From new art exhibitions at Hastings Art Gallery, to bike film night, to Beer Appreciation Day, to HB’s dismal ED ranking, to Splash Planet turning the taps off early, here are some notable items you might have missed.
New Hastings Art Gallery exhibitions
New exhibitions opening this week at Te Whare Toi o Heretaunga – Hastings Art Gallery feature new and never-seen-before work – one exploring our relationships to the natural world and the other showcasing the journey of a nationally significant fashion collective.
Wā We Can’t Afford: Heidi Brickell and Photographing the Pacific Sisters: Vivienne Haldane open on Saturday 22 February.
Across her practice, Heidi Brickell explores how we navigate the world in relation to mātauranga Māori and the human knowledge and wisdom held in relation to our natural environment. Her work uses various forms, techniques and materials, from whakairo and kōwhaiwhai to installation, sculpture and painting.
In the gallery, Brickell has created what she describes as an “exploded painting”. Her installation incorporates paint on canvas, bound driftwood and suspended sculptures made from rimurapa, which has been manipulated and dried in different forms.
Photographing the Pacific Sisters showcases photographs by Waipukurau-based Vivienne Haldane, who focused her lens on the groundbreaking Pacific Sisters, an art and fashion collective of Pasifika and Māori creatives. The Pacific Sisters began in the Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland avant-garde arts scene in the early 1990s.
The exhibition also features a vitrine of never-seen before behind-the-scenes shots that had been stored in what Haldane refers to as “’the vault’– a box of photos I’ve dragged around forever”.
Big Bike Film Night
View some of the best short cycling films from around the world that celebrate the fun, the adventure, and the inspiration that cycling enables.
The Big Bike Film Night’s 2025 collection of eight movies will be presented to local cycling and cinephile fans on Friday 7th and Sunday 9th March at the MTG Century Theatre, as part of a national tour.
Beer Appreciation Day
Pick a bunch of amazing breweries and add some other tasty fermented beverages. Make sure to include your favourite locals, outstanding regulars and some new breweries as well. Invite some great musicians and a funky DJ. Get some tasty food on board that goes down well with tasty beverages. Set it up in the grounds of a beautiful historic house surrounded by stunning gardens. Limit numbers so there are no lengthy queues.
Saturday 8 March, 12pm-6:30pm
Duart House, Havelock North
More details and tickets here.
HB ranks poorly in ED wait times
All of the country’s hospital emergency departments (EDs) are failing to assess patients with “imminently” or “potentially” life-threatening conditions on time.
Anyone visiting an ED is rated on a scale of 1 to 5, with category 1 patients needing to be seen immediately, #2 in ten minutes, #3 within thirty minutes, #4 within sixty minutes and #5 within 120 minutes.
The Herald produced a national table ranking all NZ’s 35 EDs on the percentage of patients not seen within the recommended category2-5 wait times, with the ‘top-ranked’ ED (Auckland City) have the worst performance.
Hawke’s Bay’s ED ranked 15th, with 64.3% of patients not seen within the stipulated times, meaning 20 EDs had better performance.
This is not to knock our ED staff, who strive to do their jobs against the odds … a whole set of staffing and bed shortages they can do nothing about. To say nothing of the flood of patients who shouldn’t be arriving there in the first place, ranging from alcohol abuse to simply not being able to access primary care.
That said, last Monday morning BayBuzz inquired of HB Hospital what remedial steps were being taken to improve the situation. Our query was referred to Wellington, as are all local media inquiries. As of Friday COB, no reply.
Splash Planet season ends early
Splash Planet will close this weekend, earlier than planned due to poor weather that has seen low visitor numbers at all Hastings outdoor pool facilities this summer.
As at the end of January 2025, visitors to Splash Planet were down 15,000 on the previous year, and revenue was $558,000 unfavourable to budget.
The low numbers could be attributed to particularly cool temperatures this summer, with only one week where the temperature was above 24C for two consecutive days, and two weeks where there were no days over 24C.
Ratepayers contribute $1.4 million a year to run the facility, with $3.3 million needed from sales through tickets and retail. This year’s sales had only reached $2.2m by the end of January, leaving ratepayers to pick up the extra.
So by closing early HDC has cut its losses by $90,000, maybe more depending on the weather.
