The No. 8 Wire - Issue 21

Gondwanaland Ministry of Culture
Artists' Information Bureau

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An Electronic Alert for 558 of Wellington's Creative People



21.00
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF FAIRIES
(AS WELL AS FAITH, POETRY LOVE, ROMANCE)

Dear Editor,
I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
Papa says, "If you see it in The No.8 Wire, it's so." Please tell me the truth,
is there a Santa Claus?
- Virginia O'Hanlon

The Editor replies:
Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the scepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are
unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

See 21.42 below…

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21.01
SAUDADES? OI, BRASIL!

Artists interested in a residency opportunity in Brazil, should check out the website for Sacatar. The tropical artist colony is located on an island, across the Bay of All Saints from Salvador da Bahia. It was founded by California-based Taylor Van Horne and Mitch Loch, who are growing their Bahian centre into a world-class creative retreat. Information about Sacatar is available from Eric, at the Wellington Arts Centre, who is also available to advise local creative people about this and other retreats abroad. Mitch and Taylor toured Wellington this past September, and are keen to connect with Kiwi artists.

Check out the following website
www.sacatar.org

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21.02
WELCOME, MY UNCONVENTIONAL CONVENTIONALISTS

From the New Zealand Herald: 26 November 2004

At the stroke of midnight last night, thousands of Brads and Janets took a step to the left, than a step to the right to put Hamilton into transsexual Transylvania-land with the unveiling of a statue celebrating The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Hamilton is where the show's English-born creator, Richard O'Brien, watched horror and science-fiction movies as a youth and developed a love for rock'n'roll.

Last night, the 62-year-old led the Time Warp at the old Embassy Theatre site to unveil the bronze statue of transvestite Riff Raff, nearly 30 years after creating one of theatre's great cult musicals.

Hamiltonians swapped mooloo bells for fishnet stockings and flocked to a party in Victoria St to welcome the $125,000 statue.

It is the first public artwork by Weta Workshops, special effect creators for big budget movies such as The Lord of the Ringsand Master and Commander.

Besides appearing as Riff Raff in the original stage production, O'Brien, nicknamed Ritz, has appeared on stage in Hair, The Little Shop of Horrors and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

"It's a big thing having a statue. You generally used to have to go overseas and kill people and plant the flag in somebody else's land before you got a statue," he said this week.

O'Brien's family moved to Tauranga from England in 1952 after his father decided to trade accountancy for sheep farming. He returned to England 12 years later.

Inspired by his teenage love of B-movies and rock'n'roll, he penned Rocky Horror, which premiered on a London stage in 1973. The movie, made two years later, also became a cult favourite.

The annual convention of The Rocky Horror Picture Show will be held in Hamilton next year, on its 30th anniversary.

Riff Raff's statue sparked heated debate when it was first mooted. One councillor feared Hamilton would become known as "queer city" or "transsexual town", and some newspaper letter writers said it was not suitable for children to see the statue.

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21.03
EYE ON MEZZO-SPACE
Wellington City Council's Community Arts Office is pleased to announce the next exhibition at Mezzo-space, Viepoints by Mark Molnar, Adrienn Gyongyosi, Jeffrey Charles White, & Toni Williams.
White and Williams, have recently graduated from The Learning Connexion, and currently live and work in Owhiro Bay on the south coast. Molnar and Gyongyosi moved to New Zealand from Budapest, and have been creating new work inspired by their world-wide migration.

"My sculptures range from wood and stone carvings to mixed media assemblage and painting," explains White, who has several exquisite objects on view in the show. “Inspiration for my mixed media sculpture comes from the coastline around Wellington, and most of my materials are found object or recycled.”

Williams, who grew up in Palmerston North, paints the New Zeland landscape in pastels. "I am completely inspired by the amazing colour of our country that surrounds me," she says.

Recent Graduates of the Hungarian National University of Art and Design, Molnar and Gyongyosi travelled to New Zealand eight months ago and currently live in Wellington. Molnar, who is an accomplished graphic, live event, and web designer says that they had been collecting moods, feelings and inspiration:
"We are trying to push out into our paintings what the real taste of New Zealand is. We are trying to create something, because what goes in, it has to come out from our mind and soul as well. I hope people enjoy the exhibition and that we can show you some different views from this amazing country."
Mezzo-space, the former bookstore space next to Clark’s Cafe in the Central Library, is currently being programmed by the Wellington City Council’s Community Arts Office as a temporary exhibition space for Wellington-based artists.
"Most of the work has a dream-like other-worldly quality to it,” says WCC Community Arts Co-ordinator Eric Holowacz. “There are fantastical, Tanguy-like landscapes, mixed with haunting characters and untold fables, and more than a few signs of magical realism.”
The project was created to present interesting new work to the public and to support the development of Wellington’s visual communicators
Viewpoints runs 14 – 23 December 2004. For further information contact Mark Molnar 021 254 0615.
Other temporary exhibitions are being planned for 2005, including a group show by 12 female mixed-media artists, a one-man photography show, and several student/recent graduate exhibitions. Local artists, collectives, or visual arts groups interested in learning more about Mezzo-space should contact Eric Holowacz at the Community Arts office on 04 385 1929 or at arts@wcc.govt.nz
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21.04
WHY DO WE LIKE MUSIC?

Here’s one answer, from a leading contemporary theoretician…
http://web.media.mit.edu/~minsky/papers/MusicMindMeaning.html

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21.05
CREATIVE UNION

With Kiwi music, film and live performance doing so well on the world stage, New Zealand's creative workers are - for the first time - getting together to give each other a hand.
The Coalition of Creative Unions and Guilds (CCUG) has recently been formed to represent the interests of local entertainers. And that's "entertainers" in the broadest sense: those who entertain on the stage, on radio and television, on the printed page - from under the spotlight or from behind the scenes... Actors, writers, musicians, composers, comedians and filmmakers are all getting in on the act together.
With the support of the NZ Council of Trade Unions, guild and union representatives in the creative sector have, over the past few months, been meeting regularly to keep each other in the loop on government policy and funding issues, education and training.
Their first project is to officially launch their own umbrella group with a weekend workshop in February 2005 to tackle practical aspects of working in NZ's creative industry.
Regardless of whether their work is live, recorded or in print, creative workers face many of the same issues: limited funding, a relatively small local market, and working in isolation from their peers. The weekend workshop will offer a range of seminars - from "budgeting on an erratic income" and how to secure funding and sponsorship, to tax and copyright law and political lobbying.
Many of this country's creative workers are self-employed, short-term contractors or freelance, and the CCUG offers them an opportunity to share knowledge and experience, be informed, ask questions, find a unified voice to talk to employers and government agencies, and to network with each other.
The workshop, to be held in Auckland on February 12, will be free to guild and union members, and $40 for non-members.
The CCUG currently represents Actors Equity, the Musicians Union, Screen Directors Guild of NZ, Composers Association of NZ, NZ Writers Guild, NZ Film & Video Technicians Guild, NZ Comedy Guild, NZ Society of Authors, Artists Alliance, Stunt Guild and the PSA.
For details, contact Nadine Rae on 09 303 9008 or nadiner@nzctu.org.nz

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21.06
WET STAGE

Growing Potatoes - A Play in a Pool will be performed IN Freyberg Pool during the Fringe NZ festival next year - 25 Feb to 1 March. Writer Janie Walker and director Katrina Chandra (H2O Productions are looking for actors, non-actors, old people, young people, dancers, synchronized swimmers, production crew (stage manager, publicity assistants, front of house manager) - anyone who wants to be involved. Audition day is 9 January, venue and time tbc. Email your interest to growingpotatoes@hotmail.com.

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21.07
OLIVIA’S GIFT

Now over a decade old, the Olivia Spencer Bower Award is building a reputation as one of the most valuable and prestigious forms of sponsorship available to New Zealand artists. The award is unique in this country in several ways. It was initiated and established posthumously, from the proceeds of her bequest, and is imprinted with the personality, values and concerns of Olivia Spencer Bower. Directed specifically at "emerging" painters and sculptors, the Award bypasses well-known and established practitioners, who may have already received recognition by substantial Awards or representation in major collections.

Each Award is for a period of 12 months commencing on 1 January. The amount is determined by the Trustees and is designed to be sufficient to enable the recipient to pursue his or her artistic endeavours for that 12 month period freed from the obligation of employment or other financial constraints. The Awards offered in 2003 and 2004 were each for $30,000.00.

Olivia Spencer Bower could be described as having been in the mainstream of the artistic spectrum and wished to assist others with similar inclinations. The Award can only be made to painters and sculptors. This means that applications from video makers, photographers and performance artists will not be considered. Printmakers, Ceramic and other craft artists would be included but only as far as their works extend to "painting and sculpture".

Under her Will, Olivia left all her art works to the Foundation, and these have been gradually realised by the Trustees to form its capital. In addition, a substantial body of archival work represented by some 3000 to 4000 image pages has been established permanently at the Robert MacDougall Art Gallery in Christchurch, which material will be available to future art students and art historians.
To learn more about this award, and the foundation behind it, visit

http://www.oliviaspencerbower.org.nz/

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21.04
FUN WITH FUNDING OPTIONS

Music Video Fund: NZ On Air

Funds groups and individuals to make NZ music videos that will play on music television shows and channels.

Programme Manager, NZ On Air, PO Box 9744, Wellington
Phone: (04) 382-9524. Fax: (04) 382-9546
www.nzonair.govt.nz
info@nzonair.govt.nz

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21.05
PUBLIC ART STOCKPILE

Here’S a website with a whole slew of information about Public Art Programmes, publications, sponsors, and artists working in the public sphere

http://public-art.shu.ac.uk/weblinx.html#conferences

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21.06
MORE FUN WITH FUNDING OPTIONS

Minister of Internal Affairs Discretionary Fund

Funds charitable projects of national or international significance that are not covered by other Lottery Grants, including travel.

Lottery Grants Board, PO Box 805, Wellington.
Phone: (0800) 824-824. Fax: (04) 495-7225
www.dia.govt.nz
lotterygrants@dia.govt.nz

http://www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.NSF/wpg_URL/Services-Lottery-Grants-Ministers-Discretionary-Fund?OpenDocument

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21.07
SALSA SANTA

Xmass Salsa Ball Saturday 18th December (With pre ball Tango Milonga)

Dress yourself up and get down for a night of latin sights, sounds and glamour at the St James Theatre's Jimmy Bar! Think Latin Glamour from the 50's 60's and 70's.......

Latest and greatest in Salsa, merengue and latin styles and sounds.

4 of Wellington's top Latin DJs spinning disks from 8L30pm till late.

Top Quality sound system from Oceania Sound.

Special Guest Salsa performance.

Plus a Tango Milonga from 6 PM...with Tango DJ 'Frio' playing Classic Golden Age Tangos.

6pm: Tango Milonga

8pm Salsa/Merengue Lesson

8:30pm - late Latin DJs ....

St James Theatre's Jimmy Bar on Saturday 18th December. Admission is $10. Send email to info@salsadrome.co.nz

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21.08
WORKING CREATIVITY

A good article on the fine art of researching business and workplace thinking about creativity, innovation, and expression…

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/89/creativity.html

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21.09
RETURN TO SENDER
The Trap\door Artist Run Centre is starting the new year with a Mail Art exhibition and exchange titled "Return to Sender". We are looking for art that can fit in an 8.5 x 11 envelope. All works received will be installed in the show, after which participants will be sent someone else’s piece in exchange for their own. The deadline for submissions is January 17, 2005, with the exhibition commencing January 29.
Please include with your submissions package:
- label information
- a self addressed stamped 8.5 x 11 envelope (for individuals outside of Canada, we will take care of return postage, but please supply a self addressed envelope)
- biographical information
please send your work to:
Trap\door Artist Run Centre
714- 7 Street South
Lethbridge, Alberta
T1J 2H5
And see the following website
http://people.uleth.ca/~mctrmt/trapdoor.htm
Email contact: trapdoor_arc@yahoo.ca

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21.10
WHERE’S THE ART-O-MAT?

Wellington’s Art-o-mat project will begin in early 2005 with a workshop and information session for any interested local artists, groups, people. It will go over the basics of creating a prototype and getting your objects sold through the Art-o-mat network. Date and location will be announced in the next No. 8 Wire. The next step will be a wee gallery exhibition in Wellington, showing several dozen examples of Art-o-mat vending machine objects, made by artists from all over the world. The final phase will involve the commissioning and installation of a new Art-o-mat machine just for Wellington. After that, who knows…

To learn all about Clark Whittington’s Art-o-mat project, including samples of his over 50 machines, check out the below website. You’ll also find information about the hundreds of artists already working in the Art-o-mat format, including photos of what they are vending. Press clippings, and prototype guidelines are also linked from here…

http://www.artomat.org/home.html

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21.11
EL SUENO FROM COLOMBIA

Cities are always trying to re-invent themselves, but often this means more slogans, banners, and vacant marketing efforts. Check out what one genuine recipe for happiness, from a visionary mayor, and a profound sense of “ganas.” It really doesn’t cost anything to dream…

http://www.pps.org/info/newsletter/november2004/november2004_joy

And then, learn more about the Art of place-making, from this valuable web resource…

http://www.pps.org/

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21.12
HOLIDAY AT BATS

This week is your final chance to catch some BATS action and the final performances of The Eight: Reindeer Monologues and Pollyfilla’s Galmarama.

We hope you all have a great Christmas and look forward to seeing you down at 1 Kent Terrace in 2005!

Love the BATS crew

The Eight: Reindeer Monologues
Season: Tuesday 7 - Saturday 18 December (no show Sun/Mon) at 7pm
Tickets: $15 full/$12 concession/$10 groups of 10+

Written By Jeff Goode (USA), Directed By Holly Shanahan, THE SLEIGH RIDE IS OVER. Tear down the tinsel. Dismantle the mistletoe and un-wrap the presents – Christmas is CANCELED!

This is the “E! True Hollywood Story” of the biggest scandal to hit the North Pole since . . . EVER! Reindeer’s elite – Dasher, Cupid, Prancer, Blitzen, Comet, Dancer, Donner and Vixen aka, ‘The Eight’, are here to tell you the full sordid story.

Their stories introduce us to a very different Santa Claus than the one we have come to know and love. We are drawn into their world as the “elite” of reindeer kind, the pressures of the yearly flight - issues of fog, religion, ballet, Mrs. Claus and of course the REAL scoop on the “Rudolph debacle”…

Now is Vixen the victim or the wench who stole Christmas?? A dark festive comedy absolutely not to be missed.

Glamarama
Season: Tuesday 14 – Saturday 18 December at 9pm
Tickets: $15 full/$12 concession and groups of 10+

Hot on the high heels of her whirlwind tour of Blenheim – Wellington’s favourite drag performer Pollyfilla is back after a 2 years absence from the theatre, in her dazzling new production – “GLAMARAMA”. Described as Shirley Temple on Acid Meets Jim Carrey in Drag, Pollyfilla plays hostess to some of her favorite, eclectic, weird and rare songs from the vaults of her music collection, inspired by the style of Las Vegas Lounge Singers and Floor Shows of the 1950s & 1960s!

“GLAMARAMA is a great night out! Our catchphrase this year is EXTRAVAGANZA!, Darling! Audiences may expect Smatterings of Sequins, Sparkles, Synthetic hair, Silly Songs, Shirley Bassey, Six inch heels, Smutty jokes and Seat Wetting” says Pollyfilla of her new production, though she warns that this show “may be inappropriate for anyone who finds swearing or men in dresses offensive!”

Pollyfilla is supported onstage by three fabulous showgirls, plucked out of obscurity from the Jean Goodman School of Dance - The Dazzling Fillettes: Cyndi, Gem and Barby! And in her theatrical stage debut - special guest Star Miss Drag Wellington 2004 – Mia Slapper!

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21.13
BATS NEW YEAR

Next up for BATS– The Bacchanals bring William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream to BATS, opening on January 12 kicking off a north island tour. And if we shadows have offended…

There’s also a premiere in store, 27th – 29th January 2005…

Come groove at BATS this summer with Sstimuluss for a dramatic audiovisual experience featuring powerful new music. For the Wellington music scene, Sstimuluss – Live at BATS will be a rare spectacle.
Their unique sound, combined with performances by two movement artists and one of Wellington’s foremost AV designers, will present a late-night treat not to be missed.
Sstimuluss have been a part of the Wellington music scene for over two years now. They have played at festivals, such as The Gathering and Visions and have been regulars at Bodega, including performances at the popular While You Were Sleeping.
They return to BATS after collaborating with Theatre Militia on WordVirus last August. The music of Sstimuluss is a combination of electronica, rich instrumentation and the sublime voice of Elizabeth Judd. For Sstimuluss – Live at BATS, she and Emile de la Rey are joined by co-writer/performer Jeremy Brick and Theatre Militia, to create what will be a gem in this summer’s music scene.

Performancs: 27th, 28th and 29th of January at 9pm
Tickets: $12/$15


BATS Theatre
1 Kent Terrace
bats@bats.co.nz
bookings 802 4175
office 802 4176
fax 802 4010
www.bats.co.nz

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21.14
BE IN THE DRAW

Major Exhibition from the Royal Collections coming to Te Papa

Te Papa announced today that the exhibition Holbein to Hockney: Drawings from the Royal Collection will be on display in Wellington from 23 April to 24 July 2005.
Following two years of discussion with Windsor Castle, and with the approval of the lady of the house, this regal exhibition presents a unique opportunity for Te Papa to showcase over seventy works representing the most significant drawings from the Royal Collection.
The exhibition is currently on display at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, and Te Papa is the only venue for the exhibition outside Great Britain. After the exhibition closes at Te Papa, it will be shown in The Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Place.
Highlights of the exhibition include works by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Dürer, Carracci, Canaletto, Thomas Rowlandson, Sir David Wilkie, and Sir Edwin Landseer.
Other treasures include Hans Holbein's chalk studies of Sir Thomas More and Cicely Heron, which are preparatory works for Holbein's lost portrait of More and his family.
One of the most recent additions to the collection is a pencil portrait of Lord Rothschild by David Hockney, which entered the Royal Collection in 2003.
Influenced by the personal tastes of monarch's who have bought or commissioned works, the Royal Collection contains one of the world's greatest collections of drawings assembled over the last five centuries. From sketches to finished presentation works, the exhibition covers every type of drawing practised in Europe since the Renaissance, including compositions for paintings, studies from the model, portraits, landscapes and observations from nature.

Be on the lookout for more information in early 2005.

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21.15
HELP ENJOY

It's time again for the annual Enjoy BUY 100 fund-raiser and CHRISTMAS PARTY

BUY 100 exhibition
Tuesday 14 - Sunday 19 December

This week long exhibition closes on Sunday, so stop by Enjoy Gallery and pick up a present of contemporary art.

Celebrate Enjoy gallery's successes of 2004 and have the opportunity to buy original works by contemporary New Zealand artists all in the knowledge that funds from your purchases help support the running of Enjoy. The BUY 100 comprises of donated work by over thirty selected artists. All works are for sale and all for the very reasonable amount of $100 each. There will also be artist multiples available at reduced prices. Artists include:

Liz Allan, Tim Armstrong, Vivien Atkinson, Kaleb Bennett, Gary Bridle, Stephen Clover, Bek Coogan, Chris Cudby, Clem Devine, Daniel du Bern, Bryce Galloway, Regan Gentry, Amy Howden-Chapman, Jayne Joyce, Ross Kettle, Dave King, Shay Launder, Maddie Leach, Courtney Lucas, James McCarthy, Clare Noonan, Miranda Parkes, Sarah Jane Parton, Kim Paton, Jessica Pearless, Jessica Reid, Stuart Shepherd, Marnie Slater, Mica Still, Louise Tulett, Terry Urbahn, Karin van Roosmalen, Tao Wells and Kate Woods
Enjoy Public Art Gallery
Level one, 174 Cuba Street
Wellington

04 384 0174
enjoy@enjoy.org.nz
www.enjoy.org.nz

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12.16
WHOPPER OVER

Yep that's right WHOPPERR CHOPPER has come to an end. We are getting rid of the last of the whopper chopper merchandise. It’s CRAZY PRICES . Stock is flying out the door. Crazy Chris that's what they call me. How can we do these high quality fashion items for such low low low prices?
Everything must go…

We have the following cotton T-SHIRTS + HOODIES ( in black or red )

AND ALL HAVE THE SAME International Pirate Convention LOGO

GIRLS T-SHIRTS ( SMALL + MEDIUM ) $15

BOYS T-SHIRTS ( MEDIUM + LARGE ) $15

HOODIES ( SMALLL + MEDIUM + LARGE ) $25

UNDIES ( SMALL + MEDIUM + LARGE ) $15

WHOPPER CD – (Music at its best ) $20

Le me know what you want by e-mail and ii will get back to you and drop of order. Lots of love to all.

Please pass on to everyone and anyone

Chris Morley-Hall
"El Capitan"
Whopper chopper
Email: info@whopperchopper.org.nz

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21.17
BANNER DAY

Dame Cath Tizard, New Zealand's Governor General from 1990-96, heads a list of new endorsers joining the www.nzflag.com campaign to change New Zealand's flag.
In her endorsement, Dame Cath noted "We don't wear the clothes of a century ago or drive around today in Model T Fords. Our present flag served a young post-colonial country well, but the time has come to consider a change which more appropriately recognises our changed identity and confidence in ourselves. Let's find out what the country thinks of the idea of a change."
The Mayor of Waimakariri, Jim Gerard, and the Mayor of Horowhenua, Brendan Duffy, join the Mayors of Waitakere, Bob Harvey; Auckland, Dick Hubbard; New Plymouth, Peter Tennent; Wellington, Kerry Prendegast; and Christchurch, Garry Moore; as endorsers of the campaign. In addition the former Mayors of Dunedin, Sukhi Turner, and Tauranga, Jan Beange, remain endorsers.
Opera singer Paul Whelan has also endorsed the campaign. Whelan, a singer with a major international career says "Being from New Zealand is a badge that brings a lot of admiration around the world. We are increasingly known not just for the beauty and culture, but also for our independent political position. The current flag implies that we are an extension of the UK and Australia, and despite our strong and continuing connections with those countries, it is time for a flag that reflects how we stand now."
Over seventy prominent Kiwis across a range of disciplines including local government, sports, the arts, education, religion and business are pushing for a referendum on a new national flag. The www.nzflag.com Trust has sought the support of such a broad range of New Zealand leaders to show, by their support and widely differing backgrounds, that the campaign has engagement with all sectors of New Zealand society.Their names, photographs and endorsements appear on the website ww.nzflag.com/endorsements.cfm and include Olympic gold medallist, Barbara Kendall; world champion squash player Dame Susan Devoy; musician Neil Finn; businessman Stephen Tindall, and Richard Taylor of Weta.
The www.NZflag.com Trust, established in February 2004 seeks to gather around 300,000 signatures in early 2005 to hold a referendum asking New Zealanders to have their say on whether New Zealand should change its flag.
www.NZFlag.com Trust has been established to inspire and stimulate debate about whether New Zealand should change its flag.
Over 70 high profile New Zealanders representing a broad cross section of New Zealand society have currently endorsed the debate to change the flag, with more joining each week.
Richard Taylor, Weta Workshop: "New Zealand, Aotearoa, the land of inspiration, innovation and original thought. Our culture is special, our people unique. From our pacificana home we can proudly stamp our cultural reference and wave our uniquely New Zealand flag above the world stage. I endorse the concept of celebrating our land, our people with a national flag that respects and appreciates the wonderful country that we have become."

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21.18
RETURN OF THE KONG

http://www.kongisking.net/index.shtml
Get all your primal primate news by subscribing here
http://www.kongisking.net/mailman/listinfo/kik_announce

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21.19
END OF YEAR NEWS FROM PHOTOSPACE

It's been a full and busy year here, so time to thank all those who have contributed to it, with special thanks to Karen Lee, Mark Marriott, Lisa Alway, Liz Brooker and John Williams for their help in running the exhibitions and looking after things while I was away.

Next year is booked up with a range of exhibitions, and 2006 is looking pretty chokka too. Mark and I will be expanding the range of workshops, courses and seminars as well. The Jan/Feb Photocourse1 is already full, so we'll be running it again in April to cater for those who have missed out.

There will be a final Jazz/Poetry evening here on Friday 17th December, 8pm, gold coin entry. It features Dave Edwards, Stevie Starr, Jonny Potts and Nat da Hatt. For those of you who haven't been brave enough to attend one of these evenings, now's your chance.

Andrew Ross' exhibition of 63 photographs of sites in the path of the proposed Wellington Bypass 'Te Aro: a recent photographic history', and Graeme Borthwick's photographs of the Wellington Writers' walk scultural plaques are both currently showing at Photospace gallery.

Andrew's share of sales from his exhibition will be donated to Heartbeat Wellington and Anti-Bypass Action (ABA).

See www.photospace.co.nz/expo087.htm for details.

For more information on the Wellington Writers' Walk, and a map, go to:
http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/tourism/destinations/wellingtonwriterswalkmap.html

Holiday hours: these are posted on the homepage www.photospace.co.nz
If you wish to visit the gallery between Christmas and January 9th, please email me for an appointment, as I will be around, and in and out of the gallery.

Enjoy Christmas and have a relaxing New Year ...

James Gilberd
Photospace studio/gallery
1st floor, 37 Courtenay Place
382 9502
027 444 3899
Gallery hours: 10-4.30 Monday-Friday
11-3 Saturdays, closed public holidays
www.photospace.co.nz

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21.20
SOUNDS REAL GOOD

http://www.noizyland.com/home/homepage.asp

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21.21
EVEN MORE FUN WITH FUNDING

Dorothy Daniels Dance Foundation

Funds professional and semi-professional dancers or dance teachers for short-term projects, to study or attend special events or to assist with equipment.

The Secretary, Dorothy Daniels Dance Foundation, PO Box 17215, Wellington. Phone (04) 476-8369. Fax: (04) 476-8754

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21.22
LIVE AND HAPPY

It’s all happening at Happy…

Friday December 17th at 10pm
The Midnights
With DJ Dubhead
Original NZ Roots

Saturday December 18th at 10pm
The Heavy Heavy Monster Sound of Reggae
with DJ Lemon (Roots Foundation) and DJ Manray (Vital Sounds)

Monday December 20th at 8pm
Twinset Album Release Party
feat Mike Fabulous and Ricky Gooch

Tuesday December 21st at 10pm
The Dodecahedrons

And next year…

The New Zealand Fringe Festival, Nights of the Flaming Anvil 2, Mike Cooper, Colin Black, DEL, Sabot, Justin Clarke, and more and more music. Music makes us Happy.

Happy is located underground, at the corner of Vivian and Tory Streets
Wellington
384 1965
www.happy.net.nz

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21.23
MODELS WANTED

Wellington’s life drawing network, which includes regular sessions from Plimmerton to Oriental bay, is always searching for models. If you are interested in model work, contact wellingtonlifeart@hotmail.com or visit the group’s website at www.lifedrawing.wellington.net.nz

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21.24
THE MEANING OF HQ

The University’s creative campus continues to support creative enterprise in the Wellington Region through sponsorship of Creative HQ business incubator.

Massey has been an early supporter of Creative HQ, which was established in 2002 by Positively Wellington Business to capitalise on the region’s strong creative competencies. Support from the University has been renewed for the year ahead and discussions with the incubator management team are under way to explore new and broader ways in which Massey and Creative HQ can collaborate.

“Based in Wellington’s Cuba Quarter, Creative HQ offers resident companies access to business mentoring, networks and advice, dynamic office space, reduced overheads and access to many other areas of expertise,” says Communications Manager Sarah Wilson.

Creative HQ supports start-up companies, ready-formed fledgling enterprises and small existing businesses specialising in creative and innovative technologies in advertising, publishing, TV and radio, film and video, architecture, design, fashion, visual arts, software, computer services, and music.

Most Creative HQ businesses specialise in creative technologies – everything from a multi-player game developer to a Java development tools producer, an on-line publisher to a web services provider.

Companies join the incubator for a two-year period. They have to demonstrate the potential for high growth. Creative HQ is currently home to 16 resident companies.

Five fashion designers and one accessory designer also work from a specialist satellite incubator called Fashion HQ. Fashion HQ has strong ties with Massey’s Design School. It includes a workroom fitted with industrial sewing machines and a retail outlet on Cuba Street’s Left Bank.

Former Massey student Chai Thamavaree is one of four designers whose work is for sale at top Wellington store Kirkcaldie & Stains.

Head of Fashion Sue McLaren says there is a great pool of creative talent in the region. The Design School has nurtured many high-flying designers over the years. “Yet fashion is an incredibly difficult and competitive business. This incubator will provide a practical postgraduate environment that will help even more of our graduates succeed.”

And the incubation programme is working. Recent statistics based on 16 Creative HQ residents indicate a total economic impact of approximately $10.8 million.

Those with an entrepreneurial streak are invited to go to www.creativehq.co.nz for more information.

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21.25
RADIO REQUEST

Dear Listener,

What do Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending and Richard Strauss' Four Last Songs have in common? Do they both feature solo violin. No. Or solo soprano? No. Were they written in the same year? No. In the same country? No.

Both have been voted New Zealanders' favourite piece of classical music and reached the prime position in “Settling the Score,” Concert FM's 12-hour programme on New Year's Day.

There are a handful of works which appear in the top ten each year - Elgar's autumnal Cello Concerto, Bach's sacred music, usually the Mass in B minor and St Matthew Passion. Chamber music is present thanks to Schubert's String Quartet No 14, Death & the Maiden, and the String Quintet in C. Beethoven's never been at No 1, but his works appear more frequently than those of anybody else.

Outside the Top 10 there's more movement amongst placings. Estonian Arvo Pärt's Spiegel im Spiegel has been included; Henryk Gorecki was nominated with his Symphony No 3; Dmitri Shostakovich with his String Quartet No 8, decrying the bombing of Dresden during WWII.

Please place your nominations for Settling the Score, to be broadcast Saturday 1 January 2005, then listen out for a whole day of music put forward by Concert FM's audience and presented as a countdown to the most popular work.

Wishing you a happy and relaxing Christmas and a New Year full of music.

Kate Mead
Production Manager
Concert FM

474-1726

Send your recommendations to
rnz@radionz.co.nz

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21.26
TART ART

Two more works have been added to the "Through a Dark Glass" political
exhibition on http://virtual.tart.co.nz

All artists are invited to be part of January exhibition "Hope Springs
Eternal" - works of optimism. Details are at

http://virtual.tart.co.nz/hope.htm

And, for artists who work in collage, the 7th "Bakers Dozen" international collage exchange is coming up. Works to New Zealand by late March. From http://outofsight.co.nz/Bakers/default.htm you can see previous exchanges, or get details on how to take part in this next one.

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21.27
ONE HUNDRED GRAND

Call for applications to 2005 Creative New Zealand Michael King Writers' Fellowship
Creative New Zealand is calling for applications to the 2005 Creative New Zealand Michael King Writers' Fellowship, worth $100,000.
The Fellowship is open to established New Zealand writers who have published significant works of literature. It will be awarded for a project that will take two years or more to complete and includes fiction, children's fiction, poetry, drama, biography and history.
The Creative New Zealand Writers' Fellowship was established in 2003 and awarded to Timaru writer Owen Marshall to complete a collection of longer short stories.
Earlier this year, it was renamed the Creative New Zealand Michael King Writers' Fellowship in recognition of the late Dr Michael King, his contribution to literature and his role in advocating for a major fellowship for New Zealand writers.
The 2004 recipient of the Creative New Zealand Michael Kings Writers' Fellowship was Wellington writer Vincent O'Sullivan. Receiving the Fellowship, O'Sullivan said that it gave him "total liberty to spend a couple of years devoted to researching and writing three works. There's still some essential research to be done out of New Zealand and the fellowship makes that possible."
The Fellowship is the result of the Government's additional funding of $1 million (inc. GST) per year to the literary sector. The rest of the funding was used to boost the New Zealand Authors' Fund, establish the annual Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement, and develop and implement a strategy to increase audiences and markets for New Zealand literature.
Applications to the Creative New Zealand Michael Kings Writers' Fellowship will be assessed by an expert literary panel and their recommendations will be forwarded to the Arts Board of Creative New Zealand for the final decision.
Applications close at 5pm on 26 March 2005. Application forms and guidelines can be downloaded from the resources section of Creative New Zealand's website (www.creativenz.govt.nz) or you can contact Danielle Tolson (Tel: 04-473 0184 Email: daniellet@creativenz.govt.nz).

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21.28
METAFILMIC, METAMEDIA

Film Archive mediaplex (Corner Ghuznee & Taranaki Streets)
Open daily from noon (Preview on Thursday 16 December from 6.00pm)
The first in a series of exhibitions that explore the history of the film industry in Wellington from its earliest days right up to the present. An underlying strand of the series is the phenomenon of a compact geographical locale, the Miramar Peninsular, providing the 80-year-old filmmaking heart of “Creative Wellington - Innovation Capital”
From the Tin Shed to Filmcraft explores in detail the history of Filmcraft, which from the late 1920s and into the 30s provided the directors, cameramen, editing and processing facilities for the film agency of the Government’s Tourist and Publicity Office, producing dozens of scenic films promoting New Zealand’s industries and scenic attractions to an international audience. The exhibition also includes a brief survey of Filmcraft’s predecessor: the Government Photography Office, based at the “Tin Shed”, the colloquial - and most polite - name for the rusted and rickety corrugated iron shed that housed the film unit in the early 20s.
Filmcraft’s story ends, and the exhibition concludes, with the sale of its Miramar Film Studios to the Tourist and Publicity Department in 1938 and the facility’s rebirth as the Government Film Studios, from 1941 the home of the National Film Unit.
The exhibition features a selection of photos and wall text panels, cartoons by Filmcraft cameraman Cyril Morton, along with monitors playing selected examples from the many films produced by the dedicated and creative staff at Filmcraft, often working under the most trying of circumstances. Circumstances more often than not created by the obtuse and contradictory instructions issued by their “masters” in the Publicity Office bureaucracy:
I got word from them that I was to leave by such and such a train from Auckland the following afternoon and proceed to Hellensville and then by river steamer to Dargaville. And what I was to shoot would follow in the next mail. And it duly followed in the morning, and it was so glaringly, obviously impossible you see. That for one thing, the river steamer left Helensville at quarter past seven and this was no day light saving in those days and it was nighttime, it was dark. And arrived at Dargaville at about three o’clock in the morning at the Great Northern Wairoa River.
And it stayed for only a quarter of an hour at Helensville, and yet at Helensville in that quarter of an hour at night time I was supposed to film the post office, the main street, sundry other buildings, the school, and the parks and gardens and hot pools at the spa. All in a quarter of an hour of darkness.
I sent a telegram saying that their instructions conflicted: that if I travelled as directed I would be doing the river journey at night (and they wanted the river journey all covered). As I said I’d be doing it at night and just before I had to get on to the train, just in time, I got a telegram - which I kept for years and years. It said: “Perfectly well aware you travel at night. Carry out the programme.” – Cyril Morton, Filmcraft cameraman
Films include: [Les Mitchell - Filmcraft Artist at Work], graphic artist Len Mitchell demonstrating art work at Filmcraft, Miramar; Eternal Fires: New Zealand's Only Active Volcano Ngauruhoe, with Filmcraft crew, including Len Mitchell, on location in the Central North Island and Deep Waters (1929), featuring footage originally shot in 1924 by Cyril Morton of Zane Grey on his big-game fishing expedition to New Zealand.
Grey’s time in New Zealand was documented in his memoir, Tales of the Angler’s Eldorado New Zealand, generously dedicated to, among others, Cyril Morton “cinematographer-extraordinary, who braved the rough seas, day after day, week after week, always on deck with his motion-picture camera, always ready with his cheery call - ‘When do we eat? When do we eat?’”

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21.29

Elena ‘s Cultural Symphony CD Release
Music recorded LIVE at The Michael Fowler Centre – 1 October 2004

The CD release of the music from Elena’s Cultural Symphony captures the distinctive full energy and diverse musical selection from the concert: a powerful fusion of diverse musical genres creating a new milestone in the music of Aotearoa.

Featuring
NGC Wellington Sinfonia Orchestra, Gareth Farr, April Neho, Howard Rimu McGuire, Whitireia Performing Arts, Strike and Michael Vinten. Tim Whitta (Composer and Strike member), and Professor Timoti Karetu (poet) create the concert centrepiece “1840 Waitangi Overture” (premiere)

Play list:
1840 Waitangi Overture Tim Whitta Text Timoti Karetu
Moonlight Sonata Ludwig van Beethoven arr Gareth Farr
Gloria Vivaldi
Blue Smoke Ruru Karaitiana
Kei a Koe e Ngati Porou Arr. Craig Utting
Kua Rongoi mai koe Bill Kerikeri arr Craig Utting
E Papa Waiari Arr Leni Sulusi
Abdelazar Purcell arr Gareth Farr
L' Apprenti Sorcier Dukas Arr Gareth Farr
Hallelujah Chorus Handel Arr Gareth Farr Text Te Ahukaramu Charles Royal

The CD’s centrepiece and opening tract is the Tim Whitta composition “1840 Waitangi Overture” which features the Wellington Sinfonia, the Whitireia Performing Arts group, percussionist whizzkids Strike, tenor Howard McGuire and soprano April Neho.

Vivaldi’s “Gloria” features Elena, the Sinfonia and the Whitireia group. Simple Fantastic, a six piece acoustic group, join Elena on “Kei a Koe e” and “Kua Rongo Mai Koe”.

Maori stick games as you’ve never heard them before (on E Papa Waiari”) features Strike. Classical works such as “L’Apprenti Sorcier”and Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata are re-arranged by Gareth Farr (Gareth Farr and Tim Whitta play marimba with Elena on the latter track).

The only tack previously released on “Elena” is well worth revisiting is “Blue Smoke” which combines the talents of April Neho, and Elena.

Also a 50-minute Documentary on Elena is scheduled to appear on TV in January. The concert of “Elena’s Cultural Symphony” will appear in 2005 as well. Look for the recently released CD in your favourite music shop.

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21.30
PREVIOUS FUN WITH FUNDING
$66,237 has been awarded to 54 applicants in the latest Creative communities Wellington local funding round.

The scheme is a partnership between Wellington City Council and Creative New Zealand designed to assist grassroots arts projects.
Many Fringe Festival projects received grants of $2000 including Chaos Productions performing a new work My Sluttish Ways with Garlic, Baggage Arts Charitable Trust presenting Soul Food 2005 Te Haerenga – a storytelling extravaganza, and Java Co-operative who are developing a new contemporary dance work.
The Wellington Fringe Festival, on in February next year, receives a special arts grant from the Council each year which encourages emerging artists to have a go alongside more established artists in a festival renown for its variety and exuberance.
Grants Committee Chair Barbara Nef was encouraged by diversity of applications from the ethnic communities. "It is exciting to see ethnic groups having the courage to step beyond more conventional projects. One Chinese group intends to work with a Maori group and mime artists for a cross-cultural show.
"All of these projects make a valuable contribution to the Wellington arts capital."
Other cultural groups to benefit include the Wellington Iranian Cultural Society who received $980 for dance and music celebrations for the Iranian New Year, and the Sri Lanka Association of New Zealand received two grants - one for the repeat performance of Pin Akunu and a training workshop, the other for dance costumes for cultural events.
The next grants round closes 29 April 2005 and further information can be found on the Council's website
http://www.wellington.govt.nz/services/grants/index.html
Arts grants seminars will be run on March 22 and April 11 for those seeking guidance on this scheme and other arts grants run by Wellington City Council.

Thre’S More about the recent grant awards here

http://www.wellington.govt.nz/news/display-item.php?id=2087

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21.31
FREAKY

Be on the lookout for

Freaks and The Sideshow
Fashion that will make your scream…

Coming to Bar Bodega
8pm December 30
Door sales: $10

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21.32
BLOG IT

Hey Joe Blogs: The best and most topical art weblogs on the planet are all under one roof, covering everything from architecture to dance to contemporary trends in arts management and audience development. Point your browser to the below site, and click on whatever tickles your fancy.

http://www.artsjournal.com/blogs/

And No. 8 Wire readers: Send us your favourite on-line news sources, blogs, and cultural cyber-destinations.

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21.33
ART NEWS FROM MELBOURNE

What’s going on in the galleries, concert halls, and streets of Melbourne? Find out here, every day…

http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/arts/

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21.34
ICH BIN EIN BERLINER?

Creative New Zealand seeks applications to its Berlin Writers' Residency
The Arts Board of Creative New Zealand is calling for applications to the 2005 Creative New Zealand Berlin Writers' Residency, which offers a New Zealand writer the opportunity to live and write in Berlin for a period of between eight months and one year.
The biennial residency includes the rental costs of an apartment in the centre of Berlin, a stipend of NZ$3000 a month and a return airfare from New Zealand to Germany. The selected writer will work on an approved project and must be able to undertake the residency for a negotiable period between August 2005 and July 2006.
Previous recipients are Sarah Quigley, Tina Shaw, Kapka Kassabova and Philip Temple. Temple, who returned to Dunedin from the 2003 residency in late May, worked on two projects while he was in Berlin. The first - a work of fiction/history/memoir - is called White Shadows and will be published by Vintage New Zealand in March 2005. The second project, a novel, involved extensive research.
The residency is open to established New Zealand writers who have been resident in New Zealand for at least three years prior to making the application. Applications close at 5pm on Friday 11 February 2005. Residency guidelines can be downloaded from the resources section of Creative New Zealand's website
www.creativenz.govt.nz
or by contacting
Rosemary Wildblood
04-498 0741
rosemaryw@creativenz.govt.nz
or Danielle Tolson
Tel: 04-473 0184
daniellet@creativenz.govt.nz

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21.35
WRITING THE WORLD

Applications are invited for the New Zealand Book Council Creative New Zealand International Writers' Programme 2005.

The International Writers' Programme gives writers the opportunity to attend an offshore festival or undertake other promotional activities associated with overseas publication of their work during 2005.

The programme is open to writers of fiction, poetry, children's literature, drama and non-fiction who are New Zealand citizens or have New Zealand residency.

For more information and an application form, contact the International Writers' Programme, New Zealand Book Council, Level 5, Old Wool House, 139 Featherston Street, Wellington 6001, email director@bookcouncil.org.nz

Applications close on 22 December 2004.

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21.36
MAORI SHOWBANDS - TE PAPA'S FIRST ON-LINE EXHIBITION

Maori Showbands, Te Papa's first on-line exhibition was launched on 4 December.

This exhibition celebrates the musical phenomenon of the 1950s and 60s when a generation of multi-talented performers took their unique blend of popular music and Maori culture from New Zealand to the world.

Visitors to Maori Showbands will experience an insight into the sensational rise of the showbands through stories, photographs, quotes, scrapbook memories, music and film clips. The parade of singers, musicians, and bands profiled include such greats as the Maori Hi Five, the Maori Hi Quins, the Quin Tikis, the Maori Premiers, Maori Volcanics and the Howard Morrison Quartet.

The roots of the showbands are explored through Maori musical traditions and kapa haka concert parties. The exhibition also highlights notable musical forebears in the popular entertainment field such as Epi Shalfoon, Ana Hato, the Tahiwi whanau, and Ruru Karaitiana.

Visitors will learn about the influences that have shaped popular Maori music. The styles that were drawn on such as - rhythm and blues, Hawaiian music, show tunes, even music hall comedy to create their own unique genre.

Maori Showbands, www.maorishowbands.co.nz Te Papa's first online exhibition is now live. So go there.

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21.37
GOOD FOLKS

Step back in time to celebrate the days of yore when the FOLKLORE FESTIVAL comes to Frank Kitts Park on Saturday 28 & Sunday 29 January 2005. From Blacksmiths to Fortune Tellers, Craft Stalls to Medieval Feasts, Games to Story Tellers – this free event will appeal to young and old – so don your suit of armour, blacken your teeth and get set for a merry old time! Save the weekend in your diary, and check out

www.wellingtonwaterfront.co.nz

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21.38
LASTING MOMENTS
THE LAST MOMENT: RECENT WELLINGTON VIDEO ART
Now to 16 January 2005
Wellington City Gallery’s Hirschfeld Gallery

That Last Moment brings together four recent video-works by five Wellington-based artists: Kaleb Bennett, Damon Meade, Johanna Sanders and Bek Coogan, and VJ Rex. Each of these artists has drawn on the rich tradition of cinematic history in the creation of their works; at times playing homage, at other times parodying the genres of science-fiction, b-grade horror and the grand old Western.

Kaleb Bennett was born in Hamilton in 1976. His work was included in the 2004 Trust Waikato Contemporary Art Award exhibition and has been exhibited in various locations around Wellington in galleries including Enjoy Public Art Gallery and in the art projects Interventions, House/Layered and The Ouse Project. He currently works in Wellington and lives in Melrose.
Bek Coogan was born in Palmerston North in 1972. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Quay School of Fine Arts, Wanganui Polytechnic, and has recently completed her Masters in Fine Arts at Massey University, Wellington. She lives and works in Wellington.
Damon Meade was born in Gisbourne in 1979. He has just completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the School of Fine Arts, Massey University Wellington. Meade’s work has been included in the exhibitions in Wellington and Gisbourne including Simmer: a painting show at a temporary venue in Wellington and as part of the cupcup exhibition (collaboration with Thomas Bayrle) at The Dowse, Lower Hutt. Meade lives in Wellington and Gisbourne.
Johanna Sanders was born in 1970 in Sydney, Australia. She is currently completing a Masters in Fine Arts at Massey University, Wellington. Sanders’ had an exhibition portal4 at Enjoy Public Art Gallery, Wellington and her work Rear Window Projection was included in the 2004 Wellington Fringe Festival. She works in Wellington and lives in Lyall Bay.
VJ Rex was born in Otahuhu in 1969. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Canterbury in 1991 and has a Master of Fine Arts from RMIT, Melbourne in 1998. VJ Rex has exhibited widely throughout New Zealand including City Gallery Wellington’s Telecom Prospect 2004, Whare at SoFA Gallery, Christchurch and Techno Maori: Maori Art in the Digital Age at City Gallery Wellington and Pataka Museum of Arts and Cultures in 2001.

http://www.citygallery.org.nz/mainsite/HirschfeldGallery1.html

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21.39
CARVED UP

Wellington’s Soft as Stone Symposium has come about for a number of reasons, one being we are keeping the tradition alive of having a big stone carving event on the Wellington waterfront.

Tarietanga, the Wellington stone symposium, which is no longer being held, was an integral part of Wellington's artistic and cultural life. Soft as stone will fill this summer artistic niche and continue to do so over coming years.

Many people visited Tarietanga over the period it was going, our symposium will capitalise on the knowledge Wellingtonians have that it is nearly stone symposium time again. We will add to this by bringing the symposium a step closer to Civic Square, the hub of Wellington’s artistic, cultural and administrative area. This will be of value to all those people who at lunch time walk down to see the unfolding of the sculptures. The visitors to the city who may spend longer interacting with the artists. Also to give the art buying public of Wellington the opportunity to interact with, and purchase pieces from national and international artists. As well as this access, the symposium is a good vehicle for artistic exchange and growth for artists.it is an vent that has appeal to many different people, and promotes a very New Zealand art form - Oamaru stone carving.

We already have interest from national and international sculptors. This will be a stand outevent in Wellingtons summer cultural calendar for 2005
and many summers to come.

Hope to see you there,
Aaron Frater
afraternz@yahoo.com

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21.40
THE NO.8 WIRE: PAST AND PRESENT

Archives of the No. 8 Wire are on-line at
www.arts.blogspot.com

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21.41
CONTACT THE NO.8 WIRE

To be removed from this email list…

To be added…

To submit contents, events, opportunities, or comments to contribute to…

Please send word to arts@wcc.govt.nz

Furthermore, send comments, questions, requests, etc to

Eric Vaughn Holowacz
Community Arts Co-ordinator
Wellington City Council / Wellington Arts Centre
P. O. Box 2199
Wellington, New Zealand
Arts@wcc.govt.nz

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21.42
SANTA’S APOLOGIST

Francis P. Church's editorial, "Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus" was
an immediate sensation, and went on to became one of the most famous editorials ever written. It first appeared in the The New York Sun
in 1897, and was reprinted annually until 1949 when the paper went out of business.

Thirty-six years after her letter was printed, Virginia O'Hanlon recalled the events that prompted her letter:

“Quite naturally I believed in Santa Claus, for he had never disappointed me. But when less fortunate little boys and girls said there wasn't any Santa Claus, I was filled with doubts. I asked my father, and he was a little evasive on the subject.

“It was a habit in our family that whenever any doubts came up as to how
to pronounce a word or some question of historical fact was in doubt, we wrote to the Question and Answer column in The Sun. Father would always say, 'If you see it in the The Sun, it's so,' and that settled the matter.

“ 'Well, I'm just going to write The Sun and find out the real truth,'
I said to father. “He said, 'Go ahead, Virginia. I'm sure The Sun will give you
the right answer, as it always does.' ”

And so Virginia sat down and wrote her parents' favorite newspaper.

Her letter found its way into the hands of a veteran editor, Francis P. Church. Son of a Baptist minister, Church had covered the Civil War for The New York Times and had worked on the The New York Sun for 20 years, more recently as an anonymous editorial writer. Church, a sardonic man, had for his personal motto, “Endeavour to clear your mind of cant.” When controversal subjects had to be tackled on the editorial page, especially those dealing with theology, the assignments were usually given to Church.

Now, he had in his hands a little girl's letter on a most controversial matter,
and he was burdened with the responsibility of answering it.

“Is there a Santa Claus?” the childish scrawl in the letter asked. At once, Church knew that there was no avoiding the question. He must answer, and he must answer truthfully. And so he turned to his desk, and he began his reply which was to become one of the most memorable editorials in newspaper history. Church married shortly after the editorial appeared. He died in April, 1906, leaving no children.

Virginia O'Hanlon went on to graduate from Hunter College with a Bachelor of Arts degree at age 21. The following year she received her Master's from Columbia, and in 1912 she began teaching in the New York City school system, later becoming a principal. After 47 years, she retired as an educator. Throughout her life she received a steady stream of mail about her Santa Claus letter, and to each reply she attached an attractive printed copy of the Church editorial. Virginia O'Hanlon Douglas died on May 13, 1971, at the age of 81, in a nursing home in Valatie, N.Y.

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21.43
CLIMBING A MOUNTAIN

Final passage of Thomas Merton’s “The Seven Storey Mountain”

You will be praised, and it will be like burning at the stake. You will be loved, and it will murder your heart and drive you into the desert. You will have gifts, and they will break you with their burden. You will have the pleasures of prayer, and they will sicken you and you will fly from them.
And when you have been praised a little and loved a little I will take away all the gifts and all your love and all your praise and you will be utterly forgotten and abandoned and you will be nothing, a dead thing, a rejection. And in that day you shall begin to possess the solitude you have so long desired. And your solitude will bear immense fruit in the souls of men you will never see on earth.

Do not ask when it will be or where it will be or how it will be; on a mountain or in a prison, in a desert or in a concentration camp or in a hospital or at Gethsemani. It does not matter. So do not ask me, because I am not going to tell you. You will not know until you are in it. But you shall taste the true solitude of my anguish and my poverty and I shall lead you into the high places of my joy and you shall die in Me and find all things in My mercy which has created you for this end and brought you…..to the Cistercian Abbey of the poor men who labour in Gethsemani: that you may become the brother of God and learn to know the Christ of the burnt men.

Sit finis libri, non finis quarendi
("may this be the end of the book, but not the end of searching")

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21.44
HAPPY HOLIDAYS

To you and yours…

…and may you find love, freedom, warmth, creativity, happiness, peace, fullness, and all good things in 2005.

Thanks for making Wellington an interesting and creative place to be.