The inaugural Create. Mackenzie Book & Art Festival
MACKENZIE BOOK & ART FESTIVAL
From 17 September until 3 October, Create will be bringing authors and artists from around New Zealand to the Mackenzie Region to discuss and display their works.
‘We want to celebrate and bring our community together in the shared experience of a book and art festival.’
NEW ZEALAND’S MACKENZIE
Region is an extraordinary landscape steeped in history and culture, full of stargazers and artisans. We have created the Mackenzie Book & Art Festival to bring people from across New Zealand together to celebrate culture, art and literature in one of Aotearoa’s most extraordinary places.
Events will be held in a variety of venues across the Mackenzie Region. They will range from literary presentations and discussions to drawing workshops and a sculpture walk on the foreshore of Lake Tekapo, open to all the public for the festival’s duration.
When asked why the small committee decided to establish this significant and exciting festival, the response from one of the organisers, Renee Rowland, was, ‘We love books. We know the power of art, and now more than ever, we want to celebrate and bring our community together in the shared experience of a book and art festival.
‘Our festival isn’t just for people who like to read books or appreciate art – books and art are our mechanisms to reach many corners of our community – from children who are beginning to read to those who want to write a book or create art,’ says Renee.
The festival events are curated to reflect the landscape and community. Farmers and entrepreneurs, adventurers and scientists, readers and writers, artists celebrating the renowned clear light of the Mackenzie. New Zealand has a great line-up of literary and art festivals and events, and the aim is for Create to be surprising, unique and memorable – just like the Mackenzie Region.
The festival opens in the Fairlie Theatre with a presentation by Alison Jones, the author of the highly acclaimed This Pākehā Life: An Unsettled Memoir.
The two-week festival includes literary events with Steve Braunias, Owen Marshall, Airini Beautrais, Grahame Sydney, Bill Manhire and many others, and an exhibition featuring a selection of Canterbury artists, including Ben Woollcombe, Sally Hope, Henry Hope, Amelia Guild, Anna Guild and Susanna Izard.
A sculpture walk on the Tekapo lakefront will showcase large installations by established and emerging New Zealand Sculptors, the ilk of Paul Deans, Rebecca Rose, Ben Foster, Debbie Templeton-Page, Brent Holley, Trevor Askin and Matthew Williams.
The Twizel town square will host an outdoor photo walk with 12 images selected from a photo competition for the festival’s duration, which will showcase the best of theMackenzie Region, while also being featured in a 2022 Mackenzie Book & Art Festival calendar.
A biannual event not to be missed!
For more information and the festival programme visit createfestivalnz.co.nz.