2023 in review
At risk of sounding like the IOC president at an Olympics closing ceremony, this year's Ockham Collective was, once again, the best ever. As our year draws to a close, we thought we'd take an opportunity to look back... and brag a little about our talented 2023 crew.
Stage and screen
Dan Musgrove’s production company Luminous Beast has had a stellar year, with both After the Party and season two of Creamerie screening on TVNZ to enthusiastic reviews.
Marina Alofagia McCartney also graced our small screens, with her movie Vai being picked up by TVNZ+. On top of that, she wrote an episode for My Life Is Murder (screening next year) and won the Dame Dorothy Winstone Doctoral Completion Award, which will assist with her PhD exploring Moana Pasifika filmmaking.
One of things we’re most proud of is something you may not have heard of. Marion Prebble has used her OC year to host Sandbox Sessions at The Nix, bringing together directors and actors in low-pressure scene workshops. From the feedback we’ve received, we’re confident that they’ve made a significant behind-the-scenes impact on the city’s theatre and screen scene.
Literature
Perpetual overachiever Paula Morris edited a collection of Māori short stories, Hiwa, as well as contributing to Witi Ihimaera’s new anthology of non-fiction by contemporary Māori writers, Ngā Kupu Wero. She also found time to run a Fiction Fundamentals course and host a fabulous series of destination-themed literary salons at The Nix. She managed all of this of this while directing the University of Auckland's Master of Creative Writing course and studying Korean.
Tim Heath used his OC year to kickstart Poetry for Pensioners at The Nix. Many of the participants went on to perform their poems in front of an audience for the very first time at a National Poetry Day event hosted by Tim at Grey Lynn Library. He also helmed a music and poetry event at The Nix recently which raised $1800 for Médecins Sans Frontières.
While we’re on the topic of poetry, James Littlewood launched two series of Different Out Loud, short films featuring collaborations between local poets and filmmakers.
Visual Arts
The year ended brightly at The Nix with a pop-up exhibition and accompanying series of panel discussions by OC alumni Lucie Blaze. This was followed by an exhibition of works on paper curated and hosted by Paul Woodruffe, showcasing one of his former students, Anton Ren.
Music
What a bumper year it’s been at The Nix! Louise Evans launched Tuesday Irish Sessions and Pop-Up Folk Clubs, Jessie Leov performed in Women About Sound showcases, Ben Fernandez ran a Master Class in Indian Music, and the Auckland Bluegrass Club made The Nix its new home. On top of that there were Transglobal Music Sessions, Old Time Sessions, Sunday Ukulele Sessions and a gig by Louise’s band Hot Diggity.
Beyond The Nix, we celebrated cellist Martin Roberts joining the APO and Jessie Leov being selected as the NZSO National Youth Orchestra Composer-in-Residence for 2024. In May, Martin, Jessie, Ben F and Joella Pinto wowed a sold-out crowd during the Poetry & Music event at the Auckland Writers Festival, which paired our OC musicians with the finalists in the poetry category of the Ockham NZ Book Awards.
We were also chuffed to continue our association with Freida Margolis bar this year, hosting an incredible series of intimate concerts featuring the likes of Lawrence Arabia, Nadia Reid, Georgia Lines and Theia.
