OUR ARTISTIC HEART

Have you experienced all that The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora has to offer? With a raft of new tenants and a massive heritage restoration project currently underway – with more than two-thirds of the site reopened so far – it’s fast becoming a thriving central city hub of all things that represent our city. 

Restoration work is currently taking place on the Biology, Physics, and Observatory buildings along Hereford Street, where they are restoring the Observatory Tower and creating a 33-room boutique-style Observatory Hotel which is on track to open mid-2022. 

As New Zealand’s largest collection of Category 1 listed heritage buildings – an entire city block – The Arts Centre is a charity that relies on fundraising, grants, and donations to keep the restoration work going and the centre alive, providing education, creativity, and entertainment for all. 

In addition to the new offices for Brown Bread, Frank Film, and Everyone an Artist Trust, the centre now has Fragranzi, an artisan perfumery, Adventure Books bookstore, Frances Nation has expanded their offerings to a grocer on the ground floor, and Maxine Burney’s Art Studio and Paint & Sip Studio have moved in. It’s a growing and eventful place. 

Speaking of events, settle in at Lumière Cinemas for the French Film Festival Aotearoa 2021 that’s happening between 24 June till 10 July, and do keep an eye out for Heritage Festival events happening between 9 and 25 October. 

There has been a recent change in direction with the weekly Sunday Arts Centre Mākete going into hibernation, now the focus is on creating fun themed market events such as the Matariki Night Mākete (Friday 9 and Saturday 10 July), Monster Spring Clean Mākete (Sunday 3 October), and Christmas Mākete (Sunday 5 December). Note these in your diary! 

Matariki celebrates the start of a new dawn, and from the 5–18 July, there will be a range of events for your friends and whanaū to enjoy, from OneOne (a cinema dance and VR experience), the Matariki Night Mākete, Cousins at Lumière Cinemas, Nigel Borell’s presentation Thinking through the big picture, Calling on the Stars/Karanga mai ngā whetu concert by Lisa Tui and her band Toroa, and much more. 

With so much going on, The Arts Centre really is worth a visit, so gather your crew and support your local creative hot spot.