The second Southland Creative Arts Awards were held in Invercargill on Saturday night, celebrating artists and performers from across the region. This year’s Supreme Winner was ‘’He Wai Apakura — Te Ara Pounamu (The River’s Lament — A Pathway of Treasures)’’, an exhibition at Eastern Southland Gallery of a series of 26 paintings and prints by artist Jo Ogier exploring the ecological and geographical landscape of the Mataura River catchment in Southland. suppliedPart of the exhibit He Wai Apakura – Te Ara Pounamu (The River’s Lament – A Pathway of Treasures) on display at Eastern Southland Gallery. Photo: Supplied Arts Murihiku chairwoman Becs Amunsden said feedback from artists and businesses had been good and she was happy to see another successful event. “The emails and Facebook messages are already coming in from people who are just acknowledging that they had a lovely time and they really enjoyed the celebration.” After the success of the inaugural awards in 2024, her team decided to stage the event every two years. “If we were doing it every year, we’d only be taking a moment then starting it over again . . . it was a bit easier this year since we had the template from 2024 to build on.” Prior to that there had been a lack of recognition of the arts in Southland, particularly compared with sports, she said. “The sports awards have been going for years and years. The arts contribute just as much to our community as the sports sector does. “We want to celebrate all facets of the arts, not just the musicians, performers and visual artists, but all those people who organise, curate and produce too. “We aim to make the arts more visible, vibrant and valued . . . sometimes you know of these people or organisations but you don’t really know what they do.” This year, different kinds of entertainment were added throughout the night, including a display of wearable arts and comedy from the MC. Ms Amunsden said she initially set her expectations lower for turnout considering how some businesses and organisations were struggling, but was pleased to see a turnout of over 300 people. “We scaled back our expectations this year because we know that economically it’s a hard time for people, but people wanted to celebrate so it was not a problem to sell those tickets.” Other winners were: Mīharo Murihiku Trust (Community Trust South Community Catalyst Award); Steve Gooding (Sono Sound Systems Lifetime Achievement Award); Tonihi Whānau & Ngā Herenga Waka Kapa Haka (He Tohu Kia Mau ki Ngā Taonga Tuku Iho); Jersey Rhein (The Hits Production Excellence Award); Tania Carran (Invercargill City Council Leadership in the Arts Award); Out of School Music Classes (Southland Arts Society Leadership in Arts Education Award); Brian Johnstone (ELM Marketing Creative Excellence Award); Brent Knight, McCulloch Architects (Southland Express Patronage Award); Lachie McGregor (Ascot Park Hotel Emerging Talent Award). tayler.mutton@alliedmedia.co.nz
