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Major events
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Events
Living Room eventsDie Henkel Spur (The Henkel Way) | FGS Remembrance and Rest Clubhouse | My Heart is a Beast | Peep Show | Urban Life | Storybox
Mid-April
to mid-June 2008 Watch out for some surprising and exciting additions to the CBD throughout April, May and June 2008. Our 2008 Living Room series is bringing art to the streets of the central city, enlivening public spaces and telling stories that celebrate and enhance the unique character of our CBD. Living Room is funded by the CBD targeted rate and seeks to enliven the central city's public spaces and encourage people to discover the vibrant sights and sounds of the CBD. Living Room is one of many projects that form part of a 10-year action plan (CBD Into the future strategy) to enhance the urban environment and support the vitality and attractiveness of the CBD.
The seven visual and performing art installations taking place as part of Living Room 2008 are: Die Henkel Spur (The Henkel Way)
16 - 19 April Die Henkel Spur (The Henkel Way) is a contemporary re-creation of one of New Zealand's first known touring musical groups - the Henkel Troupe. They passed themselves off as Austrian musicologists travelling through the South Pacific in the latter 1830s. It is most likely that this ad-hoc troupe was made up of escaped convicts from Tasmania who assimilated Western musical styles with local folklore, bluffing their way around the country. This first installation performance in this year's Living Room series, Die Henkel Spur will tour the central city in a specially adapted mobile wagon re-creating Henkel's historic last journey through the tiny settlements of the Hauraki basin towards the Waitemata harbour before disappearing forever. View their weblog for photos, commentaries and location updates. Produced by Winning Productions and Fertility Festival.
FGS Remembrance and Rest Clubhouse21 to 24 April Anzac commemorations have become a renaissance event for many people. There is an awareness of the senselessness of war within a post-modern world that is conscious of many wars. At the same time, there is a desire to honour the men who fought, died and were traumatised within the wars that Anzac acknowledges. The Remembrance and Rest Clubhouse in Khartoum Place complements this war history by delving into the experiences and roles that Auckland women played during wartime, such as caring for soldiers and families, and doing the jobs that the men left behind. At the same time it presents a contemporary shelter or respite from the routine of everyday CBD activity. On offer within the clubhouse will be information, conversation, activities, tea and baking - all in the spirit of remembrance and rest. Produced by The Friendly Girls Society. My Heart is a Beast
7-24 May My Heart is a Beast is a series of dance performances evoking the enigmatic presence of the half-human half-stag creature whose wild spirit (recognisable only from their horns) blends into everyday urban life. There will be three parts
slowly infiltrating the city. This installation asks us to consider ourselves in the city, a place where the beast no longer belongs. It asks us to consider what civilisation means and how far we have travelled from animal to civilised human. Produced by Winning Productions.
Peep Show20 May to 3 June Peep Show is aimed at the most fundamental of human desires - the desire to observe others. The mere act of watching events unfold brings strangers together in a way nothing else can. The residential population in Auckland's CBD is increasing every year. At the same time, we are becoming increasingly disconnected with our immediate neighbours. Our interaction with those who live around us is often limited to furtive glimpses through windows or open doors. Peep Show plays on this idea, giving passers-by the chance to steal glimpses of the lives of others through apartment windows at night. Produced by Chow:Hill in association with Specialised Lighting Concepts. Urban Life
9-22 June Imagine walking along Lorne Street towards the Central City Library. A van rumbles past and from overhead comes a squawking noise, like a strange bird claiming its territory. Looking up you see a creature perched on a windowsill staring down at you as it adjusts its feet. You stop and the creature nestles down to a seated position. You start moving again and the creature is back up and poking its head over to look at you. You cry out and the bird cries out with you. From the other side of the building a second such creature hears the commotion and joins in the fray. Facing the Auckland Central Library, Urban Life follows the life cycle of an entirely new species, one that has evolved from modern art practice and taken up shelter in the boarded-up window at the rear of the Odeon Theatre, only coming out at night. This innovative, interactive installation will amaze and inspire all Aucklanders that come into contact with it. Produced by Test-Tube Television. Storybox
13 to 20 June Based in the Viaduct Harbour, Storybox is a large-scale video installation that explores forgotten stories of Auckland's sea going history from nearby National Maritime History Museum. Through live performance and moving image projected from within two stacked shipping containers, Storybox will light up the night sky. Produced by Dnation Creative.
You can also view detailed information about the activities that have made up the 2005, 2006 and 2007 Living Room programmes. Updated June 2008
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