Art in the Bar

An art exhibition will be held in the Turner Centre Bar from the end of May. It’s called Art in the Bar and a dozen artists have produced the drawings on
display.

Joan Honeyfield, volunteer curator at the Turner Centre for the Art in the Bar exhibition, said she called on her “extensive list” of over 100 Far North artists to exhibit. They are doing so on a first-come, first-served basis.

The exhibition features the art or technique of representing an object or outlining a figure, a plan or a sketch by means of lines. There are no paintings in the show.

One of the artists exhibiting is 90-year-old Susan Gatti of Ohaeawai who can’t quite remember the length of time she has been drawing and painting, but said it has been “for a very long time”. She is exhibiting three drawings. One is self-evidently called Cows, another is entitled Aussie Outback, and the third is a landscape.

She is also exhibiting three of her late husband’s works. John Gatti died in 2010 and his works on display are the axiomatic Two Girls on a Bench, one drawing is of a carving, and the other is a landscape.

Other artists to exhibit include Hannah Collins from Kerikeri, Jane Duhart also from Kerikeri, and Linley Main from Cable Bay.

Drinks and nibbles are available in the Theatre Bar where the exhibition is being held. Opening day is Wednesday, May 31. The display then runs from 1 June 1 to July 19. Viewing is from Monday to Friday, between 9am and 2pm.

Drive for CAB volunteers

Kerikeri Citizens Advice Bureau is seeking volunteers to man the bureau. It is the only CAB in the Far North and serves the entire district.

Jill Smith, co-ordinator for the recruitment drive, is a poster child for volunteering. She became involved with CAB eight years ago after she stepped down from another volunteer role.

“I was looking for something to do that would benefit the community,” she said.

“CAB has not only made me acutely aware of our community, but has broadened my knowledge on so many subjects and has strengthened my online research skills.

“It has also shone the light on the amazing work volunteers do to make their communities a better place.”

Between January and March, the Kerikeri CAB responded to 551 inquiries, mostly by phone or face to face. Only 6 per cent were electronic inquiries, highlighting the Far North’s lack of internet accessibility.

Jill Smith says most of the clients cannot afford a lawyer and struggle to access free legal advice, and CAB can provide information to help them access the services they may require.

The bureau handles the gamut of issues including employment, family and personal topics, health, housing, financial and transport concerns as well as employment and business matters.

The volunteers taking on the role of counsellor need to be non-judgmental, good listeners and good communicators, and the bureau welcomes people from all walks of life.

If this sounds like you, contact Kerikeri CAB on 09 407 9829 or call in to the bureau in Cobham Rd opposite the Kerikeri Fire Station. Or go to the link: cab.org.nz

Hansen’s Lemon Tree

The search is underway for New Zealand’s most interesting tree.

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga has joined forces with the New Zealand Arboricultural Association and other partners to find this year’s Rākau o Te Tau — Tree of the Year Aotearoa.

The competition concept was inspired by the European Tree of the Year. Voters have acknowledged the greatest, most fascinating trees in the country and for Heritage New Zealand, it’s all about the stories.

“Rākau o Te Tau — Tree of the Year isn’t about the oldest or the biggest tree, it’s about trees that play a part in our lives and which capture the stories that are part of our shared histories,” says Heritage New Zealand director regional services Pam Bain.

One of the five finalists in the Tree of the Year is Hansen’s Lemon Tree at Rangihoua Heritage Park, a 40-minute drive from Kerikeri. The park was opened on December 2014 on the bicentenary of the first missionary settlers’ arrival and is marked by the Marsden Cross Memorial.

The Rev Samuel Marsden, along with three other missionaries and their families, disembarked from the brig Active at Rangihoua on December 22, 1814. Alongside the missionaries was Thomas Hansen, New Zealand’s first non-missionary European settler.

They commenced farming the small piece of land they were allocated by Ruatara, chief of the nearby fortified Rangihoua Pā. A lemon tree was among the first seeds brought by the settlers and, just as today, lemon was used as a medicine, a cooking ingredient and as a cleaning agent.

Other contenders in the Tree of the Year are the Gallipoli Oak planted in Christchurch in August 1924; the Plimmer Oak, symbol of Wellington’s history and over 150 years old; Rēkohu, the largest remaining tree in the Rākau Momori grove on the Chatman Islands exhibiting unique and increasingly rare Moriori carvings; and Taketakerau in the Bay of Plenty, said to be more than 2000 years old.

The Rākau o Te Tau — Tree of the Year Aotearoa winner will be announced on June 5, which is New Zealand’s Arbor Day and also World Environment Day.

New Māori artist exhibition at Waitangi

A new exhibition at Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi Exhibition Gallery opened to the public on May 28.

The exhibition, He Kākāriki Pōwhaitere, features the works of 19 taiohi (teenage) Māori artists and is the first milestone of the artists’ time in Toi Ngāpuhi’s youth-focused two-year Māori arts programme Tai o Hī Tai o Hā.

The programme develops the skills of aspiring young Māori artists, with their Māori identity as the cornerstone for future success.

Toi Ngāpuhi is an advocacy and support agency working across the cultural and creative networks of Te Tai Tokerau to “revitalise distinctive and unique cultural identity”.

Pou kaupapa Bethany Matai Edmunds is happy the exhibition will be hosted at Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi Exhibition Gallery.

“This teenage group follow the path of our forebears who asserted their mana at Waitangi,” Edmunds says.

“Their creative voices will elevate the unbroken connection between tupuna and taiao (the environment) as uri (desendants) of Ngāpuhi-nui-tonu.”

Waitangi Treaty Grounds head of content and Māori development Chanel Clarke said the Waitangi gallery valued the relationship with Toi Ngāpuhi and looked forward to working together on more projects in the future.

The organisation acknowledges the support of its core funding partner, Creative New Zealand, the Tai o Hī Tai o Hā principal funder, together with Foundation North, Lottery Grants Board through Lottery Community Northland and Northland Community Foundation.

The exhibition runs from May 28 to August 16.