
Event noticeboard: A waka, a harp and an auction of treasures
The Spinoff's top picks of events from around the motu.
I am having one of those elusive weeks where my cup feels full. The darkest days are behind us. The weekend was long. The sun rose and I got to see Marlon Williams perform. A gift arrived for me in the post. A friend called and the sun was shining. I've even cleaned my house. There has been a series of reminders that despite all our flaws humans can and do make beautiful things and we offer them up to each other. Is there anything more sweet than that? Here are a few offerings to fill your cup this week.
Exhibition: Ruruku by Hauteruruku ki Puketeraki waka club
Hocken Collections, 90 Anzac Avenue, Central Dunedin
10am – 5pm Tuesday – Saturday until August 2
Free
On May 19, a waka with a bright yellow nylon sail set out from Back Beach, Port Chalmers towards the Dunedin Marina. When it arrived, it was loaded onto a trailer and taken to the Hocken Library. There it was taken inside, where it will sit until August as part of an exhibition.
The waka, named Kuramātakitaki, is the third traditionally inspired waka made by community and whānau based waka club, Hauteruruku ki Puketeraki. The exhibition tells the story of the club and celebrates the the revival of waka traditions in the 21st century. Alongside Kuramātakitaki are photographs and objects. If you're lucky, there may just be weavers at work in the gallery when you visit. They are working on te rā harakeke (flax sail) for the waka. Perhaps that will be the sail it uses for its homewards journey.
Turner Centre, 43 Cobham Rd, Kerikeri
12pm and 6pm Saturday, June 28
$40
'A craft beer adventure like no other'.
Whangārei
Wairau Māori Art Gallery, 81 Dent Street, Whangārei
10am – 4pm daily, until July 27
Free
Tā, Tau reflects Harrington's contemplation of her contribution to landscape art. The work mixes space, colour and material in innovative ways.
Tāmaki Makaurau
Leading curator, writer and researcher Megan Tamati-Quennell will talk about the current survey of an important Māori artist who has been largely overlooked.
Hamilton
Concert Chamber, Gallagher Academy, University of Waikato, Knighton Road
6:30pm Sunday, June 29
$0-$35
A feast of beloved arias to warm your soul.
Gisborne
Visual art: Hau Kainga
Tairāwhiti Museum, 10 Stout Street, Gisborne
10am – 4pm Monday – Saturday, 1:30pm – 4pm Sunday
$0 – $5
Intricate fibre artworks by three artists from Te Aitanga a Hauiti that blend traditional Māori weaving with contemporary artistic expression.
New Plymouth
Te Whanganui-a-Tara
Music: Palestine Relief Gig
Underworld Tavern, 13 Pirie Street, Mount Victoria, Wellington
6:30pm Saturday, June 28
$20
It is very hard to read some of these band names which leads me to believe this is a heavy metal or punk show. Fun!
Nelson
Ceramics: Mana Māna
The Nelson Provincial Museum, 270 Trafalgar Street, Nelson
10am – 5pm weekdays, 10am – 4:30pm weekends, until July 13
Free
Local artist Kim Ireland (Tūhourangi, Tapuika, Korea) has been inspired by gourds to explore the connection between wāhine and tīpuna wahine.
Hokitika
Thomas Loefke playing the Celtic harp, accompanied by photographs he took on the North Atlantic islands.
Lyttelton
The Lyttelton Arts Festival is here and there's a gig for kids!
Ōtepoti
Film, talk: Climate Change Cinema, Max Quinn
Olveston Historic Home, 42 Royal Terrace, North Dunedin
6pm Wednesday, July 2
Pay as you can
As part of the International Science Festival, Max Quinn, natural history documentary director, will share his experiences from his global career. Bring your keep cup for a hot beverage.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

1News
19 hours ago
- 1News
The hardest part of walking the length of NZ? Maybe the loneliness
Walking the full length of New Zealand on the Te Araroa trail was physically gruelling, but there was an unexpected emotional toll too, writes Naomi Arnold. Every time I've spoken about my Te Araroa trail memoir Northbound in the last three months, the interviewer will invariably ask about my loneliness on trail. It was relentless and profound; the book's subtitle is 'Four Seasons of Solitude on Te Araroa', after all. I spent eight and a half months away from home, walking. I ducked off trail for stretches to do freelance work, but I hiked alone nearly every day, often from dawn into the night. In the book, and lately to interviewers, I talk about how I often felt so overwhelmed with loneliness that I would stop on trail and cringe, wrapping my arms around my middle, sometimes hit with a bout of tears. Sometimes I just kept walking like that, too. When I was recounting this at the Auckland Writers Festival in May, the session chair Liv Sisson observed: 'You're doing it right now.' I realised I had hunched over in my seat and was hugging my torso again, reliving the whole sorry mess in front of an audience. Me and my shadow near lake Tekapo. (Source: Supplied) Loneliness, an emotional state, feels physical like that. I felt it in my heart and in my gut. When I did meet people, my loneliness made it difficult to connect with them; I felt out of place and time, awkward and unwanted, and this made me isolate myself further. When I turned up at the Old Convent at Jerusalem, on the Whanganui River, a rongoā Māori wānanga was in session. I was drowned by winter rains and they invited me in to dry off, stay overnight, and join the lessons. But I couldn't go into the room. I heard laughter and yearned to, but panicked at the thought. I could still talk one-on-one. But I could no longer be with people. ADVERTISEMENT When I returned from trail and came home, I found crowds made me panic and eye contact was disturbing and embarrassing. It took me some time to come right, but I haven't forgotten how it made me feel. People alert: Reaching the outskirts of Auckland. (Source: Supplied) This was all new for me. I had never felt lonely before; I liked being by myself and there were always plenty of people around, or at least the dog, if I wanted a change. I came across the organisation Loneliness New Zealand recently, and discovered there are several different related definitions including being physically or socially isolated as I was; and being emotionally isolated, or lonely. The second one is the one most people associate with loneliness: the sadness, heartache, and distress which essentially means you don't have enough meaningful connection with others. It's not about how many friends or relationships you have nor whether you actually are physically alone. You can feel loneliness from being neglected emotionally, from being misunderstood, and if people close to you aren't emotionally satisfying or fulfilling you. But in my case, those feelings were brought on by being simply alone, with no-one to help me process what I was going through. Te Araroa was a psychic shock. It's not just a thru-hike; it's one of the toughest in the world. There was no-one to laugh or cry with after a 10-hour day spent in mud to the thighs, climbing and descending thousands of metres, or rolling ankles over soggy clumps of tussock. Texts from friends were breezy – 'Are you buff yet?'. I couldn't put the breadth and depth of the suffering into a text back. You had to experience it to understand it yourself, and there was no-one aroud to do that. Walking with a knee brace after a ligament tear. (Source: Supplied) We usually associate loneliness with seniors, but research shows only two out of 15 lonely New Zealand adults are aged 65 or over. According to this research, seniors are doing well; this group is actually the least lonely. When the General Social Survey 2018 asked people if they were lonely most or all of the time in the last four weeks, it found that loneliness was in fact highest among people with sexual identities it characterised as 'other' (12 percent). The loneliness Top 10 then included people who were disabled, who were unemployed, who were solo parenting, who had a household income of $30,000 or less, who were Māori, aged between 15 and 24, or 'not in a family nucleus'. Northland was the loneliest region, but it's also a global issue. Drivers across the OECD are migration, urbanisation, individualism, a decrease in the birth rate, people living longer, a rise in digital technology, fragmentation of family, and much more. ADVERTISEMENT There's likely to be sorrow behind the words 'I'm feeling lonely', the organisation says on its website. I found that quite a gentle and lyrical way of putting it. Sorrow, in its quiet and compounding ways, drives withdrawal and disconnection. Grief, shame, disappointment, trauma, heartbreak too big to recognise, let alone put into words – it all makes you want to shield yourself from the further pain of being misunderstood. You feel it if no-one close to you is strong or aware enough to listen to you without defensiveness and judgement, to validate and respond to what you are feeling and trying to say. You then cannot give back to people emotionally either, creating a self-perpetuating loop of shallow relationships and disconnection that only calcifies with time or continual disappointment, and potentially leads to depression. People with depression or other mental illness are then told they must reach out. What happens when they do, but no-one is able to reach in and meet them there? The empty beauty of Canterbury. (Source: Supplied) What to do about this? My own loneliness was solved by getting out of my extraordinary, self-imposed isolation and gradually returning to the social bonds I already had, an awkward and disjointed process though it was. Connecting with relationships old and new might seem like the most obvious and important solution, but I hadn't realised that connection with our own selves through embracing solitude was just as important. And I did have that too on my long walk. When I am on stage and asked about the good moments of Te Araroa, I remember that solitude felt like a gift at times, not a burden. An unexpected burst of happiness would interrupt at the strangest moments, and when they came I leaned into them, appreciating a break from the physical and mental pain. A long encounter with a South Island robin. A laugh with a woman at a bus stop. The perfect song at the perfect moment. Rain on my tent. A kind text from a friend. A sunrise. I cried a lot of tears of sadness during the year I was lonely. But countering them were many tears of joy, too. It was those that helped me get through.


NZ Herald
a day ago
- NZ Herald
Kiwi author Stacy Gregg's cat-inspired dystopian novel attracts UK publisher Simon & Schuster
Jane Phare talks to author Stacy Gregg about her latest book The Last Journey, autocratic governments, power plays, reconnecting with her Māori heritage, but mostly about cats. Stacy Gregg's publishers are marketing her latest – and 39th – novel as suitable for anyone between 8 and 88. With


Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Otago Daily Times
Extra reason to celebrate in Mana Pounamu's 25th year
Mana Pounamu award recipients Jade Taani (left), 17, of Queen's High School, and Camila Barns, 15, of Trinity Catholic College, share a laugh at the University of Otago College of Education Auditorium yesterday. PHOTOS: PETER MCINTOSH A special milestone for an award ceremony celebrating Maori students across Otago helps a passionate educator's legacy live on, her daughter says. Māori senior strategic adviser Janine Kapa said it was a special moment for her and her family celebrating the 25th year of the Mana Pounamu awards yesterday at the University of Otago College of Education Auditorium. The awards were initiated by her mother, Alva Kapa, to acknowledge taiohi Māori (Maori youth) across Otago. Ms Kapa said her mother died weeks before the first Mana Pounamu in 2001. "My mum helped conceptualise this and it's been a legacy that not just myself but my whanau have carried. "Twenty-five years on, it's just grown." The Mana Pounamu award recipients. She said her mother thought there should be an award ceremony to recognise achievements of Maori students. "It came about when my mum saw the Class Act Awards in the late '90s and she didn't see many brown faces, she didn't see many of our kids in there. "She felt we needed our own celebration because our young Māori students are shining stars and they're achieving some amazing things." The first Mana Pounamu was held in the Hutton Theatre at Tūhura Otago Museum with just 12 recipients. Yesterday, there were 53 recipients. Ms Kapa said it was nice to see students supporting other students in their regions by performing haka for them. This was the first year the ceremony was split into two sessions, with students from out-of-town schools and Dunedin schools. Between the sessions, the students shared a hangi for lunch at the Otago Polytechnic hub. The 2025 Mana Pounamu Young Achievers' Awards recipients: Tuākana (Years 12 and 13) Hadley Farquharson (Cromwell College), Sky Sanders (Dunstan High School), Luka May (South Otago High School), Atlanta McDowell-Williams (St Kevin's College), Ryan Enoka (Te Kura o Tititea/Mount Aspiring College), Portia Chambers (The Catlins Area School), Nirvana Collins (Tokomairiro High School), Ned Newlands-Carter (Waitaki Boys' High School), Lilyrose Tuahine (Waitaki Girls' High School), Elisabeth Purdue (Wakatipu High School), Sam Stoddart (Bayfield High School), Shanti Kara (Columba College), Andreis Fuatavai (East Otago High School), Jayden Toro (John McGlashan College), Wairangi Tunoho (Kaikorai Valley College), Jeremiah Tuhega-Vaitupu (King's High School), Sophie Smart (Logan Park High School), William Munro (Otago Boys' High School), Jade Wilson (Otago Girls' High School), Jade Taani (Queen's High School), Lola Murray (St Hilda's Collegiate School), Sarah Evans (Taieri College) Tīrea Campbell (Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ōtepoti) and Evie de Graaf (Trinity Catholic College). Tēina (Years 10 and 11) Riley Dickey (Cromwell College), Eli Knights (Dunstan High School), Dakota Nicoll (Maniototo Area School), Kahtaralise Keil (Roxburgh Area School), Kyla Te Moananui-Currie (South Otago High School), Kuramairangi Ainsley (St Kevin's College), Maia Wheeler (Te Kura o Tititea/Mount Aspiring College), Harrison Waaka (The Catlins Area School), Saffron Healey (Tokomairiro High School), Mana Fisilau (Waitaki Boys' High School), Ruby Drummond (Waitaki Girls' High School), Bailey Tiananga (Wakatipu High School), Hunter Moir (Bayfield High School), Honor Blaikie (Columba College), Sophie Hutcherson (East Otago High School), Kura-mātakitaki Stevens (John McGlashan College), Kotuku Wana (Kaikorai Valley College), Tūkitaharaki Pōtiki (King's High School), Aria Molinari (Logan Park High School), Crew Wilson (Otago Boys' High School), Lyla Ward (Otago Girls' High School), Pipiata Ritchie (Queen's High School), Xanthe Dillon (St Hilda's Collegiate School), Cruize Douglas (Taieri College), Ngāki Kiore (Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ōtepoti) and Camila Barns (Trinity Catholic College).