CIVIC Festival anchors indigenous artists in Te Whanganui-a-Tara

A new indigenous arts festival is bringing fresh creative energy to the heart of Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington this week.

CIVIC - A Shifting Festival is a five-day celebration of performance, movement, and storytelling, running from 3 to 8 November at Te Auaha.

The pilot festival is presented by the Shifting Centre collective, a group of Tangata Whenua and Tangata Moana emerging artists dedicated to creating a space for their communities to produce, aspire, and inspire.

Performers and creative exponents Tamia Filipo (Fakaofo - Tokelau, Vaitupu - Tuvalu) and Sefa Tunupopo (Vaiala/Puipa’a - Sāmoa) discussed the festival’s concept and purpose with Island Time host Tofiga Fepulea’i.

Tunupopo says the festival grew from a need to nurture the region’s creative ecosystem.

“CIVIC was a response to the artistic landscape that we were finding ourselves in,” he says. “A lot of our friends were leaving Wellington to pursue arts careers elsewhere, and we just wanted to offer something into the city that our community could work towards…so that our people felt like there was something here for them.”

Filipo explains that the name ‘CIVIC’ honours where it all began for the collective.

“Civic Square down by the library was sort of where Shifting Centre was birthed. That was where we had a lot of our open cyphers and community gatherings, so we thought it was fitting as a meeting point.”

The week-long programme includes workshops on street-dance foundations such as Krump and Waacking, a night of short films, and Ofa’s - an evening dedicated to showcasing works in development by local performing artists.

Watch Tamia Filipo and Sefa Tunupopo's full interview below.

Friday’s Double Bill features Soon As I Get Home by Tongan contemporary dancer ‘Isope ‘Akau’ola and SEKI by Tunupopo. The festival will close on Saturday with a high-energy street dance showcase, SC Wrapped.

Filipo says hosting the inaugural event at Te Auaha is a full-circle moment. “We’ve been really privileged to have an amazing partnership with Te Auaha for the last couple of years…they’ve really nurtured us as emerging artists and cared for us, so it felt right to have CIVIC there.”

Looking ahead, the Shifting Centre team hopes CIVIC becomes a mainstay within the city’s arts calendar.

“We would love for this to be a staple event that our community and our friends can look towards and know that there is an opportunity there for them to come and make and share,” Filipo says.

“Definitely making it an annual thing is a dream for us and just naturally evolving the scale of it as well.”

The Shifting Centre team acknowledges the challenges of self-organising a festival, but credits support from sponsors Te Auaha, Tawata Productions, and Pacific Dance New Zealand for making the festival possible. Tickets are priced between $5 and $45.

As for what audiences can expect, Tunupopo says the festival aims to showcase the creative spirit of the capital.

“I hope everyone that comes to CIVIC will feel and realise that the 04 is alive and that there is so much talent and so much greatness here within our own cities.”

Tickets and full programme details are available here.