The Performance Arcade 2022 - Come Join The Magic Of Performance Art, 17-27 February!

The Performance Arcade is a beloved free, award-winning summer festival of live art, music and performance that delights art enthusiasts and passers-by and visitors to Te Whanganui-a-Tara every year.

Audiences are invited to come down to Wellington Waterfront to enjoy 18 Performance Art experiences, 23 Music Series performances, a Fortune Favours pop-up bar, various food truck and beverage options and sporadic explosions of art over 11 days. There is something for everyone, with the programme open over two weekends, 17-27 February 2022.

The Performance Arcade is proud to announce three highlights to whet the appetite for their 11th festival before the full programme is released in the New Year.

Get ready to book an appointment with the Art Chemist for your creative hauora and well-being check-up! The Art Chemist by Audrey Baldwin (Ōtautahi / Christchurch) is an interactive public performance work where performers prescribe bespoke art experiences to soothe a variety of ills. From prescriptions of paintings and poetry to over-the-counter doses of sculpture and musical scores; come to the Art Chemist for creative means to tackle woes, gripes, and the agonies of everyday life.

Oracle 2.0 by Erica Sklenars (Pōneke/Wellington) is a magical building-sized work of projection mapping. This digital oracle is an omniscient code-generated ‘Being’ who generally lives in cyberspace, but takes on the form of architecture for short periods of time in order to be comprehensible for humans. Come on down and ask the mystical Oracle anything!

Featuring as part of the Fortune Favours Music Series, don’t miss Wellington based band KITA, who bonds the folk, soul, storytelling and guitar of Nikita Tu-Bryant with the thick lush sounds of Moog synth and Fender Rhodes from Ed Zuccollo and the filthy drive and barking psychedelic drums of Rick Cranson, bringing their mix of funky psychedelic groove and indie pop to The Performance Arcade.

The Fortune Favours Music Series will also feature works from Femme n Bass, Pōneke Classical, an afternoon session featuring artists from Massey University (curated by MAWSA) and much more.

The Performance Arcade Artistic Director Sam Trubridge is proud to present works from all over the motu, highlighting the strength of talent of performance art in Aotearoa:

“We are excited about this programme, which comes from a nationwide series of wānanga, meeting and talking with artists from Auckland to Dunedin. We are delighted to bring to Pōneke works like the powerful and gentle hauora visit Art Chemist from Ōtautahi and the playful magic of Wellington’s own Oracle 2.0, which showcases the magical audience discoveries around every corner of The Arcade.” Trubridge adds, “For 2022 we are excited to be exploring new architecture and spatial uses of our familiar home on Wellington Waterfront, safely bringing together audiences and performance art works from all over Aotearoa.”

Attracting 60,000-90,000 people every year The Performance Arcade is an innovative space for adventurous encounters between artists and the public and is a proudly free entry event. This accessibility is possible due to the amazing support of Wellington City Council, Creative New Zealand, event patrons The Kalderimis Family, and five-time naming partner Trustpower.

Trubridge is conscious of the magnitude of the support given by Trustpower, especially in light of trying times during the COVID pandemic; “We are supremely grateful to Trustpower for their steadfast support of The Performance Arcade over the last five years. Their dedication and creativity with our event is integral to our goals to grow as an accessible, sustainable, forward thinking, innovative, and diverse festival of the future.”

For a taste of The Performance Arcade 2022 here is the teaser video: https://fb.watch/9J1DUncDWD/ 
 

Put the dates, 17-27 February into your diary and get ready to enjoy free, interactive art & music this summer!

Trustpower presents
The Performance Arcade 2022

FREE ENTRY | PUBLIC LIVE ART & MUSIC | POP-UP BAR

Opening Night: 5pm, 17 February - all welcome. 
18-27 February 2022 / open 10am-11pm, Thursday-Sunday

Te Whanganui-a-Tara / Wellington Waterfront (behind Te Papa)

theperformancearcade.com / @theperformancearcade / #PA22

The Performance Arcade COVID-19 Statement

The Performance Arcade whānau have been following the changing landscape of the COVID-19 pandemic and its management carefully. Our priority is the health and safety of our audiences, artists and crew, and in response to the current Governmental advice around the traffic light system for participation in the 2022 Arcade we are stipulating that all artists, crew, performers, and volunteers will all have a COVID-19 Vaccine Passports.

For our audiences it is our mandate to adhere to all Government regulations for conditions of public participation. Currently we are Orange Level with means attendance requires:

QR Code scan in / record keeping

Face covering / mask wearing

1m distancing

A COVID-19 Vaccine Passport will only be required for entry to the Fortune Favours Pop-Up Bar and PA Music Stage area.

Future changes will be updated accordingly on our website: theperformancearcade.com

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