Issue No50 — Welcoming Committee

The last leg of my morning commute is a roll down Victoria St, and for weeks I was fizzing to see what was underneath the tumescent black shroud at the bottom. The big RuVeal in late July was the taniwha Horotiu, a full-bodied bronze tuna kūwharuwharu (long-fin eel), twisting through time and space, his chin resting thoughtfully on the pavement. I love him unashamedly and will protect him with my life.

Unanticipated, the same morning another bronze figure appeared further up at the mouth of the new Waihorotiu station; a cloaked, towering woman with kawakawa leaves at her breast.

From the top of the hill, my heart sank a little as I recognised the shape of the korowai and immediately pictured the cornball, dusky maiden of early-20th century Air New Zealand propaganda. We’re still performing pretty culture for the tourists, I thought, wondering if they would look long enough to recognise how many streeties and rough sleepers in the vicinity share her nose, her wide cheekbones.

Various council people were still mincing about and I had to wait for deputy mayor Desley Simpson to finish an enthusiastic news interview before I could get a closer look. 

Wāhine is warm but not smiling, because her mouth is open in a call of welcome. If you look closely you’ll see lines of concentration between her brows. Her weight is forward. She’s focusing hard on her role, which is a complex one, as anyone who has done karanga will tell you. A casual observer might think of it as a performance, but the call is just the end result. To karanga you must make a portal of yourself – become the connective tissue between living and dead, seen and unseen, mortal people and immortal Papatūānuku. Mai te whai ao ki te ao mārama. There is a reason most Māori women are terrified to be asked to do it. You have to turn yourself inside out with everyone watching.

When I look up, I see all of this written on her face.

Wāhine with a macron denotes the plural women rather than a singular wahine. I don’t know the artists’ intentions by giving her this name, but I assume she represents all women who carry the responsibility of welcoming manuhiri on behalf of the whole dang tribe. But it’s not the abstract collective I think of when I greet her in the mornings now. She is her own person, doing a hard job in the CBD like me, and so I say ‘Mōrena sis’ as we pass each other and I feel like my day has begun.

– Leonie

Leonie Kapea Hayden works as a public servant on High St, opposite the first bar she ever worked at 27 years previously. She comes from the Ngāti Whātua hapū, Ngāti Rango.

Wāhine was created by master carver Arekatera (Katz) Maihi (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, Ngāti Whātua ki Kaipara, Tainui, Te Waiohua, Ngāpuhi) and Beronia Scott (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei).

Horotiu was created by Chris Bailey (Ngāti Hako, Ngāti Pāoa, Ngāti Porou, Te Aupouri) and Sally Smith.

By Jean

RUMOUR MILL

We are rumour rich this week! We’ve heard that cafe and gallery space HARDcore on Karangahape Rd (previously Starkwhite) will be closing down soon, with the artists occupying its studios upstairs also given notice to vacate. HARDcore never secured their liquor license, which was likely the death knell and a shame considering the community-based intentions behind its opening. Argh – just how long is this massive shopfront going to be empty this time?

Other rumour and, geographically related, we’re told that the Ragtag team is going into the old Madame George space just a few doors down from HARDcore. Yay!!!

NEW OPENINGS

There is no stopping the new wave of specialty matcha shops, which have all seemingly decided to concentrate its efforts in Newmarket. This one is a chain from Japan – CHA-NO-WA – now at 235 Broadway. It’s more Tsujiri-ish, with lots of matcha and hojicha drink and dessert options. I’ve seen TikToks and that matcha is VERDANT.

A new cafe called FLOWER POWER has opened in Beach Haven, from the same owner of Lulu’s in Wairau Valley. 

108 HANOI SOCIAL has recently opened in Newmarket, a new Vietnamese spot which sells the usual suspects (pho, banh mi, bun cha etc). There’s also a dinner buffet that features BBQ and hotpot including a… make-your-own pho station?

There’s a little chai cart on Ponsonby Rd out on weekday mornings, CHAI CLUB, where you can pick up a cup of warm chai and a samosa to eat for breakfast before heading into the office.   

YOMI, a new frozen yoghurt and acai place, is opening in Takapuna on Saturday. I think it's a second branch from a place originally from Mt Maunganui. Yomi, Yo-Chi, potato, po-tah-to.

COMING SOON – ZAITOON, the Palestinian spot which was previously operating out of Southmall in Manuwera, is opening a new restaurant on Dominion Rd on the same strip as OOH-FA and Parro.

EVENTS + NEWS

Parnell restaurants Aarth and Rhu are TEAMING UP for a long lunch on the 30th August. And we mean long – it’s 10 courses for $140pp.

The two most reliable pop-up purveyors in Auckland, Boongs and Yumso, are both, well, popping up this week. BOONGS are back at Rumours this morning till 2pm, while YUMSO will be at Cafe Richmond on Sunday.

The CUISINE GOOD FOOD AWARDS were this week. The shadow of Tyre-Man-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named loomed large over proceedings and it didn’t help that the Restaurant of the Year was Essence, the Queenstown spot that was also the only two-star recipient in the Awards-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named. Other notable winners were Henry Onemoso from Tala (Chef of the Year), Return (New Restaurant of the Year) and Parro (Metropolitan Restaurant of the Year). Metropolitan is such a funny descriptor.

Wake up, babe, KFC’s PR agency has decided on another public-facing “ACTIVATION”, opening next Friday. Email in your guesses. That black-and-white signage is giving me… “bistro”.

By Mike

Promising “no new taxes” is the first refuge of a political coward: as public services wither, infrastructure languishes and the inequality gap yawns ever wider, it’s a vacating of the field; a self-serving hospital pass to future generations so as not to discomfit today's well-off at the expense of everyone else. It’s also National’s election policy. Two variants surfaced this week that in combination would negatively impact Tāmaki Makaurau and our quality of life, neither of which will have improved Wayne Brown’s mood one bit. Four months after the Mayor and Prime Minister signed the “landmark” Auckland City Deal, Luxon disavowed its stipulation for the government to consider an accommodation levy on hotel stays, long a priority of Brown’s, intended to boost the hospitality sector, cover the costs of tourism and help curb the region's 6.4% unemployment rate, the highest in the country.

In isolation, and the duplicity aside, reneging on a commitment to think about maybe instituting a bed tax is a relatively minor transgression. But when coupled with THE INTENTION TO RESTRICT COUNCIL RATE RISES TO 2–4% PER YEAR – below the current rate of inflation – the ideological imperative is clear: centrally mandated spending cuts in real terms to the facilities and services communities rely upon and the foreclosing of other funding options beyond increasing the fees users pay, so that ratepayers don’t. Property owners have enjoyed enormous tax-free gains over the last 25 years as Auckland house prices have quadrupled, while local investment has struggled to keep up with the growth in population and cost. The net result will be yet further delayed improvements to the third of infrastructure that councils must service with only 10% of tax receipts along with a combination of service cuts and higher usage charges for those that remain. Or rather, that could be the outcome, if we allow it to be.

Choice items from the liquidation sales of Auckland’s two-speed recovery.
By Simon

YEAH BOWL
Closes tonight
If you have plans to open your own millennial slop bowl outfit, you can get a head start by buying all Yeah Bowl’s stuff from their recently shuttered Britomart store.

CONTACTLESS THERMOMETER
Current bid $40, Closes Monday
Everywhere right now, people are sick and with this you can tell how sick from a small distance away (1-5cm) without having to do anything gross like actually touch them. Great for working out who not to sit next to on the bus.

DIGITAL TEMS/EMS DEVICE WITH HEAT FUNCTION
Current bid $25, Closes Monday
Uses a small remote to send wee pulses and heat to electrodes you have stuck to yourself for pain relief and muscle stimulation, which you could use to develop one massive shoulder while you watch TV or attach to your child for gentle-ish electroshock behaviour modification.

DOG RACING STARTING BOXES
Current bid $40, Closes Friday week
Jumped the gun on this auction last week, sorry if you clicked and experienced disappointment, but all the Greyhound Racing Club stuff is online now including this unique piece of memorabilia and some quite good merch, winners ribbons and trophies.

FLATBED PRINTER
Current bid $550, Closes Wednesday
Another print shop has gone under which sucks but it’s just in time for you to get this industrial, ultraviolet-curable inks printer for rigid and flexible substrates and get into the corflute political lawn sign business in the run up to the general election.

4.2 KILOS OF JERK SEASONING
Current bid $10, Closes tonight
Summer is coming.

By Simon

THURSDAY 27TH

THREE FILMS
Treadler, Free
Juliet Carpenter presents three art films as part of her Treadler residency including Todd Haynes batshit The Karen Carpenter Story starring (trigger warning) an anorexic Barbie doll. Starts at 7, half hour break at 8pm with refreshments.

PUPPET SLAM
Golbin, Free
Tom Tuke presents an ‘evening of curated short-form puppetry acts intended for adult audiences’. From an instagram post we saw the other day, it seems like Princess Chelsea is also involved. 

GOING GLOBAL SUMMIT
And Friday, Whammy, $30
The annual two day music biz seminar is back and with it, two nights of micro-set showcases from a group of artists across multiple genres and all the Whammy stages, including: Leao, Mainard Larkin, Skilaa, Sola Rosa, Where’s Jai and many, many more.

FRIDAY 28TH

BUDDY WAREHOUSE SALE
HARDcore, Free
Bright hemp fibre clothes for cheap, one day only and the first of a raft of warehouse, sample and archive sales coming down the pipe over the next few weeks.

ALL TOMORROW’S POETS
Time Out, Koha
Friday is New Zealand Poetry Day! There’s a few things on about the city but this annual event with Oscar Mardell, Sophie Van Waardenberg, Nirvana Haldar, Rahul Hendriksen and Anna Jackson, upstairs at Time Out runs for a good, tight 90 minutes from 6 and seems like the cutest option.

NOISE CONTROL VOLUME 2
Neck of the Woods, $15
Big bill at NotW with BBYFACEKILLA, Ethan James, DJ Brenda, Nickalee and Vercetti playing global club and electronic music.

SATURDAY 29TH

ENCORE! AFTERPARTY
Central Library, Free
The big music exhibition at the central library is wrapping up and they are pinching it off with a record fair and DJs Giblicorp, Martyn Pepperell and kreolejuju from 11am.

ZINEFEST CLOSING PARTY
Old Folks Ass, Free
A big month of zine related activities wraps up with a best-of awards night and indie and electropop played by Club Ruby and Mabh McCurdy. There will be food and drink and more zines.

CARNIVOROUS PLANT SOCIETY RELEASE SHOW
Whammy, $39
Jazzy combo at the end of an 18 date run of shows celebrating the release of their EP I Am Always Listening and promising to be extra tight.

THE GREEN MACHINE
Double Whammy, $40
Fund raising show for the Greens but they are going to split the take with a local live venue support group. With Frank Booker, Lucy Gray, Dick Move, Ariel Wose and Jim Nothing. WARNING: Politicians

HUN LYNCH ALBUM RELEASE
Kāhui St David’s, $39
Busy few months for Hun Lynch who debuted her acting chops in Mum I’m Alien Pregnant and now is releasing her first full LP, the trip-hoppy Sycophant via Noa Records backed by a full band. Support is a theatrical solo clown performance by Sean Dioneda Rivera in another welcome sign that things are getting weird.

WEEABOO WEEKEND 2.0
Dong Dong Lounge, $20
A survey of the Auckland japanese rock and metal scene with Ai No Zero Kan, Yomika, Mizery Crisis, Hitokiri and closing up with DJ Sleepy J. Doors at 7, happy hour till 8, anime/manga cosplay strongly encouraged.

WEDNESDAY 2ND

AOTEAROA FESTIVAL OF ARCHITECTURE
All over, Free
Talks, open studios, docs, book launches and more at this month-long architecture festival which we potentially will have more on in the next couple of weeks.

ONE OF THESE SITUATIONS
Lett Thomas, Free
Group show of some of the gallery’s most earthy sculptors; Kate Newby, Mike Hewson and Chris Booth - alongside Diane Arbus!