Karamea Wearable Art Show Transcends All Expectations

Off the Top of My Head 

By Paul Murray 

The remote rural township of Karamea came alive with creative ferment on Easter Saturday, with most of the region and many Easter visitors packing the old Hardware Store to take in the KaraWearable Arts Show and experience haute couture West Coast style.

The wearable art show was part of the Karamea Pop-Up Gallery Easter Art Exhibition, and the outfits worn in the show were on display before the event for people to examine before seeing them on the catwalk models. The show was timed to coincide with the busy Easter weekend, which attracts a lot of visitors and allows Karamea to show that our region has more to offer than stunning scenery, beautiful beaches, rivers, estuaries, forests, the Heaphy Track and the famous Oparara arches, caves and lakes, we also have a vibrant and artistic population of fun-loving folk who are proud of where we live and of our 700-strong community.

Fabulously fashionable creations were sown, stapled, nailed, glued, woven and screwed together and modelled by Karamea's finest ladies and a few handsome lads. Karamean supermodels donned the fashionistas' fantastic creations and strutted their stuff on an S-curve catwalk that permitted much crowd interaction and feedback as the overwhelmed onlookers cheered, clapped and wolf-whistled their encouragement and appreciation. Traditionally, models are supposed to be straight-faced and aloof to deflect attention from themselves to encourage the audience to focus on their outfits, but our models danced, spun, twisted, twirled and beamed like Cheshire cats to present their outfits with enthusiasm and infectious excitement.

Dairy farmers, schoolteachers, retirees, schoolchildren, parents, nurses and chefs became fashion designers for the occasion. They put their minds into creating beautiful, clever, stylish and outlandish outfits for their models to show off. Natural materials collected from regional forests, beaches, rivers and estuaries, and rubbish that would otherwise be in a landfill were all utilised in the creative process. Everything was recycled/repurposed/reused/renovated/restored, and, occasionally, rediculous!

There were 39 wearable creations in the show, modelled by 16 beautiful locals. The youngest model was four years old, and the most senior was a sexagenarian! The show also attracted entries fromGranity, and Buller Mayor Jamie Cleine visited the exhibition to check out the creations. Before the fashion parade, 241 people visited the gallery on April 8 and 9, 2023, and many came back to see the show, which was standing-room only. A visitor involved with the Nelson Wearable Arts Festival on condition of anonymity said, "The creations here tonight reminded me of the first WOW show in Nelson...This is as good as that!"

After a few disruptive years of social interruption and forced anti-social behaviour, the KaraWearable Arts Show was just what the community needed to reinvigorate social interaction, creativity, public expression, and confidence and was a great initiative in putting the unity back into the community in the post-COVID era. The show was very much a community effort led by a dedicated group of Karameans, with much behind-the-scenes support from their families, the staff and students at Karamea Area School, businesses who provided logistical support, a venue, cash prizes, donations for the raffle and help setting up the show, printing, lighting, music, promoting, compèring, documenting and catering for the event.

A raffle on the night raised almost $1,000 to help fund the next KaraWearAble Art Show, scheduled for the 2024 Easter Weekend with the categories of "Upcycled/Recycled," "Youth," "Myths & Legends," and an "Open" class.

The dominance of Internet-based entertainment these days has all but put paid to community initiatives like the wearable art show. However, the excitement, energy and genuine laughter for all who participated in the show as performers, artists, designers, models and audience made it a memorable night that far exceeded a night with NETFLIX/Facebook/Fox Sports, SKY etc. The show enabled people to actively express their creativity instead of being passively entertained by others.

Well done, Karamea...LOVE your work!

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