Nadia Freeman is a poet, musician and creative producer. Photo: Supplied
South Asian artists are in the spotlight at the 2024 Auckland Fringe Festival - Te Ahurei Mōwaho o Tāmaki Makaurau - with performances ranging from comedy sketches to magic shows.
After a hiatus in 2023 due to the pandemic, the festival has returned for a month-long celebration of experimental arts and culture, running from 1-22 September across 22 venues in the City of Sails.
"I've been doing magic for 14 years," says Dev Chandwani, who is performing at two venues in Auckland.
Chandwani's show, The Something Magic, is staged at Ferndale House in Mt Albert and MoveSpace on Dominion Rd and features two other magicians.
"The audience will be divided into three groups, and they'll be taken through three different rooms over the course of the night," Chandwani says.
"In each of those rooms, one of us magicians will be there. At the end of the evening, after all of our individual acts are done, we'll all gather in one main area for a final act."
Dev Chandwani is a magician from Auckland. Photo: Supplied
Born to Indian parents who settled in Dubai, Chandwani grew up in the Middle East but moved to New Zealand in 2012.
"I grew up in Dubai, entrenched in Indian culture because there are a lot of Indian migrants there," he says.
Chandwani believes that interest in magic is growing worldwide, thanks to social media and television shows.
"I think, primarily, it's a good thing," he says. "People are becoming more aware, and there's a growing appreciation and respect for magic, which probably wasn't the case before."
He says his show will be unlike any other magic show.
"[Our show] is sort of an intelligent approach to magic with a bit more narrative, an overarching story and some concepts being explored," he says. "Not your traditional rabbit-out-of-a-hat magic, but something a little bit more refined, personal and intimate."
Meanwhile, a production called The Girmit at Auckland's Pitt St Theatre is shedding light on the lesser-known history of Indian indentured labourers.
Nadia Freeman's latest work gives life to the hidden voice of her ancestors through electronic music and theatre.
"It's really personal because it is my grandparents' story," Freeman says. "It's a story that no one in my family knew, and it wasn't passed down or shared.
"When I talked to other people of the same diaspora as me, they have that same story - they didn't know their own story."
Freeman says she is trying to express gratitude to her ancestors and honour them through her show.
"They went through hell, and the descendants of the girmityas have really benefited and have a better life thanks to them," she says.
Amita Kala is founder of Aunty's House. Photo: Supplied
Amita Kala, founder of Aunty's House, a collective focused on celebrating and uplifting the South Asian diaspora in New Zealand, agrees.
"The Fijian Indian experience is important because it's untold, and discovering it is so powerful," Kala says.
Kala and Aunty's House are promoting Freeman's show at the Auckland Fringe Festival.
"It felt really fitting," she says.
Kala believes New Zealand's art scene lacks diversity.
"I think it is really important for us to see more stories from places like Fiji, Bangladesh and different parts of the South Asia," she says.
Kala says there are more South Asian stories to be told and that collectives such as Aunty's House are being created to help and support artists in sharing those stories.
Other South Asian artists at the festival include Keegan Govind, performing in Awww Gummonn, Ambika GKR in Skits n Giggles, and Anjula Prakash in Mind if I chime in?
Freeman says her show will have a few surprises, offering to host a discussion for the audience after the performance.
She promises a unique storytelling experience with The Girmit.
"Because I'm doing it through music ... music has the ability to help us feel things in a different way," Freeman says.
