The Portage Ceramic Awards is an annual exhibition of contemporary ceramics in Aotearoa, showing at Te Uru Gallery. The award was established in 2001 and embraces the rich history of working with clay in West Auckland.
Portage 2024 includes 42 works by 40 artists. Finalist works range from intimate functional objects to large-scale ephemeral installations. The concerns of the exhibited works are also diverse, embodying the natural world and the origins of clay, the intimate connection between Māori and whenua, the freedom of working with clay, and the precise technicalities of sculpting, firing, and glazing.
Beth caught up with ceramicist Peter Derksen about his practice and the exhibition.
Beth speaks to artists Peregrin Hyde and Tegan Allpress about Into Ocean and Ice, an upcoming exhibition at the New Zealand Maritime Museum.
Sofia speaks to graduating students from Elam - Emily Brown, Rainer Majsa, Maya Reed, Aidan McNeillage, & Talei Elvy - about their practices and the 2024 Elam Graduate Show.
For Stage Direction this week, Alice Canton joins us in studio with Laura Hill and Danyelle Mealings to speak about A Doll's House, Part 2.
And great birthday vibes x happy birthday lovely Beth!!
In light of the 2024 Elam Graduate Show, Sofia spoke to Capstone graduates Rainer Majsa, Maya Reed, and Talei Elvy, as well as Masters graduates Emily Brown and Aidan McNeillage.
You can go see their work, as well as the rest of the graduating cohort’s, at the Elam Fine Arts Studios at 20 Whitaker Place this Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th from 10am to 4pm.
You can also visit the online portfolio of work and creative practice research from previous graduate students here.
In 2023, artists Charlie Thomas, Rose Lasham, Peregrin Hyde and Tegan Allpress travelled to South Georgia, an island in the Atlantic Ocean.
I had a kōrero with two of the artists who embarked on the expedition: Peregrin Hyde and Tegan Allpress. They created art there – or upon their return – based on their interpretations of the remote island. This art will be part of the exhibition Into Ocean & Ice, opening next week at the New Zealand Maritime Museum.
Hyde is a multidisciplinary artist based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa. His practice, which combines art and science, responds to the alarming rates of Antarctic ice melt, which reached historic lows in 2023. Tegan Allpress (Ngāti Whakaue, Rongowhakaata) is a film photographer focused on the concept of tūrangawaewae.
Into Ocean & Ice opens at the New Zealand Maritime Museum on November 29th.
Renowned Aotearoa artist Michael Shepherd’s latest series, The Disasters of War, is currently being exhibited at Two Rooms Gallery.
Two Rooms explains that ‘these latest works show the silent reality faced by New Zealand’s threatened flora. Many endangered species, like Olearia adenocarpa, Carmichaelia muritai, Myosotis brevis and Poa spania endure in small, often highly modified fragments that sit firmly outside the public view (and imagination)’.
The artistic ethos of Romantic painter Goya is a constant throughout The Disasters of War. Each of Shepherd’s works are framed by black and feature the words, ‘Deaf like Goya’.
Beth spoke with Shepherd about the exhibition, which opened today at Two Rooms Gallery.
Making My Way Home is an exhibition showing new work by Veronica Herber currently on at Melanie Roger Gallery.
As Herber’s first solo exhibition with Melanie Roger Gallery, the show is exhibiting new works of hers made from hand torn pieces of Japanese Washi Foto tape and graphite powder.
The exhibition borrows its title from Herber’s late husband Derek Browne of dDub’s second album, Medicine Man. Herber too has sourced the titles for her work from his lyrics, describing the way she incorporates his work as a way that the two are still collaborating.
Sofia had a kōrero with Veronica about Making My Way Home and her practice.
Beth has a kōrero with renowned artist Michael Shepherd about his new exhibition, The Disasters of War, showing at Two Rooms Gallery from 14th November – 21st December.
Sofia catches up with artist Veronica Herber about her new exhibition, Making My Way Home, showing at Melanie Roger Gallery till 7th December.
Alice Canton joins Beth in-studio to kōrero with Kura Forrester and Brynley Stent about Camping, a play showing at Q Theatre from 14th November – 7th December. Tickets from Q Theatre’s website.
And we listen to some Haley Heynderickx, Adrianne Lenker, Beth Torrance, Alex G and Bat for Lashes.
Takoto ai te marino: Te hokinga mai is an exhibition by Raukura Turei (Ngā Rauru Kītahi, Taranaki Iwi, Ngāti Pāoa, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki) currently on at Season Gallery.
Using materials such as aumoana (blue clay), onepū (black iron sand) and kerewhenua (yellow ochre) harvested from sites to which Turei is tied by whakapapa and whānau history, the works in the show explore and embody connections to atua and tūpuna.
Sofia had a kōrero with Raukura about her practice, the materials she sources, the connection her works have to her whakapapa, and the exhibition at Season Gallery.
Florence Hartigan and Shoshana McCallum chat to Alice Canton about their shows, Me, My Mother and Suzy Cato and Merely Beloved! on at the Herald Theatre from 8-10 May.
Mayen Mehta and Ryan O'Kane from Auckland Theatre Company joined Sofia in the studio to chat about Murder on the Orient Express, on at ASB Waterfront Theatre 22 April - 10 May.
John Davies joined Sofia and Beth in studio to chat about Te Tupua - The Goblin, a solo play written and performed by Davies himself. Tickets for tonight's show at Te Pou Theatre here.
Ahi Karunaharan joined Beth and Sofia in the studio to talk about a mixtape for maladies, the final chapter of Karunaharan's trilogy. The play tells the story of 17 nostalgic pop tracks which chart the deeply moving journey of Sangeetha and her family in 1950s Sri Lanka. a mixtape for maladies is on at ASB Waterfront Theatre from the 4th March. You can get your tickets here.
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