Various Artists with Sofia & Beth

Artspace Aotearoa’s yearly group exhibition, This is the house that jack built, is currently on. 

Featuring artists Andy Butler, Kerry Deane, Sara Gómez, Ming Ranginui, Ashleigh Taupaki, and X&Y, the exhibition brings together a fifty-year arc of works from local and international artists to answer the annual question of ‘do I need territory?’. 

Through film, sculpture, and site specific drawings, the artists explore the complexity of dynamic geo-political conditions, asking the audience to confront its perceptions of value, class, labour and ownership in present day late capitalism.

Sofia spoke to Kaitohu Director Ruth Buchanan and one of the artists in the show, Ashleigh Taupaki, about the themes of the show and Taupaki’s work. 

Quadraphonic Coats is a new exhibition by Wellington-born and Sydney-based artist Vita Cochran. 

In exploring modernist forms and feminist histories, Cochran sources vintage coats from across decades, unpicks them, and repurposes them into something else. 

In this way, Cochran describes this exhibition, Quadraphonic Coats, as a multi-generational gathering. 

Sofia spoke to Vita about the exhibition and some of the feminist themes in her practice.

Beth has a kōrero with poets Jamie Trower, Georgie Silk and Kathy Frantz about their poetry collections and Birdboy Press, an independent publishing company founded and run by Jamie.

Sofia has a kōrero with artist Vita Cochran about Quadraphonic Coats, a new exhibition of hers at Anna Miles Gallery. 

And for Stage Direction this week: Alice Canton is in to chat with Lee Smith-Gibbons and Florence Hartigan about Larybinth - a show at Pitt Street Theatre inspired by the beloved 80s fantasy movie, Labyrinth.

Belonging: Stories of Contemporary New Zealand Asian Artists is a new group exhibition at Bergman Gallery. 

Uniting 10 artists - Andrea Bolima, Louie Bretaña, Gavin Chai, Luise Fong, Wei Lun Ha, Rozana Lee, Rhea Maheshwari, Tanja McMillan, Bev Moon and Llenyd Price - curator Benny Chan describes the exhibition as a celebration of colour, diversity, and love.  

As an ongoing series at Bergman, Sofia spoke to Benny about this show and his plans for future exhibitions. 

She started the interview asking him what the key themes of the exhibition were.