out and about in auckland

To celebrate emancipation from jet lag, I spent the last couple of days out and about researching, networking and generally saying hello to the hybrid/transdisciplinary scene in NZ. I have also been most generously welcomed home by the mosquitos of Auckland...and so it is amongst my hellish itching that I write the following update:

Yesterday I attended the Xmas party of the Moving Image Centre (MIC) http://www.mic.org.nz/mic/events/exhibitions/present

I had some great conversations with people from the art/technology/film scene…one of which was with Mary-Jane O’Reilly. Mary-Jane is one of New Zealand’s most respected dance practitioners in a career spanning almost 30 years both in New Zealand and internationally. She has created many high profile dance events including her choreography of the Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games (1990) www.maryjaneoreilly.com

What sparked my interest was her latest, very successful venture: Tempo° Dance Festival.
Tempo° is an annual event that brings different dance worlds together in a month long festival which includes various showcases. The showcase themes this year were Loud (for percussion dances), Hot (for hip hop styles) and World. According to Mary-Jane, one key to successful inter-disciplinary collaboration is providing the opportunity for specialists in different dance forms to perform and during the process (waiting backstage, seeing each others dances etc) it becomes a forum, a cultural exchange through performance process which allows people to just make their own connections. Simple really.

In other news….

Pacific Islanders are rejecting capitalism for traditional trade in Vanuatu. Or so the New Zealand Herald reported yesterday. Apparently they are spurning the cash economy in favour of traditional local currencies such as pigs, tusks, grass mats and sea shells. Fuelled by fears that capitalism will destroy traditional way of life...they are bravely attempting to preserve cultural heritage in the face of the cash hungry rhetoric from organisations such as the World Bank. Full article is available at: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=34&objectid=10481808

Something else I noticed today (through my Envirolink Network feed) was an article entitled: “Water becomes the new oil”….have a read of this…it is a useful reminder of why generating new realities is vital:

http://www.envirolink.org/external.html?itemid=200712090840520.138012