Various Artists with Sofia & Beth

Matariki is next Friday and there’s celebrations all across Tāmaki Makaurau. If you’re in the CBD, feel free to head over to the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, where there’s plenty going on! They have a free event going on where you can purchase kai, shop at te mākete (market), and keep the tamariki busy making crafts inspired by Matariki, as well as performances from Taane Mete and Grammy Award Winner Jerome Kavanagh. Joe spoke to Krissy Taylor, the Senior Manager for Public Programmes at the Auckland Art Gallery about the event.

E whai ake nei, coming up on the show today!

We are joined in the studio by Art Historian and gallery coordinator at Michael Lett Gallery, Victoria Wynne-Jones to talk about the life of the late Jim Allen who passed recently. 

Liam had a chat with Renee Liang from Thriving at Crossroads, a UoA study looking for young members of an ethnic minority from Aotearoa to take part in their paid arts workshop programme. 

Frances speaks to SoundCheck’s Sexual Harm Prevention & Reponse Advisor Mel Calvesbert about sexual harm in the arts in the wake of James Wallace losing name suppression on Wednesday. 

And finally we have your art guide for Tāmaki Makarau this week.

On Wednesday, five years after first being charged Sir James Hay Wallace, a well-known arts philanthropist and rich lister, was named as the “prominent businessman” who sexually abused three young men. The government has begun the process of stripping Wallace's knighthood.

The news is hard to hear, but perhaps not surprising for many in the arts community. To talk about sexual harm in the arts and what Wallace losing his name suppression may mean for survivors, Frances spoke with Mel Calvesbert, Soundcheck Aotearoa’s Sexual Harm Prevention & Response Advisor. 

Whakarongo mai nei! 

New research conducted by Basement Theatre and Insights organisation, Perceptive has highlighted that spending time watching live performances or engaging in the creative arts has been shown to lift the well-being of our communities and the economy. 

​​Cat Ruka, Director of Basement, says the research shouldn’t come as a surprise but rather a wake-up call for policymakers to view the creative industries as an economic and social investment, not simply a cost. To hear more about the research, Frances caught up with Cat Ruka.