20 May 2013
The ukulele revolution has swept New Zealand.
From touring orchestras, to neighbourhood groups, to schools the ukulele is the instrument of choice for many.
During NZ Music Month the St Michael’s School Ukulele Orchestra and Choir will be performing at Central Library Tuam on Friday 24 May 24 at 12.30pm.
14 May 2013
Some picks from our April Picture Books newsletter:
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1 May 2013
Ever stood in front of a work of modern art – all spots and dribbles, or with child-like figures and random words scrawled across it? Or been mystified by an installation of a toilet (which won an art prize and got sent all the way to Paris)? If so, you may have had three thoughts in rapid succession:
If this sounds like you, you need to read Susie Hodge’s book: Why Your Five Year Old Could Not Have Done That, in which she takes us for a look at one hundred works of modern art and talks us through them to show exactly why our five year olds could most certainly not have produced a dribbly Jackson Pollock or even the simplest looking Mark Rothko. According to Hodge, it’s got to do with intention, technical skill, layering of ideas, sheer inspiration, pushing new boundaries and historical context. Sure, maybe little Johnny can copy it now – but that’s only because he’s seen it done already.
It’s a fascinating little book for anyone who is interested in art, especially art education. I read it hand in hand with with My Art Book, which is a Dorling Kindersley publication for children. In My Art Book, art masterpieces are deconstructed to encourage children to copy the techniques of famous artists like Kandinsky and Van Gogh. It is a colourful book, fun and full of ideas. But I found it disturbing where children were really just copying masterpieces, like the little girl on page 37 – earnestly hunched over her ballerina, smudging it for all she’s worth to get it to look exactly like a Degas.
Irrespective of which of these two approaches you prefer, if you come along to the New Brighton Bookish Artists Art Exhibition in May (featuring art works by library staff), we won’t mind at all if you look at our work and think: “I could do better than that”, and what is more, we’d be only too delighted if you set out to copy us!
Here’s a taster from last year’s exhibition:
28 April 2013
Some picks from our April Kids’ Books newsletter:
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For more great reads for kids, check out our Fun to Read page – it links you to reading lists, if you likes, interactive quizzes and lots more.
22 April 2013
How are you going to keep the kids occupied in the hols? A visit to the library is a good idea – not only can you pick up some books, CDs, or DVDs but you can let the kids do a spot of gaming.
The Kids blog has lots of good reading ideas.
If you want to get the kids into arts and crafts, we’ve got some useful book and links to try.
Our Learning Centres have programmes are aimed at children between the ages of five and 15 years.
For more ideas, we have a page that links you to a bunch of holiday programmes and activities. It lists the following organisations that run holiday programmes or events for kids:
The CSO is putting on Mahy – a special tribute to Margaret Mahy “through the imaginative and engaging music of Christchurch composer Philip Norman and some of the author’s well-loved characters”.
18 April 2013
Saturday 20 April is the opening date for New Regent Street. Our mobile van will be nearby from 10am to 4pm, giving you a primo opportunity to test out the new Reading Room.
This neat Transitional Reading Room parklet on Gloucester Street is adjacent to the proposed new Central Library site.
It is a Christchurch City Council initiative and the oversized furniture has been designed by F3.
More:
7 April 2013
A major visual arts project involving thousands of Canterbury schoolchildren will take place during this year’s Christchurch Arts Festival.
In the first announcement of the 2013 programme, the Festival reports contemporary New Zealand artist Tiffany Singh and her project, Fly Me Up To Where You Are, will be bringing colour back to Christchurch.The Festival is utilising The Art Foundation’s new crowd funding website, Boosted, to raise funds to bring the project to the city and hopes to raise $7000 over the next month.
Fly Me Up To Where You Are will see Singh visit Canterbury schools in August and September this year for children to develop the flags, which form the centre of the exhibition. Each child will create two flags expressing their hopes and dreams for themselves and for the city of Christchurch.
The flags will be stitched into strings similar to Tibetan prayer flags and will form a mass installation of colour and hope in the central city.
Fly Me Up To Where You Are is currently part of Auckland Arts Festival and has been described by Auckland audiences as “a truly breathtaking sight” as children’s hopes and dreams blow in the wind above the city’s central Aotea Square.
The project will be free for all participants and Singh believes it will be especially meaningful for Christchurch after everything the city has been through these past two years.
The Festival hopes to have more than 2000 children involved in creating their own flags.
Christchurch Arts Festival director Philip Tremewan says he hopes the people of Christchurch will gain huge satisfaction from the exhibition and “reading about the students’ hopes and dreams for the future”.
It is expected that more than 70,000 people will see the installation during the Festival in August and September this year.
Through Boosted, the Festival aims to raise $7000 between now and Sunday 21 April in order to get the project to Christchurch, and are appealing to the public to donate what they can afford to help them reach their goal.
To donate to the Christchurch Arts Festival ‘Fly Me Up To Where You Are’ project, visit www.boosted.org.nz
From the Christchurch Arts Festival media release
2 April 2013
Some picks from our March Picture Books newsletter:
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Have you read any of these books? If so, we’d love your feedback!
31 March 2013
Some picks from our March Kids’ Books newsletter:
Subscribe to our newsletters and get our latest titles and best picks straight to your inbox.
For more great reads for kids, check out our Fun to Read page – it links you to reading lists, if you likes, interactive quizzes and lots more.
7 March 2013
Some picks from our February Picture Books newsletter:
Subscribe to our newsletters and get our latest titles and best picks straight from your inbox.
Have you read any of these books? If so, we’d love your feedback!
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