The Linking Bridges project

Where this started...

Call-Out for 2016 ANZAC Bridge Fellowship

New Zealand Pacific Studio Artists' Residency Centre

Closes: 25 Jan 2016

Posted on: 21 Dec 2015

Region: Wellington

New Zealand Pacific Studio Artists’ Residency Centre and the Friends of the ANZAC Memorial Bridge Kaiparoro invite applications for a two week ANZAC Bridge Fellowship. The purpose of this Fellowship is to maintain a rich cultural context for the annual commemorations centred at New Zealand Pacific Studio and the nearby ANZAC Memorial Bridge in northern Wairarapa.  The Fellowship is made possible with a community grant from Trust House Community Enterprise, Masterton, which comes with the mandate that the fellowship project engage the residents of the nearby communities on and around ANZAC Day (25 April) 2016; including a short presentation/performance at the FOAB ANZAC Day Service.

The year 2016 is of great significance as it marks 100 years since the Battle of the Somme. The Gallipoli experience of 1915 has overshadowed New Zealand’s enormous contribution on the Western Front between 1916 and 1918. Yet it was the Battle of the Somme that we as a country suffered our worst days in military history in terms of people wounded and killed. The Friends of ANZAC Bridge will be remembering the Battle of the Somme at their 2016 ANZAC Day Service.

Creative practitioners of any kind are invited to make project proposals as to how they would involve the nearby communities of Eketahuna, Pahiatua and Northern Masterton (including Kaiparoro/Mount Bruce, Mauriceville, Rongokokako and Nireaha) and how they could contribute to or enrich the annual ANZAC  Bridge Memorial Service.

For examples of work by previous ANZAC Fellows:

Anna Borrie, Multimedia artist, Fiordland, Harakeke Cloak Remembrance Project, 2014

Connah Podmore, Interdisciplinary artist, Wellington, Writing to History, 2015

Selection will be based on the nature and strength of an applicant’s proposed project and the degree to which all parties would benefit: the creative practitioner, NZPS, the Friends of the ANZAC Memorial Bridge, and the community.  Applicants could be writers, researchers, historians and storytellers, visual artists, curators, dancers or choreographers, digital artists, producers or film-makers. Cross-disciplinary practice is also welcomed. Applicants can be at any stage in their creative ‘careers.’

  Applications close midnight Monday 25 January, 2016.