Can’t wait till Craft2.0 in april to get your shopping groove on?
Well no worries, becuase for those of you in Wellington this is a weekend of crafty awesomness…
First up on Waitangi Day itself, why not head out to Pataka and celebrate Waitangi Day and the Festival of the Elements with a spot of crafty shopping.
The Festival of the Elements is being held at Te Rauparaha Park & Te Rauparaha Arena. The day starts with an opening ceremony at 11am, with a wide range of arts and entertainment programmes continuing through until 7pm.
The festival uses the arts to celebrate the cultural diversity of Porirua, made possible by the Treaty of Waitangi. The elements of Earth and Air, Fire and Water embrace concepts of significance to all cultures, concepts around which we can all unite. Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti rejoice together on Waitangi Day by way of the arts.
Pataka is once again hosting a wide and wonderful range of quality crafts including jewellery, babywear, clothes, beads, lamps, cushions and much much more! You’ll be guaranteed to find something funky, cool, stylish that is made with ‘crafty’ loving care. Everything at Crafting is crafted in NZ and it’s a great chance to meet the person who created whatever you buy.
On Saturday head over the hill to Martinborough where the annual fair is being held. While some of Martinborough Fair is very much focused on imported stuff that might be cheap and break in a month, you’ll also find some really lovely and original handmade creations, many from lovely Craft2.0 crafters.
So have a fun weekend of crafts.
Newtown DIY darlings, zinesters and the tiniest music venue in town, Spacething, have launched their website. The site has photos, an events calendar, DIY and zine-y links and details of their retail, publishing and music distro business arms and of course the lending library. And pandas. And a free tetris game!
In a nice local segue, the picture to your right is taken at a Knife Fight single release held in Spacething’s teeny back room – with dancers in the alleyway – and the other item I have to bring to your attention is the Stabs playing at the Adelaide tonight. The Adelaide is, of course, across the road from Spacething; and tonight’s local support is none other than Knife Fight, playing their second-to-last show before they leave town. The Stabs recently played Australia’s inaugural All Tomorrow’s Parties (ATP) festivals, at the invitation of curators Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The Melbournite Stabs have brought their cityside pals The Twerps with them to play tonight’s gig too – and some of you might recognise a Twerp as one of our own ex-pats, formerly a Batrider. Small world.
Spacething: 171 Adelaide Rd, Newtown : spacething.co.nz
The Stabs, The Twerps and Knife Fight: 9pm Thursday 5th at the Adelaide, 114 Adelaide Rd, Newtown
More Oscar contenders hit our screens this weekend. Gus Van Sant’s biopic of the first openly gay elected politician in the USA, Milk opens today at Readings, Penthouse and Lighthouse Petone. Sean Penn plays San Francisco city supervisor Harvey Milk who was assassinated by fellow city official Dan White in 1978. Penn is supported by Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men), Emile Hirsch (Into the Willd) and James Franco (Pineapple Express).
I got to see Slumdog Millionaire last Friday at the Embassy – if it doesn’t romp home with the best picture Oscar I’ll be very surprised. Kinetic, colourful and heartfelt, it’s an object of great beauty. Slumdog is also playing Readings, Penthouse and Lighthouse Petone.
[The rest of this week’s releases – and there’s heaps – after the jump]
