City Library

The status of a library, however big or small, has never been in doubt. It is always a centre of information, learning and above all else a place of intellectual stimulation. Wellington City library is certainly the sum of its parts and even more I feel, given its easy accessibility, user-friendly design and added value assets like the Cafe where I am writing this blog, and its location next to the excellent and innovative City Art Gallery.

I have just visited the Gallery which is dedicated mainly to photography and installations and have witnessed a huge four screen installation which I will take some time to digest. But I know it was good.

Again an example of Kiwi creativity which never disappoints. 

Speaking of Art, I felt a tinge of unaccustomed nostalgia when I heard interviewed yesterday on the radio the Tasmanian Arts supremo Brian Ritchie, formerly hard-rock musician with the US group Violent Femmes. He now curates a great music festival in Hobart called MoFO, along with his 'best mate' David Walsh of MONA fame. He sounded great and indeed does a great service in bringing the arts to Tassie. However he is a big fish in a small pond and this festival was sorely needed in Hobart, and survives only by over fifty percent patronage from interstate and overseas. The average Tasmanian just doesn't go to things like this, in contrast I believe, to the Kiwis who embrace their art culture over all levels of society, (although Rugby does reign supreme I must admit).

The rear entrance to City Library

Outside the City Art Gallery

And finally the City Square with grey Michael Fowler Centre in background

At the very popular mezzanine Coffee Shop in the Library

 In the cafe there are always quite large groups of young and old who are there in a relaxed environment to have a forum of discussion for their passion whatever it may be. A lot I think are nascent writers as this country just loves to write, something which I have mentioned before. The seventeen year old song writer Lorde who last week won two Emmy Awards in Los Angeles is an example of this ability to take the Kiwis to the rest of the world. Which of course, is still the US of A.

Which brings me to the latest American travesty on the screen, a film up for all of ten Oscars I believe, but which for me failed miserably in its originality, which is really what Art is about I would say.

'American Hustle' is base on true events OK, but bringing them to screen in an original way is the challenge and where the film makers did not succeed. I am certainly in the face of all pundits who unanimously say it is the 'best movie' on several counts. It does boast of excellent acting performances, the hackneyed stereotypes of all the US crims who were hustling for big money in the seventies in New York and New Jersey. The problem is that the BBC did it all before, in a much more sophisticated satirical fashion in their long running series 'The Hustle' which was a formidable success and which surely crossed the Atlantic. Just give the characters different accents, Jewish Italian American ones, and you have a movie length version of the same theme but without the brevity and punch of a TV hour-long series. The movie was over two and a half hours long and there were many times when you could feel in the cinema blank moments of waiting for the next predictable event to occur. Even the predominantly young Kiwi audience which did give the occasional laugh in response to obvious gag lines would have agreed it is not 'the best movie of the year'. But then the Academy Awards often go to the wrong movies. It would not get my vote. Three stars only.