Shifted Ground
Saturday 9th April 2022, 7pm
Titirangi Theatre, Lopdell Precinct, 418 Titirangi Road, Titirangi, Auckland
Tickets: $20 from iTICKET
Bar Opens 6:30 pm
Shifted Ground will be an intimate literary salon exploring the varied terrains of Aotearoa, both geographic and historical; cultural and contested. There'll be performance, kōrero, music, photography and cinema. Writers, artists and thought leaders will explore diverse and evolving ideas of who – and where – we are, through the stories we tell each other that bring the land to life.
For info on access, parking and public transport click here. Lopdell House is wheelchair accessible.
Programme
Ghost Stories
Poetry and discourse
Michael Steven (Night School) and Serie Barford (Sleeping with Stones) explore the liminal spaces between, beneath and beyond the shimmering surface reality of life.
Serie Barford was born in Aotearoa to a German-Samoan mother and a Palagi father. She was the recipient of a 2018 Pasifika Residency at the Michael King Writers’ Centre and promoted her collections Tapa Talk and Entangled Islands at the 2019 International Arsenal Book Festival in Kiev. Her latest poetry collection, Sleeping With Stones, was launched during Matariki 2021.
Michael Steven is the author of the acclaimed Walking to Jutland Street and The Lifers, both published by Otago University Press. His accolades include the Todd New Writers Bursary and the 2021 Kathleen Grattan Poetry Award, of which the manuscript Night School will be published in April, 2021.
Contested Spaces
Kōrero and imagery
Lucy Mackintosh (Shifting Grounds: Deep Histories of Tāmaki Makaurau) and Richard Shaw (The Forgotten Coast) discuss – from their Pākeha perspectives – the deeply contested narratives of Aotearoa. With manu kōrero Pita Turei and journalist Tania Page in the interviewer’s chair.
Lucy Mackintosh is Curator of History at Auckland War Memorial Museum/Tāmaki Paenga Hira and has written and researched extensively about heritage and culture for the last 25 years. Lucy's book Shifting Grounds: Deep Histories of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland (published by Bridget Williams Books 2021) is based on her PhD thesis from the University of Auckland, which she completed from 2013 to 2018. The book examines deep histories, both natural and human, that have been woven together over hundreds of years in places across the city.
Richard Shaw lives in Papaioea / Palmerston North. He is a professor of politics at Massey University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences, where he teaches courses in New Zealand politics and undertakes research on the roles of political advisers in government ministers’ offices. He is a regular contributor to The Conversation, and when he is not at work he and his partner Ema can generally be found wandering along the beach out at Te Whārangi / Foxton Beach.
Pīta Turei (Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, Ngāti Pāoa, Nga Rauru Kiitahi) comes from a background in dance and theatre. He produces and directs independent kaupapa Māori documentaries for television and film. Turei is known as a kawa advisor, storyteller and orator connecting a new generation with the ancient histories of Tāmaki Makaurau. Photo by Liz March.
Tania Page is of Ngati Kahu and Ngai Tahu descent. She joined Sunday as a reporter in 2018 after 13 years working for Al Jazeera network in London and Johannesburg. During that time she reported from the Arctic Circle to Afghanistan. Tania was part of an Emmy nominated team that covered the conflict between Russia and Georgia and she was a finalist for the Bayeux Calvados War Correspondent prize. In Aotearoa she prefers to cover stories close to her heart about inequality and injustice, hoping to shine a light on important social issues. She is the proud Mum to two young boys who are in kura kaupapa education and who constantly school her when it comes to the language she is also trying to reclaim, one passive sentence structure or stative verb at a time!
Robin Hyde, Auckland and the 1930s
Words and imagery
Paula Morris and Haruhiko Sameshima present an illustrated exploration of time, place and madness in Hyde’s two great prose works, Passport to Hell and Godwits Fly.
Paula Morris (Ngāti Wai, Ngāti Manuhiri, Ngāti Whātua) is an award-winning fiction writer and essayist, the author of Shining Land: Looking for Robin Hyde (with photographer Haru Sameshima) and the co-editor, with Alison Wong, of A Clear Dawn: New Asian Voices from Aotearoa NZ (2021). She directs the Masters in Creative Writing programme at the University of Auckland and is the founder of both the Academy of New Zealand Literature (www.anzliterature.com) and Wharerangi, the Māori literature hub. She writes about Korean film and television at www.koreaseen.com. Photo by Colleen Maria Lenihan
Haruhiko Sameshima is a photographer, artist, image editor, publisher, and occasional writer on photography. Recent publishing projects include Shining Land: Looking for Robin Hyde (2020) with Paula Morris, editing Road People of Aotearoa: House Truck Journeys 1978-1984 by Paul C Gilbert (2021), and publishing Hinemihi: Te Hokinga – The Return (2020) by Hamish Coney and Dr Keri-Anne Wikitera with photographs of Mark Adams.
Premier: Moving Portraits
Screening and kōrero
The world premiere of Going West’s inaugural short documentary season, Moving Portraits presents two short films about two astonishing writers.
In Homecoming Poems, Nathan Joe depicts his life in 3 scorching poetic works, traversing his experiences as a queer, Chinese New Zealander. Director Nahyeon Lee captures her subject in dazzling colour-saturated cinematography, reflecting Joe’s words with visual power and grace. Ultimately Lacks Polish follows Wellington poet Freya Daly Sadgrove pursuing her vision for poetry that’s more than “just funerals and weddings”. Director Kathleen Winter juxtaposes Daly Sadgrove in states of contemplative introspection with sequences of a blinged-out, poetry rock–god: sexy, smart and hip as hell.
Nathan Joe: Homecoming Poems
Directed by Nahyeon Lee
Freya Daly Sadgrove: Ultimately Lacks Polish
Directed by Kathleen Winter
Getting There
Shifted Ground is presented at the Titirangi Theatre in the Lopdell Precinct, 418 Titirangi Road, Titirangi, Auckland
The venue is wheelchair accessible, with elevator access to every level.
The Lopdell Precinct is accessible by public transport, serviced by the 170 and 172 Buses, changing for the city at New Lynn. On Saturday the last bus to New Lynn runs at 11:22pm. Use at.govt.nz/bus-train-ferry/ to plan your night.
Parking is available at the rear of the Precinct and at the Titirangi War Memorial Hall, both accessed from South Titirangi Road.
Covid-19
We will of course be operating under appropriate COVID-19 protocols, so guests will be required to:
- Scan in using the COVID tracer app
- Show their vaccine passport
- Respect social distancing
- Be seated for drinks.
- Wear face masks
Thanks for helping us all stay safe!
Stranded in Paradise, Going West’s Live season 2021 - 2022
The world has shifted. A pandemic has altered the way time and geography work here in Aotearoa, changing our physical connection to the world. Are we stranded in Paradise? Or are we reweaving the strands of our reality into something new? It’s a conversation ripe with possibility — and we’re inviting you to join it.
Going West Live brings four truly unique events to Lopdell House, Te Uru Waitākere Contemporary Gallery and the Glen Eden Playhouse. Across these iconic west Auckland venues, our most potent storytellers, musicians and performing artists will engage in oratory, discussion and performance.