Kindness, Naivety, Dreams, Schemes= Potential in Murihiku/ Southland
Keep saying it and people will start believing it.
Murihiku/ Southland- New Zealand’s best kept secret. A place where dreams are possible. A land of unique and interesting stories, waiting to be told. A people full of kindness, a strong sense of community, a touch of naivety, an ethic of hard work and an attitude of “Hey, let’s just get this thing done.”
This week I had the opportunity listen to Helen Clark, former Prime Minister and past leader of the United Nations Development Programme, the first woman to lead this organisation.
It was an enlightening evening, attended by many. Congratulations to KIND women who organised this very successful event. To me it illustrated a willingness, to dream big, – ‘Let’s see if we can get Helen Clark to come and speak in Southland’.
Maybe with some surprise, a positive response was received. Next stage- hard work and ‘Let’s get this s…done!”
KIND Women started with what could have been seen as a crazy idea and then worked hard from the bottom of the world to make this happen- yay Southland!
Thanks KIND Women for sharing the kindness, this event illustrates what can be achieved in the South.
“Create an environment where everyone can flourish.” Clarke’s words resonated with me.
Let us create in Murihiku/Southland an environment where everyone can flourish.
What will this look like? Quality housing for everyone, a living wage for all, healthy happy families and healthy communities, continued quality education, equity of access to resources and of course a thriving arts community that reflects our diversity, is inclusive and vibrant.
And so, the dream continues, and the potential of the South Land grows.
Another Southlander to Dream Big is artist DEOW- Danny Owens who has collaborated with local supporters to bring amazingly talented, nationally and internationally renown artists- Flox, Askew, Erika Pearce, Kell Sunshine, Yikes, Ikarus and Trust Me to Riverton for ‘South Sea Spray’ later this year.
Riverton will be home to these artists for a week, while they produce murals in the township. An exhibition of other works will be exhibited at Riverton’s The Vault gallery.
Another dream of a Southlander that has become a reality.
This week I also had the privilege of attending NetHui, co-hosted by Venture Southland. NetHui is a forum where people have an opportunity to share different ideas on the future of the internet and technology. There was once again talk of the potential we have in the South.
We saw examples of technology interfacing with the arts such as the Vaka Interactive work that can be seen at our latest dealer gallery ‘Chiaroni Gallery’ in Don St.
In this work a traditional classical painting has been transformed into an interactive experience- think Harry Potter talking portraits. This cutting-edge technology was developed as part of a Mahuki an incubator programme run by Te Papa focusing on the GLAM sector. Galleries, Museums. Archives and Museums.
Once again, another creative in the South has seen potential, embraced it and brought the idea to the Southland.
Thanks to the hard work of Stu Fleming from Venture Southland in bringing a Mahuki Roadshow to Southland we have a local team who are part of this year’s programme.
There has also been talk of the South’s potential by others not from this place. The potential to grow local tourism by connecting with others who have links to the South and sharing their stories. We can use innovation and technology to tell these stories. The ideas are limitless.
Dream, Scheme, Believe–we can achieve anything from the ends of the earth.
