Mark your diaries – there’s an arts event this weekend!
Stay home, log on, and enjoy a raft of performances online this Sunday from 4pm, courtesy of Toitoi Hawke’s Bay Arts and Events Centre, Arts Inc Heretaunga, Harcourts Hawke’s Bay Arts Festival and Hastings District Council.
Called ‘Mīharo’, which means amazing or marvellous, the show will feature national and international artists with a connection to Heretaunga, in an event designed to bring the community together while we’re still in our home bubbles.
Mīharo will feature music, dance, poetry and story-telling, including guest performances by singer Hinewehi Mohi, international opera star Phillip Rhodes, blues guitarist and singer Thomas Oliver and many more.
Blues artist Thomas Oliver says he’s stoked to be involved in Mīharo.
“One positive that we can take from the restrictions surrounding COVID-19 is the greater focus on our own communities. This show is a representation and a celebration of our community.”
Deepthi Sreejith, of the Hawke’s Bay Indian Cultural Centre, is also performing on Sunday.
“I am very delighted to be a part of this concert. To me, my ankle bells started ringing from silence. Bringing all the artists together in this digital visual platform to show our solidarity in times of distress is like a rainbow in the clouds.”
The show will even take the audience inside Toitoi, as Flaxmere ward councillor Henare O’Keefe hosts from a solo bubble on the Opera House stage.
“This concert is about our rebirth as a community – it’s as if we’ve been reborn,” he says. “It’s an opportunity to celebrate and, indeed, be Hastings Proud!”
There will also be an opportunity for people to donate to local charitable service providers via a website link.
Mīharo will be streamed live on Council’s Facebook and YouTube channels at 4pm on Sunday, May 10.
Photo: Hinewehi Mohi, supplied.
My Mother’s Day treat