Pohutakawa Chi - Songs for Homeless at ArtWeek

Kia ora,

This Auckland ArtWeek, St Matthew-in-the-City Church will be host to:

• Pōhutukawa Chi

• Songs for Homeless

• Pō ~ Beautiful Darkness live Maori opera

all brought to you by Mika Haka.

Pōhutukawa Chi -

All week, 7th (art instalment opening ceremony) – 15th October

The Mika Haka Art Installation Pōhutukawa Chi on the Pōhutukawa tree behind St Matthew-in-the-City remembers lives lost to suicide in the past twelve months, offering a voice of hope to the living.

Moulding ‘606-Shapes’ in memory of the 606 lives lost to suicide this year, Mika invites passers-by to write their own messages on ribbon this ArtWeek and add them to the Pōhutukawa Chi installation. This sharing of voices will contribute to NZ’s future initiatives to suicide prevention where love and hope will shine amongst the remembrance of lost ones.

Pō ~ Beautiful Darkness, Songs for Homeless –

(Late Night Art live performance) 10th October from 8pm

an indoor performance of giving, under musical direction of Penny Dodd and her piano string quartet, Mika Haka performs Songs for Homeless – a breathing house of ancestors remembered and imagined. Heightened anthems sung in Te Reo and English bittersweet lullabies. Pō is not a night of nice pop songs.

Pō is a neo-Maori (avant-garde), experimental works to invoke a feeling of who we are in Arts, culture and society. Non-traditional and questioning the boundaries away from Eurocentric and genre-specific definitions.

Pō - the discovery of the darkness inside; “a darkness that is beautiful and can live on eternally,” says Mika. Dodd’s arrangements create musical dreamscapes to deep rumbles from Mika’s collaborations | the likes of composer Gareth Farr to actor Keisha Castle-Hughes. Music will be accompanied by a massive canvas backdrop of digital works from Mika Haka, Don Chooi and students of Media Design School.

Lighting design by Michael (Snapper) Knapp.

Production thanks to Oceania™ & JT Entertainment.

On the night, we’ll be asking for donations of healthy food upon entry for Auckland City Mission, as well as raising money for a whānau living with cancer. We hope you come along! For more information on the event, head to: http://artweekauckland.co.nz/events/central/5675052494225408

Collaborators

Mika brings The Aroha Project | a web-series, festival and art interactive project, where recent contributors are students from Media Design School creating digital expressions around youth isolation, self-harm and their response to it.

Production by Jay Tewake. Filming: Lennie Hill, Technical: Oceania. Photography by Michelle Hyslop with thanks to Woman’s Day for sharing.

Ngā mihi:

Rev. Helen Jacobi, Vicar St Matthew-in-the-City, Dmitry Rusakov.

Supported by: Mika Haka Foundation | Auckland City Mission | ArtWeek - Late Night Art | Auckland Activations | Auckland Council | Heart of the City | Central City Cutting | Copier Service Co. (0800 609 609) | Creative NZ | Lottery Grants Board NZ | Media Design School | Sanitarium | The GreenRoom | MNR Consultants | MikaHaka.com

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