Various Artists with Beth & Sofia

Platform for Palestine is an online raffle fundraiser with local artists, designers, jewellers and tattoo artists in Tāmaki Makaurau.  

It has brought together artists - including Claudia Kogachi, Sung Hwan Bobby Park, and Taarn Scott, tattooists - including Thom Hinton, Barby World, and Cyril, jewellers - including Shannen Young, PL.AT.FO.RM._, and Wilbur Hsu, and designers - including Lela Jacobs, Goldi, and Outerlines. As well as many more. 

The fundraiser will be launched online and at The Keep, 504 Karangahape Road, tomorrow and will run until the 31st October. 

All ticket sales will be donated to Kiwi Trust for Palestinian Children Relief, to provide urgent aid to children in Gaza. 

Sofia caught up with some of the organisers of the initiative, Ningyi, Yuyi, and Sophia about the kaupapa

Bold Types is a new book cataloguing the indie bookstores of Aotearoa New Zealand. It was released on the 2nd of October through Ugly Hill Press.

Bold Types is a collaboration between Deborah Coddington, editor Jemma Moreira and photographer Jane Ussher, and is a tribute to booksellers, publishers, writers, photographers, illustrators and readers alike. It is currently #8 on the top 20 Nielsen Indie bestselling list.

Beth had a kōrero with Deborah and Gemma about the process of creating Bold Types over two years.

Today on Various Artists... <3

Sofia had a kōrero with gallerist and curator Melanie Roger about a new group exhibition at Melanie Roger Gallery, The Secret Life of Plants. 

Beth had a kōrero with author Alex Scott about her new graphic novel, Episodes, out via Earth’s End Publishing.

And for Stage Direction this week: Alice Canton is in to chat with Donna Brookbanks about her latest show, Green Fingered. 

And as always, your weekly arts guide! 

The Secret Life of Plants is a new group exhibition at Melanie Roger Gallery. 

The exhibition borrows its title from the 1973 book, with the same name, by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird. The book documents “controversial experiments that claim to reveal unusual phenomena associated with plants, such as plant sentience and the ability of plants to communicate with other creatures, including humans.”

Exhibiting the works of Rosa Allison, Georgia Arnold, Heidi Brickell (Te Hika o Papauma, Rangitāne, Ngāi Tara, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Apakura), Ruth Ige, Tessa Laird, Layla Rudneva-Mackay, Star Gossage (Ngāti Wai, Ngāti Ruanui), Ann Shelton and Sarah Smuts-Kennedy, the artists embrace “the secret life of plants” within their practises with works exploring ideas of mysticism, healing, growth and spirituality.  

Sofia had a kōrero with gallerist and curator, Melanie Roger, about the show, the artists, and its themes.