A plethora of artistic excellence will be unveiled in Auckland next month as the Auckland Arts Festival takes over New Zealand’s largest city. Featuring both local and international artists, this year’s festival promises to deliver some of the greatest theatre, music, dance and visual arts for the whole family.
Highlights include The Breath of the Volcano, a new work created exclusively for the festival by one of the world’s greatest pyrotechnic companies. This outdoor spectacular is sure to delight both young and old, providing an exploration of light in all its glorious forms.
The 2013 international front is particularly strong with West End play One Man, Two Guvnors in the midst of the festival. Dance-theatre work Babel by European choreographers Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Damien Jalet is also on the international menu, alongside China’s most successful contemporary play of all time – Rhinoceros in Love – and the National Theatre of Scotland’s play The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart.
On the local front, a special New Zealand music night is on the cards with Everything is Ka Pai, a one-night-only event featuring performances by The Yoots, Maisey Rika, Ria Hall, Annie and Will Crummer, Seth Haapu, Pio Terei and John Rowles. A new play by award-winning writer Mitch Tawhi Thomas, New Zealand’s first ever Pacific musical and an opera experience are also part of the local arts program for 2013.
Major players such as the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal New Zealand ballet are also taking part in this year’s festival, the former gearing up for a performance of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem while the latter presents the first original work for the company with Made to Move.
Every year, the visual arts program for the festival is of special significance. This year promises to be no different, with the return of White Night, a one night-only event which sees over 50 of Auckland’s art galleries remain open until midnight. New Zealand contemporary artist Tiffany Singh is also unveiling her installation project Fly Me Up To Where You Are, while Spanish artist Santiago Sierra presents an international collaboration featuring galleries from Iceland, Germany, Austria, France, Holland, Sweden, India, Papa New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand in Destroyed World.
Other highlights include a video work by Canada-based filmmaker Srinivas Krishna which explores Indian mythology, and two comic art exhibitions featuring work by 13 German comic artists as well as local New Zealand comic artists.
Kicking off on 6 March, the festival is led by artistic director Carla van Zon who praised the collaborative efforts of all involved in the upcoming event.
‘A festival is a moment in time that will never happen again,’ she said. ‘It is a celebration and an occasion to come together as a community to share in the spirit and creativity of an array of artists. We trust everyone will find something in the programme they love, and we welcome people to try something they haven’t before or by someone they’ve never heard of. Because at the heart of every artist’s work is the audience: creating a moment to delight, challenge or surprise each and every audience member. Artistic experiences can enrich the lives of all people at any age or stage.
The Auckland Arts Festival takes place from 6-24 March. A full program of events can be viewed online.