Collaborative art projects to mark First World War Centenary

Collaborative arts projects to mark First World War Centenary

Creative New Zealand is pleased to announce the third round of grants from its First World War Centenary (WW100) Co-Commissioning Fund.

In this round, over $358,000 will go to new arts projects which focus on the impact of the First World War on New Zealand as a nation. Supported projects will be presented across New Zealand, Australia, Belgium, France, England, Scotland and Turkey and cover a range of art forms: visual arts, opera, choral/orchestral, youth theatre, Pacific arts and jazz music.

The fund targets national and international organisations to commission new, collaborative work with New Zealand artists as part of the wider government programme to mark the First World War centenary (WW100). It is unique in offering support for creative development, including artist fees, rehearsal and material costs, with presentation costs covered by the other commissioning and presenting partners.

“As we prepare to mark a particularly significant Anzac Day this year, it’s been very special for us to be able to support such a diverse group of projects involving different parts of the world that have been touched by the contributions of New Zealanders,” says Creative New Zealand Senior Manager Cath Cardiff.

The New Zealand Cook Islands Arts Collective received $30,000 for the exhibition Lest We Forget the 500 Cook Islands Soldiers. The work commemorates the 500 Cook Islands men who left from Rarotonga to serve in WW1. It is currently on at Depot Artspace in Auckland until 6 May 2015, before heading to Rarotonga in July/August.

Long Cloud Youth Theatre will receive nearly $8,000 for project Dead Men’s Wars – a play about the legacy World War 1 has left for young people in the contemporary world. Long Cloud Youth Theatre is collaborating with Canberra Youth Theatre Company, and is co-presenting the play through BATS Theatre's STAB commission. Dead Men’s Wars will be performed in Canberra and Wellington in October 2015.

Public installation artist Allan Giddy will receive just over $19,300 for his project Sonic Wells. Opening in December 2015, on the centenary of the final Anzac withdrawal from Gallipoli, it acknowledges the special and enduring relationships that grew out of this conflict. For three months, three interconnected 'sound wells' will connect public spaces in Wellington, Auburn (Australia) and Cannakale (Turkey), transmitting ambient sounds to their sister wells in realtime and enabling the three communities to gather and talk with each other through the work.

Musician John Rae has been granted $25,000 for a new jazz work Dulce et Decorum est, inspired by the Wilfred Owen poem of the same name. The work is a jazz compilation that will feature soloists New Zealand bassist Patrick Bleakley and Scottish pianist Brian Kellock, who will play with a five-piece ensemble comprising musicians from New Zealand and Scotland. The work will premiere at the 2015 Edinburgh Jazz Festival and will also be performed at the CJC Auckland Jazz Festival in 2016.

Janet Jennings has received $55,800 for the composition and production of ANZACs – A Generation Lost in Legend, a large musical setting for choirs, soloists and instrumentalists of war poetry from the perspectives of New Zealand boys leaving their families for the front. The work will be prepared and performed by St James' Choir (Sydney), Newcastle University Choir (Australia) in July and August 2016 and The Graduate Choir (New Zealand) in Auckland in July 2017.

Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra will receive $220,000 for Ross Harris and Vincent O’Sullivan to devise Face – a semi-staged music theatre work for orchestra, soloists and chorus. Face is set in the Queen’s Hospital at Sidcup, South East of London, where New Zealand surgeon and plastic surgery pioneer Sir Harold Gillies directed the first large-scale reconstructive hospital for soldiers with severe facial injuries. Presenting partners are APO and London’s BBC Symphony Orchestra. The work will be presented in Auckland and the United Kingdom in 2018.

Creative New Zealand is offering a total of $1.5 million over three financial years through the WW100 Co-Commissioning Fund. This investment has been made possible by income from the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board.

Expressions of interest for the fourth and final funding round will close on Monday 2 November 2015.

Eligible works should relate to themes of the WW100 programme, include at least one international commissioning partner and be presented in at least two countries (including New Zealand) during the WW100 commemorations period over 2014 to 2018.

Visit the Creative New Zealand website for further information on eligibility criteria and applying.

ENDS

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