‘Vibrant’ array of art spilling onto waterfront
Inside a handful of carefully stacked shipping containers on the Wellington waterfront, artists from near and far are pushing the boundaries of what constitutes art.
The Performance Arcade, an annual festival of visual arts and performance is back for its eighth iteration, this time under the New Zealand Festival umbrella.
Arcade director and event founder Sam Trubridge says while this year’s offering has fewer containers, the event programme has expanded in other ways.
‘‘There’s a lot of layers to the arcade this time; it basically accumulates, so this year we’ve got a lot more in terms of the programme as well as a change to the structure, allowing audiences to really relax.
‘‘It’s about making the space more welcoming.
‘‘Because the [New Zealand] Festival is on, we wanted to push things and show some of the international guests what we have here, and for those from out of Wellington, what we do here,’’ Trubridge says.
The latest arcade explores the theme of counter-narratives with a ‘‘vibrant assembly’’ of works spilling out of the containers and onto the waterfront.
Producer Sascha Perfect says while having a theme allows for a cohesive programme, there’s still plenty of room for the artists to branch out.
‘‘Each year we want to encourage different levels of participation, so it’s not just a certain ilk of artists, it’s a mix of up-and-coming as well as those more well-established.’’
A literal highlight of the arcade programme is Charlotte Shade’s Gold Instrumental (Body), which features Shade covered only in gold body paint, playing the piano, atop a shipping container.
The striking work, in Shade’s own words, explores the sacred and familiar, deity and self; tapping into narratives of social justice and feminism to both challenge and educate.
While Shade’s performance will be a nightly fixture, parts of the arcade will change over the next couple of weeks.
‘‘At the halfway point, a lot of the performance series works will change over and there will be three new containers going down as well,’’ Trubridge says.
‘‘The second weekend is actually fuller. Even the works that will stay here will develop and grow in their spaces.’’
Trubridge says the containers provide the artists with an alternative to the usual gallery or performance space, with each able to be transformed any way they
want.
‘‘The shipping container is a potent device … as an artefact of our global, capitalist society … an ocean-going vessel that carries memories, lifestyles, cultures, and trade across the many borders that define our contemporary world.’’
As well as the array of art and performance on display, each day the space is open, it will become a concert venue thanks to the live music series featuring German electronic musician Hanno Leichtmann, currently in residence with the Goethe-Institut, Wellington’s-own Alexa Casino, and many more.