17 hours ago
Does the underground still exist? A conversation with Samuel Te Kani
Does an underground still exist? Or is it just one more consumer choice in an ever growing banquet of ticketed events?
Testing this may be Tāmaki Makarau's biennial
Festival of Live Arts (FOLA)
, at the Basement Theatre from June 11 to 15.
The festival dubs itself the black sheep of the Auckland festival family and "a haven for misfits, punks and menaces of the art world".
Indeed, in an accompanying media release artistic directors Nisha Madhan and Julia Croft state that "neoliberal and capitalist structures have failed to create space for Live Art, and artists in general".
Someone never shy to comment, Samuel Te Kani has two projects as part of FOLA. Of Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Porou, Te Kani is an art critic, thinker, erotic science fiction author, filmmaker and a self-described K Road icon.
Firstly, online from Wednesday he is reshowing a video essay,
Surviving the Necropolis: an artists guide
and then on Friday is a free live event with his cohost on podcast
Rats in the Gutter
, comedian Johanna Cosgrove.
The Devil Wears Rats
sees the pair provide a live commentary for a screening of the major motion picture
The Devil Wears Prada
.
Mark Amery spoke to Samuel Te Kani.
