A novel presentation of Gavin Hipkins' Erewhon at the Mangare Arts Centre

On Saturday 6 June, the Mangare Arts Centre Nga Tohu o Uenuku presents Gavin Hipkins' feature length film Erewhon, which is based on the 1972 novel by Samuel Butler. The film's narrator Mia Blake and composer Rachel Shearer will deliver a live soundtrack and voice performance in conjunction with the screening which takes place from 1-2pm.

Erewhon: the Book of the Machines, which combines photographs from the film with a 26 minute film extract, is also showing at the Forrester Gallery, timed to coincide with Oamuaru's 2015 Steampunk festival.
Images: Gavin Hipkins Erewhon (Mountains), Erewhon (Planet) and Erewhon (Forest) 2014, archival pigment prints, 600 x 337mm  

Three new Pacifika soundtracks for Len Lye's Tusalava

Recently the Mangare Arts Centre Nga Tohu o Uenuku presented Len Lye: Agiagia, an exhibition co-curated by Paul Brobbel and James Pinker exploring Pacific influences in Lye's work. The show included screenings of Lye's 1929 short film Tusalava. The film originally had music composed for two pianos, which was played live at the premiere, but the original score was lost and Tusalava has remained a silent film for many years. Pinker and Brobbel spotted the window of opportunity and  commissioned three Pacifika composers to create soundtracks for New Compositions: Three Composers Respond to Tusalava. This link takes you to a review of the new scores,which were played consecutively alongside the film in the Agiagia exhibition
Image: Still from Len Lye's Tusalava presented with new compositions in the exhibition Len Lye: Agiagia, Mangare Arts Centre Nga Tohu o Uenuku, 24 December 2013 - 16 March 2014