MARY/ The Birth of Frankenstein
Culture Compass
7th August, 2025
Consuming culture is as much about seeing and connecting with others and their experiences as it is about feeding our insatiable appetite for stimulation. It’s an intimate act that allows us to see inside the hearts and minds of artists. Doing that – consuming arts and culture – is a vital part of the creative ecosystem. Even the least expressive among us are, in a sense, part of the creative community. This week’s Culture Compass offers several ways in which you can be an active participant in creating a thriving artistic landscape in Aotearoa… and even further afield.
In the spirit of celebrating Aotearoa’s artistic triumphs the world over, the first item of business is Tiaki Ora ∞ Protecting Life by Anton Forde, an exhibition which opened at The Sainsbury Centre in Norwich, United Kingdom on August 1. Forde is a Waiheke Island-based artist who works primarily with wood and stone. The centrepiece of the exhibition is his installation Papare Eighty.one (2024), which consists of 81 hand-carved pou (wooden figures) wearing kākahu (cloaks) woven by Shiree Reihana. The exhibition incorporates one of the earliest surviving wooden Māori figures, which is held in the Sainsbury Centre’s collection. Tiaki Ora ∞ Protecting Life will be on display until April 2026, and Forde has also made a site-specific outdoor sculpture, Tokiwai/Water Adze, that will be on site for three years. Start planning your travels and/or spreading the word to your friends and whānau abroad.
MARY/ The Birth of Frankenstein
Culture Compass
7th August, 2025Consuming culture is as much about seeing and connecting with others and their experiences as it is about feeding our insatiable appetite for stimulation. It’s an intimate act that allows us to see inside the hearts and minds of artists. Doing that – consuming arts and culture – is a vital part of the creative ecosystem. Even the least expressive among us are, in a sense, part of the creative community. This week’s Culture Compass offers several ways in which you can be an active participant in creating a thriving artistic landscape in Aotearoa… and even further afield.In the spirit of celebrating Aotearoa’s artistic triumphs the world over, the first item of business is Tiaki Ora ∞ Protecting Life by Anton Forde, an exhibition which opened at The Sainsbury Centre in Norwich, United Kingdom on August 1. Forde is a Waiheke Island-based artist who works primarily with wood and stone. The centrepiece of the exhibition is his installation Papare Eighty.one (2024), which consists of 81 hand-carved pou (wooden figures) wearing kākahu (cloaks) woven by Shiree Reihana. The exhibition incorporates one of the earliest surviving wooden Māori figures, which is held in the Sainsbury Centre’s collection. Tiaki Ora ∞ Protecting Life will be on display until April 2026, and Forde has also made a site-specific outdoor sculpture, Tokiwai/Water Adze, that will be on site for three years. Start planning your travels and/or spreading the word to your friends and whānau abroad.Bucking the disheartening trend of down-scaled and cancelled live music events over the last few years, Synthony continues to expand in both scale and notoriety. The 2026 Mānuka Phuel Synthony Festival at Auckland Domain has just been announced for March 21, and if the recent success of their Spark Arena concerts – Full Metal Orchestra and Synthony Origins – is anything to go by, tickets will sell-out very quickly. Taking place over two stages, a full live orchestra will perform electronic dance hits by the likes of Avicii, Calvin Harris, David Guetta and Darude. An elevated electro-dance club experience, Synthony may be the light that guides orchestral music not just into the 21st century but into the hearts of the masses as well.
Synthony