One day, ten hours, 27 speakers and performers. Semi Permanent Aotearoa is New Zealand's longest-running creative conference. And this year, for the first time, it's completely free.
DINZ Interview
Semi Permanent Aotearoa is back in 2020 – and it’s free for everyone.
On Thursday 12 November at Auckland's Aotea Centre, the day before the Best Awards at the same venue, 27 of New Zealand's leading creative practitioners will showcase the depth and diversity of the creative industries.
This year, the creative industries conference has been repurposed to meet new objectives, including to inspire and help ‘reboot’ the combined creative industries, to increase visibility of creative sector jobs at a time when the nature of work is undergoing a significant shift, and to reiterate not just the cultural importance of the sector but its economic importance in terms of job and business creation, productivity, IP development, export growth and GDP contribution.
The event will also be live streamed in full (another SP first), making it available to anyone, anywhere.
This year’s lineup is a stellar mix of both New Zealand’s brightest talents and most influential figures in design, technology, art, architecture, advertising and screen production.
They include leading contemporary artist Lisa Reihana, fashion icon Kate Sylvester, Billy Apple – New Zealand’s greatest living artist, Wallpaper* Designer of the Year 2020 Sabine Marcelis, ex-Apple industrial designer Danny Coster, multi-disciplinary artist Coco Solid, and serial entrepreneur Greg Cross, whose latest venture, Soul Machines, is changing the face of human-digital interaction.
There will also be live performances – from legendary contemporary dance group Black Grace, poet Tayi Tibble, rising rapper and producer Vayne, and Troy Kingi, a multi-genre musician and 2020 Silver Scroll finalist. Associated events include an exhibition at Objectspace, Ponsonby, dedicated to the work of NOM*d, the fashion label founded by Margi and Chris Robertson 35 years ago.
Demand for live-event tickets is high, so a ballot system has been put in place to ensure fair access, with an allocation reserved for schools.
