An intimate visual poem with Henrietta Bollinger
Plus: Reviewing surround-sound audio installation 4 Feet in the Dark
I’m back from Melbourne after being in a sparkly, bejewelled and enchanting ✨ Taylor Swift bubble ✨ for a few days. The experience was overwhelming, beautiful and wholesome! I swapped friendship bracelets with little girls at the train station and sung my heart and tears out throughout the 3.5-hour long concert 🥹 For my disabled friends, the first thing I mention is that all the wheelchair travel went smoothly and my hotel was actually accessible 😅 And they’ve responded with a shared sigh of relief, which should be the expectation but we know it’s not often the reality. (PS. Scroll to the end of the newsletter to see my Swiftie friendship bracelets).
Today we published artist Henrietta Bollinger’s new poem as part of our Deepen* kaupapa, presented by Auckland Pride and The D*List. Their new work Definition explores intimacy, desire, immediacy and pride. It is a multimedia experience, mixing together video, audio and text - you can watch, listen and read it here.
The team putting together the Deepen* programme had a massive week putting on the first intimate dinner, which featured an art installation by Misty Frequency. Their installation can be viewed at Nathan Homestead’s whānau day this weekend in Tāmaki Makaurau, and we’ll be sharing photos from Misty’s event soon.
Performer Lusi Faiva was profiled by PMN in the lead up to her show AIGA. AIGA captures a journey of identity, desire, family, and what it means to be disabled and Pasifika. AIGA is on show at Te Pou Theatre from March 20-24 in Tāmaki Makaurau.
1News reports that disabled people are often forgotten in extreme weather events. Researcher Hiria Philip-Barbara implored local and national governments to “step up and support those local organisations to do the work that they do, so we don’t keep burning out our people”.
We also wanted to acknowledge the heartbreaking death of Efeso Collins, who was a champion of underrepresented communities, particularly Pacific people and South Auckland. The Spinoff editor Madeline Chapman has written a touching tribute here.
Áine Kelly-Costello has written a review of 4 Feet in the Dark, a new work by Ari Kerssens and Tash van Schaardenburg. The work takes field recordings of the pair walking, and in Ari's case caning, around Tāmaki Makaurau and sound engineers them till they undulate with an urgent heartbeat. Read the review here.
Check out the rest of our Deepen* content in a designated section on The D*List. We recently published an unfiltered chat between Dr Huhana Hickey and D*List kaimahi Beth Awatere about being disabled and queer - you can listen to the conversation or read it here.
📱Check out our Instagram for all our latest content and follow the conversation there. We have polls and Q+As for you to participate in the conversation!
🎨 Arts Access Aotearoa is looking for aspiring artists under 21 to apply for a scholarship of up to $1000 for a specific project or arts tuition. Visit their website to find out more.
🌞 Tomorrow the Whangārei Town Basin (which I can confirm is accessible! ✅) is hosting Artbeat 2024 - an interactive art exhibition for the whole whānau. Head on down from 10am!
Wishing you a gorgeous weekend 💁🏻♀️
- Olivia Shivas, Editor
