Artists and Art Lovers, Don’t Let the Artbeat Skip by You

Calling all art lovers! Creative Coromandel’s spring festival, artbeat, is a curation of all the must-see artists, experiences and events in the rohe. Running until mid-December, artbeat gives locals and visitors alike the chance to build an itinerary of art experiences on the Coromandel, before the summer hordes arrive. The peninsula is pulsing with artistic endeavours this spring and with the sun shining and the roads open there’s never been a better time to engage with Coromandel artists.

To create your own artistic itinerary, simply go to the artbeat website and choose dates that will suit. For example, if you’d like to attend Thames’ famous Steampunk Festival, you could put together an itinerary for the weekend November 8–11. Arriving on Friday, you can attend life drawing classes followed by live music at the Kauaeranga Valley Hall with Bob McNeill and Emily Roughton. Spend Saturday marvelling at the costumes on display at Steampunk Parade and fashion show but get in a disco nap before the ball that night. Take it a bit more gently on Sunday and round out the weekend by relaxing to either the music of the harp, or the choral stylings of the very talented Mercury Bay Community Choir. If you have any spare moments during the weekend, the Creative Coromandel website can help you fill them with information about galleries and creative venues all over the Coromandel at the end of a mouse click.

The artbeat festival is also putting out a call to all the artists in the region. The festival has been designed by Creative Coromandel to connect communities through art and to create an arts ‘gig guide’. It is free to be part of the festival, and inclusion in the program helps artists to amplify their upcoming events to a receptive audience. All creatives are invited to participate so if you have an upcoming art show, dance exhibition or music gig, contact Creative Coromandel to be added to the calendar. Sign up today – you’ll find all the info you need on the newly revamped Creative Coromandel website.

This glow-up of Creative Coromandel’s website makes it a must-use resource for anyone interested in the arts. For art lovers, the website will guide you to the events, people, places and news from around the peninsula. For artists, there is a whole section of the website devoted to resources with guidance on funding, prizes and connection to other creatives, as well as information about workshops, arts advocacy and advice on selling art online.

Visit Creative Coromandel and start planning your artbeat experience today!

New CoroCine Film Fest to Kick Off the Coromandel Artbeat Spring Festival This September

the coromandel artbeat spring festival: September to December 2024
create, connect, come together, celebrate

1.9.2024, by Creative Coromandel

A brand-new Coromandel-centric film festival is blossoming this spring in Whitianga. The CoroCine Film Festival is the first event in the coromandel artbeat spring festival, which will pull together a series of creative events mapped out across the peninsula.

The CoroCine Film Festival will for the first time bring together Coromandel films and filmmakers in an exciting programme over three days, in a collaboration between Creative Coromandel and Twin Cinemas Whitianga. CoroCine will also kick off the coromandel artbeat spring festival, a three-month online programme of creative events.

The thriving arts scene in the Coromandel is beginning to rival the beaches for a reason to take a trip down SH25. But while there are a number of art festivals and open studio events that take place around the rohe, with the amount of talent that is bursting out of the peninsula it was only a matter of time until local filmmakers were coaxed out of their darkened viewing rooms to take their place in the limelight.

The CoroCine Film Festival will take place from September 6 – 8 at the Twin Cinemas in Whitianga. Anne-Maree McDougall, who owns the cinema with her husband Matt, has been a key driver in pulling the festival together. As well as celebrating local film, the festival aims to be a catalyst for people to start making their own films, and to inspire those who have always wanted to make a film to see that there is a local venue keen to screen what they have made to an audience.

The impressive programme includes international award-winning filmmakers James Muir (Mauri o te Kauri), Amy Taylor (Milked) and Kirsty Griffin and Viv Kernick (The House of Champions) alongside emerging filmmakers and a collection of short films. The festival will kick off on September 6 with a screening of Anton Steele’s The Z Nail Gang, which is based on real events that happened in Kūaotunu when a group of locals fought back against an international mining company with plans to dig an open cast gold mine in the area. Daniel Leo Max’s documentary Baring Our Souls tells the story of a local Tairua man healing himself through art, a topic that reflects the themes and genesis of the festival itself which celebrates art as a way to bring
people together.

Earlier this year, Anne-Maree offered the use of the cinema to Ian Preece, a local photographer who was putting together a film of his night photography. Anne-Maree’s generosity meant Ian could see how his film looked on the big screen and adjust as needed – an invaluable experience for a first-time film maker. When both showings of the final version of Ian’s film Starry Starry Night sold out, the seed for CoroCine was planted as Anne-Maree realised what an appetite there was to see local films by local filmmakers on the big screen. After sending out a couple of emails, within 48 hours Anne-Maree had three major works to show and a film festival was born.

Eventually Anne-Maree would like the festival to extend to Q&A sessions and workshops to provide a strong platform for local filmmakers to network and to learn more about their craft. Anne-Maree sees the festival as an investment in the future and is already looking forward to the day the cinema is thanked by a new Oscar winner who got their start at the CoroCine Festival!

CoroCine is supported by Creative Coromandel – He Mana Toi Moehau, a charitable trust that champions the area’s arts, artists and creative industries. The inaugural CoroCine Film Festival will kick off another Creative Coromandel venture – the coromandel artbeat spring festival, which celebrates the beating pulse of the abundance of art and artists all around this rohe. This will be the second year of the coromandel artbeat spring festival, following a successful launch of the festival in 2023.

Fiona Cameron, Chair of Creative Coromandel is excited to see the momentum gained in the first year is still building: “The Coromandel has always been a haven for creatives who have made their homes here and forged art careers. This creative spirit was evident last year when we had 70 events who had signed up to be part of our artbeat spring festival throughout the three-month festival”. Fittingly for a spring event, artbeat is an umbrella festival, designed to provide cover and promotion for all creative events on the Coromandel between September and December (when hopefully summer will mean umbrellas can go back in the cupboard).

The programme is designed to be a ‘choose your own adventure’ art trail that can be used to map trips around the peninsula and to plan a creative (and scenic) journey that could be as short as a day or as long as the whole three months! Pencilling in stops for coffee and food is enthusiastically encouraged for a true Coromandel experience.

The coromandel artbeat spring festival will bring together and promote a diverse range of artists and creatives. From the CoroCine Film Festival to experimental community music events, and from the Steampunk Festival in Thames to a chemistry course for making pottery glazes, there will be something to inspire and interest everyone. The festival is free for any creatives to register an event and will give everyone a chance to the meet the fascinating artists that live in the Coromandel Hauraki rohe.

For more information about CoroCine and the coromandel artbeat spring festival, please contact:

Fiona Cameron, Chair
Creative Coromandel/He Mana Toi Moehau Trust

email: chair.creativecoromandel@gmail.com

mobile: 021 759 120

the coromandel artbeat spring festival: September to December 2023
create, connect, come together, celebrate

1.9.2023, by Creative Coromandel

A brand new festival aims to bring more visitors to the Coromandel by promoting arts events from across the region under a single banner. Launched today, the coromandel artbeat spring festival is an umbrella festival promoting arts events, workshops, exhibitions, and performances happening across the Peninsula and Hauraki rohe between 1 September and 12 December 2023.

The coromandel artbeat spring festival programme already includes the Colville Festival, ‘Steampunk The Thames’, the Whangamatā Arts Collective’s ‘Art After Dark’ exhibition, the Thames Heritage Festival and the Coromandel Open Studio Arts Tour.

Festival organisers are calling on local creatives to get in touch with information about any events planned over the festival period, which will be promoted free of charge.

The coromandel artbeat spring festival is led by Creative Coromandel – He Mana Toi Moehau, a charitable trust that champions the area’s arts, artists and creative industries. Creative Coromandel chairperson Fiona Cameron hopes the festival will help strengthen and reinvigorate businesses and communities after the effects of Covid-19 and severe weather events have impacted the area both economically and socially. “With the Coromandel artbeat Spring Festival we want to create, connect and celebrate the creative people in our communities,” Fiona says. “By creating this ‘umbrella festival’ – a one stop shop for arts events in the region – we’re making it easy for anyone, anywhere to plan a day, weekend, week or all three months exploring the Coromandel Peninsula and Hauraki rohe.”

Thames Coromandel District Mayor Len Salt says he’s delighted by the festival initiative. “There are so many talented, creative people in our district, and bringing events and activities associated with the arts together under this umbrella will make it easier for people to build the arts into their visit to the Coromandel.” Fiona Cameron says Creative Coromandel recognises that art is at the heart of many communities around the Peninsula. “That’s why this festival celebrates the ‘artbeat’ of our people.”

Anyone who has an event they would like promoted as part of the festival, free of charge, please email Creative Coromandel at: info@creativecoromandel.co.nz

END

Connect with us:
the coromandel art beat spring festival
Website https://coromandelartbeat.nz/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CoromandelartbeatFestival
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coromandel_artbeat_festival/
Email info@creativecoromandel.co.nz

Creative Coromandel
Website https://creativecoromandel.co.nz/
Fiona Cameron, Chairperson, Email chair.creativecoromandel@gmail.com

Nau mai, haere mai. Discover and enjoy the creative, natural spirit of the Coromandel Peninsula at the Coromandel artbeat Spring Festival from 1 September to 12 December 2023.

Here on the Coromandel Peninsula, art is at the heart of our communities. We want to celebrate and share this creativity with you during this three-month festival.

Between 1 September and 12 December 2023, join us at events, exhibitions, workshops, open studios, musical and theatrical performances around the Coromandel Peninsula, that will welcome and inspire you.

Explore a diverse range of creative activities, take a scenic journey off-the-beaten-track, immerse yourself in artistic experiences and be inspired meeting the people creating work you will love.

Enjoy the laid-back pace of the Coromandel Peninsula, relax in our beautiful, wild spaces, find hidden gems, great food and coffee, and be welcomed into accommodation by our fabulous locals.

Get in touch: info@creativecoromandel.co.nz

Random Addition is an ambitious, experimental and really, really fun project by sound artist Matt Sephton running from 26th August to 3rd September 2023, which is aimed at encouraging creative play and exploration with sound.

For 9 days, an explorative music studio is set up in Hauraki House Gallery in Coromandel Town, with instruments microphones and all sorts of things that make strange noises.

Visitors are invited to join in on the creation of a continually evolving piece of experimental music, with the idea of it being loose, experimental, quite weird, and lots of fun!

Random Addition 3 image captions:

Random Addition is an ambitious, experimental project by sound artist Matt Sephton aimed at encouraging creative play and exploration with sound. It’s loose, experimental, quite weird, and lots of fun!

Random Addition – for 9 days an explorative music studio is set up by sound artist Matt Sephton in Hauraki House Gallery in Coromandel Town, with instruments, microphones, and all sorts of things that make strange noises.

Random Addition – in an explorative music studio by sound artist Matt Sephton set up in Hauraki House Gallery in Coromandel Town, visitors are invited to join in on the creation of a continually evolving piece of experimental music.

Contact for more info:
Coromandel Sonic Laboratory
Matt Sephton
Mobile 021 043 86 89
Web corosoniclab.co.nz

Coromandel Open Studios Artstour
By the coromandel artbeat spring festival, September 2023

Coromandel town and surrounds is known for its cultural and historical significance as well as for the vibrant creative people who have settled here. Historic Coromandel town is a haven for talented artists and craftspeople who have moved here from around New Zealand. The town has a unique character, soul and ambience, reflecting art and heritage.

Every year, on the first two weekends of October, nearly 40 artists from in and around the township open their studios for anyone to visit. The Artstour was started by local artists back in 2003, and this year celebrates its 20th anniversary.

Visitors are taken on an adventure through the creative spaces of local artisans and makers. Around 40 Coromandel artists open their studios and welcome visitors in. You can meet the artists, see the process, experience their creative spaces and purchase new and original artwork direct from the artist.

The Coromandel Open Studios Artstour is a self-guided tour, and visitors can drive, walk or cycle. A printed guide booklet shows where the artists are, and how to find them. Useful maps on the back page and at the start of each artist section in the guide enable visitors to easily find their way to the artist studios.

Many of the centrally located studios are at walkable distances from the town centre. The southern artists and the top town artists can easily be reached by bicycle in about 10 minutes. The northern artists are a bit further away, so a car is the best option to get to these studios.

A central exhibition at Hauraki House Gallery, which is located in the historic old school building, showcases one piece of each participating artist. It is a great starting point to get a sense of what’s on offer. Visitors can collect a guide book at the gallery and plan their day.

If you want to escape for a day or more from Auckland, Tauranga or Hamilton and would love an artistic adventure, then these first 2 weekends in October might just be it. Relax your soul, and discover the hidden creative spaces of the local artists.

END

Contact and more information:
Website coromandelartstour.co.nz
Pete Sephton: 027 242 4090 or Kim Brett 021 866 879