Drag king storytime was cancelled at Upper Hutt Library on Thursday this week due to safety concerns after threats made by Brian Tamaki of the Destiny Church.
Willy SmacknTush was due to read family-friendly books to children, as part of a wider annual Pride campaign in libraries supported by charity InsideOUT Kōaro.
It’s designed to give young rainbow New Zealanders a sense of belonging and safety.
The council says the decision was not made lightly after feedback led them to feel they were unable to ensure a safe and welcoming environment.
Tamaki had warned “if the mayor and councillors do not shut this event, I have instructed our Destiny Church members and Manup members to shut it down.”
Willy SmacknTush said the drag event was due to be “fully clothed, age appropriate and full of joy and sparkles.”
“The fear mongering and disinformation about drag performers is not based in reality,” they added.
The results for Creative New Zealand's new Creative Fellowship and Creative Impact funds have been announced. It’s the two latest funds from the For the Arts programme that has replaced the previous Arts Grants model.
International grants will see New Zealand visual artists present at the 2024 Busan Biennale in South Korea from mid August and the Sharjah Biennial in the United Arab Emirates in 2025.
Nightsong will be on tour in Australia in 2025 with their play Mr Red Light, EBKM with Yes Yes Yes and A Slightly Isolated Dog with The Trojan War. The latter will take in a whopping 25 venues.
Cian Parker in Sorry for your Loss Photo: supplied
Cian Parker's play Sorry For Your Loss will travel to Nova Scotia and Canada and Dust Palace’s Haus of Yolo to Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.
55 fellowships for artists totalling $1.8m have been offered at a level of $25,000 or $50,000 each. This sees Creative New Zealand move to focus its funding more on supporting artists rather than projects.
The inaugural Pōneke Festival of Contemporary Dance opens next week. Organisers Footnote Dance Company and Te Auaha say the festival promises to spark further passion for the “underdog” art form and establish itself as a winter tradition. The festival runs from 1-7th July at Te Auaha and features six dance works and a residency programme for seven dancers or companies.
The Who’s groundbreaking 1973 concept album Quadrophenia is becoming a ballet.
Writer Pete Townsend is working with Sadler’s Wells ballet in London and believes there are echoes of the mid-60s returning in 2024 when mod culture emerged as a rejection of conservative British norms.
Record companies are suing artificial intelligence song-generators Suno and Udio for copyright infringement.
They allege the AI music startups are exploiting the recorded works of artists that range from Chuck Berry to Mariah Carey.
The Recording Industry Association of America announced the lawsuits this week brought by labels including Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Records.
RIAA Chairman and CEO Mitch Glazier says the music industry is already collaborating with responsible AI developers but that "unlicensed services like Suno and Udio that claim it’s ‘fair’ to copy an artist’s life’s work and exploit it for their own profit without consent or pay set back the promise of genuinely innovative AI for us all.
