This Auckland ArtWeek, St Matthew-in-the-City Church will be host to Pōhutukawa Chi, Songs for Homeless and Pō ~ Beautiful Darkness live Maori opera, all brought to you by Mika Haka.

Pōhutukawa Chi - All week, 7th (art installment opening ceremony) – 15th October

The Mika Haka Art Installation Pōhutukawa Chi on the Pōhutukawa tree behind St Matthew-in-the-City remembers lives lost to suicide in the past twelve months, offering a voice of hope to the living.

Moulding ‘606-Shapes’ in memory of the 606 lives lost to suicide this year, Mika invites passers-by to write their own messages on ribbon this ArtWeek and add them to the Pōhutukawa Chi installation. This sharing of voices will contribute to NZ’s future initiatives to suicide prevention where love and hope will shine amongst the remembrance of lost ones. 

Pō ~ Beautiful Darkness, Songs for Homeless – (Late Night Art live performance) 10th October from 8pm

An indoor performance of giving, under the musical direction of Penny Dodd and her piano string quartet, Mika Haka performs Songs for Homeless – a breathing house of ancestors remembered and imagined. Heightened anthems are sung in Te Reo and English bittersweet lullabies. Pō is not a night of nice pop songs.

Pō is a neo-Maori (avant-garde), experimental works to invoke a feeling of who we are in Arts, culture and society. Non-traditional and questioning the boundaries away from Eurocentric and genre-specific definitions.

Pō - the discovery of the darkness inside; “a darkness that is beautiful and can live on eternally,” says Mika. Dodd’s arrangements create musical dreamscapes to deep rumbles from Mika’s collaborations | the likes of composer Gareth Farr to actor Keisha Castle-Hughes. Music will be accompanied by a massive canvas backdrop of digital works from Mika Haka, Don Chooi and students of Media Design School.

On the night, ArtWeek will be asking for donations of healthy food upon entry for Auckland City Mission, as well as raising money for a whānau living with cancer. We hope you come along! For more information on the event, head to http://artweekauckland.co.nz/events/central/5675052494225408