Various Artists with Sofia & Maya

Vivienne Westwood and Jewellery is a new exhibition at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Designed and curated by the house of Vivienne Westwood and produced by Nomad Exhibitions, the exhibition at Te Papa covers the extensive history of jewellery design and creation by the Vivienne Westwood house.

Sofia spoke to Senior Curator of New Zealand Culture and History at Te Papa, Claire Regnault, about Westwood’s career and the exhibition. 

She also spoke with Hunters and Collectors owner and founder, Chrissy O, about her experience collecting and selling Westwood vintage in Aotearoa, in light of the exhibition at Te Papa. 

Having opened in 1987, Hunters and Collectors is a designer vintage store based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington which specialises in selling brands of the likes of Vivienne Westwood, Rick Owens, Issey Miyake, Maison Margiela, Acne Studios and more. Chrissy is very likely the biggest collector and seller of Vivienne Westwood in Aotearoa.

This week on Various Artists!

Sofia had a kōrero with Senior Curator of New Zealand Culture and History at Te Papa Tongarewa the Museum of New Zealand, Claire Regnault, about the inaugural exhibition of Vivienne Westwood & Jewellery, which opened last week. In light of the exhibition, she also spoke to Hunters and Collectors owner and founder, Chrissy O, about her experience collecting and selling Westwood vintage in Aotearoa.

Beth had a kōrero with tattoo artist and founder of Tāmaki Makaurau tattoo studio Two Hands, Spider Sinclaire, about Forever, a retrospective exhibition celebrating the studio’s twentieth anniversary.

And for Stage Direction this week: Jonjon Tolovae, Nikadrian Peters, and Lijah Mavaega spoke to Sofia and Beth about Mā: a devised theatre and performance poetry work that delves into themes of chosen family, motherhood, and identity coming up at Q Theatre as a part of Auckland Pride Festival. 

Whakarongo mai!

Christian Dimick is an artist based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. He graduated from Massey University, Pōneke Wellington with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2022.

Christian’s latest exhibition, Prattle Rabbit, is showing now at Grace Gallery until the 25th of January. Christian described the artworks of Prattle Rabbit as ‘loosely figurative and a bit sketchy’.

Here’s my kōrero with Christian about the exhibition, with conversation about his creative practice and the influence of university upon his approach.

To celebrate the second year of Various Artists, and the first helmed by us, this week we looked back at some highlights of our year.

We listened back to:

Sofia's kōrero with gallerist and curator Melanie Roger about a group exhibition at Melanie Roger Gallery, the Secret Life of Plants, from October.

Beth's kōrero with Ross Deans, Jodie Yawa McMillan and Madi Macdonald about Through the Lens: Gendered Reflections, an exhibition of photography by women artists, spanning a period of over 40 years from September.

Sofia's interview package for the 2024 Elam Graduate Show - speaking to recent Capstone graduates Rainer Majsa, Maya Reed, and Talei Elvy, as well as Masters graduates Emily Brown and Aidan McNeillage - from November.

And Beth's kōrero with British author Amy Twigg about her debut novel Spoilt Creatures, ‘a simmering debut, heady with the possibilities of language and the righteousness of female rage’ from back in July.

And for Stage Direction this week: Alice Canton joined us in the studio to speak with some of the organisers of the Festival of Sumad at the Button Factory - brought to you by the organisers of the Gaza Dialogues and Make art not War.

Ngā mihi nui to everyone who spoke with us this year, it's been a pleasure x