Collaborations between visual artists and writers are part of New Zealand artistic tradition. However, a new collaborative project, Metonymy, takes this to the next level by its scale and the way it seeks to engage entire artistic communities. Running for the first time this year, Metonymy, a mass collaboration between visual and literary artists, has attracted 66 participants, many of whom are well-known names in Auckland artistic and literary circles.

"We're trying to strengthen both our communities," says Renee Liang, one of the organisers. "Artists and writers often think and work in such similar ways, and our respective communities are so small, we could all benefit from talking to each other more."Collaborations between visual artists and writers are part of New Zealand artistic tradition. However, a new collaborative project, Metonymy, takes this to the next level by its scale and the way it seeks to engage entire artistic communities. Running for the first time this year, Metonymy, a mass collaboration between visual and literary artists, has attracted 66 participants, many of whom are well-known names in Auckland artistic and literary circles.

"We're trying to strengthen both our communities," says Renee Liang, one of the organisers. "Artists and writers often think and work in such similar ways, and our respective communities are so small, we could all benefit from talking to each other more."It was a conversation about creative sharing that Liang had with her friend, poet and artist Makyla Curtis, that kick-started Metonymy. "We thought lots of people would work across disciplines if only they knew who to engage with," Curtis says. "So we decided to introduce them."

Along with fellow artist Hannah-May Thompson and poet Christian Jensen, they set up Metonymy - where writers and artists were asked to send in details of their working process and a picture or sample of their work, then were matched up with someone from another discipline. Painters, sculptors, designers, street artists, jewellers, video installation artists, performance poets and short story writers all jumped in the mix.

There are some unusual pairings - Thompson for example, a young artist who knits sculptures, was paired with Penny Somervaille, a performance poet in her seventies. "Yes, we're knitting poetry now!" smiles Thompson. Liang, who is a doctor as well as a writer, is constructing an sculpture representing a giant heart with her creative partner, artist Cat Auburn. Visits to the medical school pathology museum formed an essential part of the early research. "Art is a good way to delve much deeper into all the issues," says Liang. "It allows you to say things that otherwise would be impossible to express." One high-profile pairing that has everyone waiting for a creative explosion is the pairing of poet Murray Lee, of Auckland performance group The Literatti, with well-known graffitti artist Component.

But far from being just an artistic blind-dating service, Metonymy goes much further. Throughout the six-week long collaboration period, there are numerous events, ranging from shared meet-and-greet evenings at K'Rd's Wine Cellar, to performance events and band gigs. "Everyone is welcome," stresses Thompson. "The point of all this is to build a community, and hopefully some long-term collaborations will happen out of it."

Metonymy culminates in an exhibition to run at Cross St Studios from May 14th, and a performance event on May 21st, both of which are fringe events of the Auckland Writer's and Reader's festival. Selection of works for the exhibition will be made by a panel made up of literary and artistic heavyweights CK Stead, John Pule, Genevieve McLean, Simona Albanese and Evan Woodruffe. Both the exhibition and performance will be open to the public at no charge, and works will be available for sale.

For further information contact: metonymy08@gmail.com
or access the website at http://www.metonymy08.blogspot.com/

Contact for press: Renee Liang, 021 265 9131

05/05/08