From today until Tuesday, six talented artists will be hard at work painting a colourful street mural on the wall of hoarding outside the Municipal Chambers.
Featuring the poem Intuit, by local poet Iona Winter, the mural will be painted by artists Kelly Spencer (Kell Sunshine), who specialises in hand-crafted lettering combined with flora and fauna; Aroha Novak, whose work draws out local histories; painter, potter and illustrator Devon Smith; and the Dreamgirls Art Collective.
Comprising Xoe Hall, Miriama Grace-Smith and Gina Kiel, the Dreamgirls Art Collective introduces new ways of looking at street art across the digital and hand-painted mediums, and its work adorns public and private spaces across Aotearoa.
People visiting the Octagon to take part in events will be able to enjoy watching the mural take shape, with the the different artworks flowing from one to the other in a visual interpretation of the poem’s words empowering wahine, atua, symbols and metaphors.
On the days when the Fifa Fan Festival events are running at the Dunedin Town Hall and the Glenroy Auditorium, another team of artists and projection experts will create a projection mapping project on St Paul’s Cathedral. The project will run tonight, Saturday, Sunday and next Friday, Saturday and Sunday, July 28-30.
Also installed in the Octagon, from next Tuesday, will be four eye-catching light boxes, with designs from visual artist Ephraim Russel, featuring photography and biographies of four local women connected to football. These include Football Fern Annalie Longo, representative player Hannah Langsbury, sports photographer Clare Toia-Bailey and player Zara Pratley, who starred in Dunedin’s bid video to host the tournament in 2020.
Dunedin City Council events team leader Dan Hendra said, in line with Fifa’s "Beyond Greatness" campaign to inspire future female football talent, the spotlight would be shone on some of Aotearoa’s own talented women.
"As well as these special projects, we’re bringing a stellar lineup of female musicians to the Fifa Fan Festival where we will also host the Equalize programme by NZ Story, which is a series of talks featuring trailblazing women," Mr Hendra said.
The Octagon projects will remain in place until the end of the tournament in Dunedin.
A second mural will be painted in Anzac Ave, on Sunday, July 30, by street artist Graeme Hoete, also known as Mr G.
FIFA FAN FESTIVAL
- The Fifa Fan Festival starts tonight with a free, family-friendly evening of entertainment from 4.30pm onwards featuring music by Bic Runga and DJ Tina Turntables, a screening of the Fifa Women’s World Cup opening ceremony at 6.15pm and a screening of the New Zealand versus Norway match at 7pm.
- All Fifa Fan Festival events will be held at the Dunedin Town Hall and Glenroy Auditorium, today, Saturday and Sunday and next Friday, Saturday and Sunday, July 28-30. Along with screenings of games, the festival will feature performances by Runga, Ladyhawke, Ladi6, the Topp Twins, Foley, Riiki Reid, Georgia Lines and Paige.
- The programme is not ticketed and there will be limited capacity, so people should arrive early to secure a place.
For more information and a full Fifa Fan Festival programme go to www.dunedinnz.com
