearoa Art Fair Sculpture Trail. Positioned throughout the Viaduct Harbour, the trail has been up since mid-April and will remain in place until May 14 for the wider community to engage with. There are nine works from David McCracken, Anton Forde, Gregor Kregar, Oliver Stretton-Pow, Ben Pearce, and more. One standout piece by renowned artist Lisa Reihana is a 15-metre-wide floating cephalopoda that tells the Māori myth of the giant female octopus Te-Wheke-a-Muturangi, which visitors can hear by scanning an on-site QR code. For more information on all the sculptures in the trail, view or download the trail map.
Gregor Kregar, T-Rex Lullaby, 2024.
Lisa Reihana, Te Wheke-a-Muturangi, 2022
Lonnie Hutchinson, Moemoeā/ A Model of Dreaming, ten panels, 2024
On May 3, Karangahape Road is launching a new free event called FAM, which has (almost) nothing to do with the road’s beloved gay bar and everything to do with Food. Art. Music. From 12pm to 6pm festivities will include live music, curated by Matthew Crawley, across three main stages; whānau-friendly performances like the tamariki marching band; the Celestial Markets featuring local makers, artists and vendors; an appearance by drag queen Kita Mean; a sausage sizzle, and more. Organisers are calling this the inaugural event which, if the law of attraction holds any water, means FAM is destined to be a regular community event for K Rd locals and others.
The month of May is juggling a lot of balls. It’s New Zealand Music Month, for the first time it’s Food Appreciation Month, and importantly it’s the NZ International Comedy Festival. A highlight of the Comedy Fest is the Comedy Mixtape event in Pōneke/Wellington on May 6 and Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland on May 7. Hosted by Celebrity Treasure Island and 7 Days alum Joe Daymond, the smorgasbord of comedians is different for the two shows but both have a well-balanced combo of hilarious seasoned pros and talented up and comers.
Anton Forde, Ngā Arawai The Waterways, 2025
Auckland Writers Festival is just days away and, this year, one event is spreading the love a little further afield. HarperCollins Aotearoa is touring two bestselling crime writers to Dunedin (May 12), Christchurch (May 13) and Hastings (May14): Irish-born Australian writer Dervla McTiernan and our own Michael Bennett for An Evening in Crime. McTiernan has sold over a million books worldwide including her Cormac Reilly series, The Murder Rule and What Happened to Nina?, the latter two both New York Times ‘Best Thrillers of the Year.’ Screenwriter, director and author Michael Bennett’s award-winning and best-selling Hana Westerman trilogy is currently being adapted for TVNZ. It follows the titular Māori single mother, a razor sharp detective who’s on the hunt for Aotearoa’s first serial killer. Given their ability to have readers gripped with suspense, this conversation on the art of crime writing is bound to be an entertaining evening of literary discussion.
Last year, the World Choir Games were held in Tāmaki Makaurau and thousands of choristers from around the globe flooded the city for what they colloquially but not legally refer to as the Olympics of choral singing. In the lead-up to and throughout the event, the formidable Leanne Pooley OMNZ filmed a four-part documentary series – Choir Games – that follows two very different choirs: the Kaitāia Community Voices and the Young People’s Chorus of New York City on their road to the games. The series premieres on Neon and Sky Open on May 4, and if you watch the trailer, you’re probably going to be adding Neon or Sky Open to your ever-increasing list of subscriptions if it’s not there already.
Aotearoa Art Fair isn’t the only place to find significant local art at this time of year; Föenander Gallery is currently showing work by four of Aotearoa’s leading Māori contemporary artists. Ngā Hau e Whā / The Four Winds brings together Graham Tipene (Ngāti Whātua, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Haua, Ngāti Manu); Professor Robert Jahnke ONZM FRSNZ (Ngāti Porou: Ngāi Taharora, Te Whānau a Iritekura, Te Whānau a Rakairoa); Israel Tangaroa Birch (Ngāpuhi, Ngāi Tawake ki te Waoku, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Rakaipaaka), and Anton Forde (Taranaki, Gaeltacht, Gaelic, English). While they whakapapa to different iwi across the motu/country and have wider connections throughout the world, for this exhibition, the artists’ work centres on Tāmaki Makaurau as an entrance to Aotearoa – a place of convergence where people are drawn together, carried on the four winds. The artists use various artistic mediums – sculpture, carving, light work, graphic art – to explore “movement, memory, resistance, and the enduring vibrancy of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.” Following a preview pop-up in Britomart, the main exhibition is now open at their Parnell gallery until May 13.
Aotearoa Art Fair Sculpture Trail 2025
The French Film Festival Aotearoa calls itself the biggest film festival in the country, which is quite a – ‘ow you say – grande claim. But, it has its reasons. The festival, which begins on May 28, has screenings in 24 towns and cities across New Zealand – this year adding Waiheke Island, Cambridge, Tākaka and Queenstown to the already comprehensive list of locations. There are 23 films showing, including a contemporary adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo, a sweet ode to Jane Austen, a French box office smash romance, and one all about cheese.