Living Room 2010 "A Week of Goodness"

A Week of Goodness in Auckland's city centre

From Friday 9 to Saturday 17 April 2010 the notion of giving and kindness was celebrated on the streets of Auckland CBD - with an exciting programme of live performance art and moving image that brought together a talented group of local and international artists and choreographers in a programme curated by Pontus Kyander around the theme - "A Week of Goodness".

The theme used ideas of giving and kindness as a departure point for a flight of associations, bearing in mind that every gift comes with a string attached.

Living Room is an annual Auckland City Council public art event, and the focus of the 2010 years programme was on collaborative partnerships between artists, choreographers and dancers.

The title comes from surrealist artist Max Ernst's book of collage, 'Une semaine de bonté', published in 1936. The re-interpretation of the theme 'A Week of Goodness' took on board the surreal connotations of the book, but gave room for an interpretation through contemporary art practices.

What good are we providing each other as fellow humans? What good is art giving? Is kindness always something good? What darker aspects are there of what generally is perceived as something good, as goodness in man?

Living Room events took place in locations around the CBD including:

• Freyberg Place (intersection of Freyberg Place and High Street)
• Khartoum Place
• Pier 3 Quay Street
• Queen Elizabeth 2 Square, and
• Saint Patrick's Square.

Updated July 2010