Murray Hewitt

The Rising Gale (2017)

23 min 35 secSingle channel / Digital Video / Colour / Sound

The Rising Gale was originally presented as a live screening/performance for the Hutt Valley Public Arts Festival Common Ground (2017), curated by Letting Space. The video maps the aquifer and Te Awakairangi / Hutt River. Shot from a drone, the video surveys the water in real time, flying from Taita to Matiu Somes Island. Presented at five bore and river sites across the Hutt Valley, each screening was accompanied by live performances from local artists and cultural groups.

In this iteration of the work, three writers, Gem Wilder, Damien Wilkins and Helen Heath recreate their readings from an evening performance in the former National Film Unit theatre in Avalon. The theatre is now occupied by GNS science (the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences) and contains an internationally recognized water dating laboratory. The writers all hail from the Hutt Valley. Both Gem Wilder and Helen Heath wrote new texts to accompany The Rising Gale, while Damien Wilkins read from his 2016 novel Dad Art.

Read Thomasin Sleigh's review of the entire Rising Gale performance series here. Listen to artist Murray Hewitt in conversation with Pip Adam here.

Original performances & live collaborators

Sat 25 Feb  2017 9:00 pm
Taita College Poly Club choir, One Beat One Heart
Riverfront, corner of Taita Drive and Nash Street, Taita, Lower Hutt.

Sun 26 Feb 2017, 7:00pm
Helen Heath, Gem Wilder,  Damien Wilkins
GNS Science, 1 Fairway Drive, Avalon, Lower Hutt

Thurs 2 Mar 2017, 8:30pm
Jason Wright, sound artist
Gear Island Water Treatment Plant, river end of Halford Place, Petone

Fri 3 Mar 2017, 5:15pm
Hutt Valley Community Choir
Waterloo Railway Station.

Sat 4 Mar 2017, 9:00pm
Ssendam Rawkustra and Mixmusicmania
Under the Melling Link Bridge

Other works by Murray Hewitt

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