![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/thumbnail_proportion_for_website_7_1a802aeec5.jpg\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Photo: Nic Wood<\/p>\n
I get around 60 emails a day. The vast majority are variations of the same story \u2013 an artist has made a thing. It\u2019s great that artists make things, that is after all what makes them artists. But it’s not news in itself \u2013 our articles are looking for wider patterns, or things that buck them, structural or policy issues, particular angles or timely opinions. We almost never do reviews because we could hardly scrape the surface, and who is to say that one show out of 100 deserves a review and the others don\u2019t? Not me \u2013 even though I do think reviews are important, and even though I am on the lookout for an interesting and perhaps more equitable way we could try to do them.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the emails pile in. People want people to know about their show. People want people to see their exhibition. People need to sell their records and books. People want some sort of evidence that their hard work eventuated into something, and that it mattered. These are all valid things to want. I read the announcements and try to think about how they might fit into our column pillars, but most of the time, they don\u2019t, at least not without me embarking on a deep dive (if only I had all the time in the world). Still, The Big Idea is here to serve and support artists and the sector, and there\u2019s a place for promotion beyond our event listings in that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Historically, there was a column called\u00a0Advice to my 22-year-old self<\/a>, where artists would write a short advice column to their younger selves and mention and link the project they wanted to plug in the introductory bio. Before I arrived, Sam, Sandy and Kate had gone a little cold on it. The main reason, I think, is because 22-year-olds are so bloody young. We\u2019re way beyond that, and most of our readers are too. In our version of The Big Idea, we\u2019re clear that it’s not a site aimed at young grads, though they are welcome. It’s a site for working professionals. The team had been thinking about a different way to hand the\u00a0microphone keyboard over to artists so they could share some yarns, spread some wisdom, and promote themselves. Sam likes to call a spade a spade, and so Shameless Plug was born. We put together a series of questions \u2013 silly, serious, enlightening, unsavoury, and even a little bit cheesy. The following week I sent them out to two theatre-makers, with the option that they could reply in writing or I could call them and then transcribe the conversation. I wasn\u2019t sure how it would go \u2013 would our questions surface interesting answers? Would people want to divulge their inspirations and guilty pleasures? Would all the answers be boring?<\/p>\n As the Shameless Plugs have come back into my inbox, my worries have been dispelled (as worries often are). Artists have been disarmingly open in their answers \u2013 sharing things from the deepest corners of their childhoods or careers. And as I should have known, they\u2019re poetic and funny and wise. I tend to give them the lightest of polishes, write a quick introduction, pick out a title, lay them out with cute pics, and up they go. People have enjoyed hearing directly from artists, and the artists have enjoyed having the platform \u2013 one emailed me to say he\u2019d spent much of the day staring at his piece, chuffed that it existed and was out for the world to read. Of course, I can\u2019t publish 60 Shameless Plugs a day \u2013 we thought we should probably cap it at one a week, though I\u2019ve been naughty and done two. Being an editor does involve lots of saying no, but now I have one more way of saying yes.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Here are a few of my favourite parts from the Shameless Plugs we\u2019ve published so far.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I\u2019m tired, it means I\u2019m working on something that matters. It means I\u2019m choosing direction over drifting. Boredom, for me, is dangerous. When I\u2019m bored, I get complacent, silent, and passive \u2013 and boredom, complacency, silence and passiveness are all luxuries many communities don\u2019t have.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cI was a painfully shy five-year-old. Sister Pauline, my St Patrick\u2019s Primary school teacher, selected me to \u2018play\u2019 the Bishop in our kindergarten Debut… As the Debut started, little Timmy sauntered down the aisle of the town hall, blessing the crowd, waving, and I loved every minute. Hiding behind a Bishop\u2019s outfit and skullcap, such a grand character and costume, and well\u2026 that was it! My great escape!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cMy hottest career hack is setting personal goals for each show… Setting my own artistic goals gives me something to come back to on every project. Regardless of external forms of success or failure, did I achieve what I wanted to achieve?\u00a0 \u201cThe arts as a whole revolves around us understanding and unraveling what it means to be human, and that exercise and practice we all undertake makes for some really amazing human beings \u2013 artists \u2013 that make the gruelling journey so worthwhile\u201d\u00a0 \u201cI have always loved theatre the most of all and think that will be so until I take my last breath, with luck, sitting in an audience or saying the right line\u201d\u00a0 \u201cI am lucky to say that motherhood has not been a barrier to my creativity; if anything, my children constantly inspire me to stay curious and to create with that same instinctive and intrinsic wonder\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n You might notice that many of these are from the performing arts world \u2013 this is something I\u2019m looking to remedy, so if you\u2019re an artist of another discipline with something to plug, please get in touch!<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \ud83d\udca5News on the wire<\/p>\n New Zealand International Convention Centre to be a venue for live music<\/p>\n NZICC, the new convention centre in Auckland opening February 2026 (delayed due to a fire in 2019), has announced its first gig \u2013 The Pogues who will be in NEw Zealand for the first time since 1990. Should be interesting to have another large venue in town.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n City Gallery Wellington Te Whare Toi opens major outdoor sculpture opportunity<\/p>\n The gallery is returning to its heritage home in Te Ng\u0101kau Civic Square and as part of the homecoming celebrations\u00a0a new opportunity<\/a> for a New Zealand-born or based artist has been created. The site for the public sculpture is \u201cunusual\u201d and not the roof where Quasi was for so many years, says project manager and curator of special projects Megan Dunn. See image on the right.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Sam Neill the 2025 Screen Legend\u00a0<\/p>\n On Friday The New Zealand Screen Awards committee announced Sir Sam Neill KNZM OBE as the recipient of the 2025 Screen Legend Award. \u201cI am very pleased and proud to be accepting this award amongst my friends and peers. I just worked it out that it\u2019s been 53 years in film \u2013 that does indeed sound like a lifetime! Thanks to all concerned. Very honoured,\u201d commented Neill. He had his breakthrough with\u00a0Sleeping Dogs<\/a> in 1977.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Performing Arts & Young People Aotearoa Awards winners announced<\/p>\n The PAYPA awards began in 2022 to celebrate excellence in an often overlooked sector. This year’s winners were announced at the biannual PAYPA Hui on Saturday<\/a>. Harmony Hogarth, winner of the Emerging Artists Award says, “It\u2019s such a huge honour and super encouraging to be recognised in this way. I do theatre for and with young people because it has changed and enriched my life in so many ways and if theatre was only for old people eventually it would die out.” The award is shared with Seiyan Thompson-Tonga. The Production of the Year was taken out by Taki Rua Productions for Rere Atu Taku Poi, and The Peter Wilson Supreme Award for Significant Contribution to Performing Arts and Young People (the biggie) went to New Zealand children’s theatre legend Tim Bray, who passed away earlier this year. \u00a0<\/p>\n Public sculpture stolen, and found, in Christchurch<\/p>\n Less than 24 hours after it was installed last Thursday, a sculpture by\u00a0George Watson and commissioned by SCAPE Public Art was stolen. Doctrines is a large cast iron cross patterned with traditional M\u0101ori patterns, weighing about 100 kg, and resembling agricultural branding irons. This is the first time in SCAPE\u2019s 27 year history that an artwork has been stolen.<\/p>\n On Friday afternoon police said Doctrines \u201cwas located a short distance away in some bush, and has now been returned to council staff<\/a>\u201d. Now SCAPE has taken the piece to the fabricator to repair damage and to assess how to ensure it cannot be taken again.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Full programme for 2026 Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts announced<\/p>\n The festival, turning 40 next year, has unveiled a large and varied programme for February and March next year in Wellington (worth travelling for). Drag, theatre, music, visual arts, literature, and more from here and abroad. I\u2019d personally like to go to\u00a0Red Phone<\/a>,\u00a0Dark Academics<\/a> with Elizabeth Knox and Lili Wilkinson, M\u0100<\/a>,\u00a0Tipurepure Au Va\u2019ine<\/a>,\u00a0Big Flowers for a Wild City<\/a>, and\u00a0Gloria<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Aotearoa’s only dedicated studio ceramics museum closed<\/p>\n The Quartz Museum of Studio Ceramics<\/a> in Whanganui has closed after a decade. It was founded by Rick Rudd in 2015 when he used proceeds from selling his house to buy a building on Bates Street, and its continued to be funded by sales of his work, donations, his pension and volunteer help. Rudd told The Herald that Whanganui District Council\u2019s decision earlier this year not to provide funding had been \u201ca kick in the teeth<\/a>\u201d. In May he asked for $60,000 annually to employ two part-time staff but it was voted down by elected members. After that Rudd tried a fundraiser, applied to Lotteries and Creative NZ but was turned down. \u201cI\u2019m 76 and I\u2019m getting towards the end of what I\u2019ve got. You have to accept that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Pip Hartley, t\u0101 moko artist, releases line with The Warehouse<\/p>\n Drawing on motifs such as Mang\u014dpare (hammerhead shark), Niho Taniwha (teeth of the taniwha) and Purapura Whet\u016b (star seed), the collection splashes Pip Hartley\u2019s art on just about everything and everything \u2013 clothes, beach chairs, cooler bags and a wall decoration. Capitalism at its finest?<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Poetry anthology all about food launched<\/p>\n In another piece of evidence to support my theory that foodie-ism is spreading,\u00a0Landing Press\u2019s latest anthology,\u00a0Potluck<\/a>, contains 93 poems and they\u2019re all about food. \u201cFood is essential for life, but it\u2019s much more than that,\u201d says Adrienne Jansen, co-founder and lead publisher of the press. \u201cIt\u2019s a powerful thread that connects culture, memory, and identity. It marks our rituals, shapes our histories, and carries the knowledge of those who grow, prepare, and share it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Industry bodies welcome government updates to International Screen Production Rebate<\/p>\n Both the New Zealand Film Commission and Screen NZ International are welcoming\u00a0changes announced by finance minister Nicola Willis on Friday 7 November<\/a>. In short, the changes will boost subsidies primarily by lowering the qualifying threshold from $15 million to $4 million. \u201cThese changes ensure New Zealand remains a serious contender in an increasingly competitive global screen industry<\/a>,\u201d said Willis. The rebates are to be funded through an additional $577 million provided to the scheme in Budget 2025, bringing its total funding to $1.09b.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n New sculpture award recognises work that amplifies the values of safe homes, strong communities, and collective healing<\/p>\n Taranaki artist Daniel McKerrow, recognised for his breathtaking three-metre-high sculpture Whakaruruhau, depicting a wahine cloaked in flowing copper k\u0101kahu, has won the inaugural Women\u2019s Refuge Sculpture of Strength Award. \u201cThis installation visually represents the strength we find in unity,\u201d says McKerrow. \u201cAs these pillars stand together, we as a community must also stand together to support those in need.\u201d Women\u2019s Refuge NZ CEO Ang Jury says \u201cthe SOS Award is a partnership between art and the vision of an Aotearoa free of family violence. By recognising artists who give voice to strength and safety, we\u2019re reminding the people of Aotearoa that creativity can drive change \u2013 and that everyone can help protect and empower women and children fleeing violence.\u201d<\/p>\n The award is part of\u00a0NZ Sculpture OnShore<\/a>, the biennial exhibition now at \u014cperetu Fort Takapuna in Devonport, Auckland. NZ Sculpture OnShore is wholly owned by Friends of Women’s Refuges Trust with all proceeds going to Women\u2019s Refuge NZ.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n NZ Opera announces next year\u2019s season<\/p>\n The season features major productions: the internationally acclaimed Bluebeard\u2019s Castle, a Wellington season of\u00a0The Marriage of Figaro, a new staging of The Pearl Fishers, and a return of the celebrated te reo M\u0101ori concert\u00a0Toiere. First though, the season kicks off with two free, family-friendly outdoor concerts in collaboration with Auckland Council\u2019s Music in Parks series,\u00a0Opera in the Park in January. General Director Brad Cohen, says \u201cwe\u2019re committed to widening the reach of our work to engage with more communities, and we\u2019re committed to complementing the classics of the repertoire with innovative programming.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc40 Further reading\u00a0<\/p>\n Over the weekend, we sent\u00a0John Armstrong to the PAYPA Hui (ok he was going anyway). He\u2019s reported back with\u00a0five key takeaways from the event<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve been wanting more information and guidance around the Arts Organisations and Groups Fund, we\u2019ve asked\u00a0Claire Murdoch, Senior Manager Arts Development Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa,\u00a0all about it and what needs to be prepared for applications next year<\/a>.<\/p>\n Respected reviewer and TBI contributor\u00a0Sam Brooks is starting a fascinating new series where he will\u00a0interview other New Zealand critics about their process and philosophies<\/a>. The first of the series drops tomorrow (Friday) but you will have to be a paid subscriber ($8 p\/m, $60 p\/a) to read it.<\/p>\n We gave interdisciplinary designer\u00a0Michael McCabe the soapbox for his considerations of how\u00a0he turned to the past to imagine a future for queer venues in his set design<\/a> for D.R.A.G (Dressed Resembling a God) at Silo Theatre.<\/p>\n Over on The Post,\u00a0Sapeer Mayron asked Toi Tauranga Art Gallery director\u00a0Sonya Korohina about the\u00a0upcoming reopening<\/a> (Saturday 15 November) of the gallery.<\/p>\n On Friday we published the first of a new monthly column with graphic design journal\u00a0The National Grid. Founder\u00a0Luke Wood\u00a0traces\u00a0the publication\u2019s evolution from a historical anomaly<\/a> \u2013 the graphic design department at Ilam late last century.<\/p>\n Over on ARTicle Magazine, dancer, choreographer, and co-founder of the NZ Dance Company\u00a0Shona McCullagh remembers the\u00a0first production of Gloria in 1990<\/a>, which will be restaged for the NZ Festival of the Arts in 2026.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \ud83d\udce7 Say hi!<\/p>\n I love hate mail and love letters!<\/p>\n![\"thumbnail](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/thumbnail_proportion_for_website_9_0f500163cf.jpg\")
Lila Crichton and crew perform A Master of None: Brown Fala<\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0Lila Crichton<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0Tim McGarry<\/a><\/p>\n![\"IMG_1797](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1797_2_Large_6304ccc320.jpeg\")
\u00a0Alyssa Medel performing as a child<\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0Sam Strong<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0Alyssa Medel<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0Ellie Smith<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0Virginia Frankovich<\/a><\/p>\n![\"welly.webp\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/welly_9776578aff.webp.webp\")
The Sculpture Terrace (centre) is a rectangular rooftop space designed by architecture+ during the Gallery\u2019s 2009 expansion.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"George](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/George_Watson_Sculpture_INSTALL_2_credit_Heather_Milne_51_jpg_2d2d859754.jpeg\")
Installation required two people.<\/p>\n![\"Pic1-Rick-Rudd-Collection.jpg\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Pic1_Rick_Rudd_Collection_709033c3cc.jpg\")
Rick Rudd has collected studio ceramics since the 1970s.<\/p>\n![\"Daniel_McKerrow_Whakaruruhau_1.webp\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Daniel_Mc_Kerrow_Whakaruruhau_1_8342468b0c.webp.webp\")
Daniel McKerrow’s Whakaruruhau. (Photo: NZ Sculpture OnShore).<\/p>\n![\"thumbnail](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/thumbnail_proportion_for_website_4_bd49cb0f76.png\")
Michael McCabe’s set concept.<\/p>\n