The past ten days have been great. And it is all thanks to ArtWeek Auckland, an annual festival held in October which showcases art in many forms, and organises various art events around Auckland. I went on a street art walking tour, checked out a few galleries, and of course, ate some delicious food!

There were many artworks displayed around the city, there were guided art walking and cycle tours held on Karangahape Road, Parnell and Newmarket to name a few, there were light installations, free gallery exhibitions, sculptures, food and artist collaborations, and my particular favourite, Late Night Art, where for one night only, galleries and art installations come alive after dark. It is one of my favourite non-foodie events of the year… having said that, this year saw the new edition of streetARTdego, where art meets food. It was definitely a highlight!

Check out my photo diary below of my highlights at ArtWeek:

Street Art Tour with Jonny 4Higher

One of the best Saturdays I have had this year✌🏼️ Thanks to Artweek and one of New Zealand’s most experienced street artists, Jonny 4Higher – graffiti and mural artist, my sister and I went on a free street art tour around Karangahape Road and nearby streets💥We visited various sites with murals, street art, spray painting, stencilling and met some street artists too. Highly recommend doing this tour next year!

Prince 💁🏻🔮💜
By paul x walsh
100 Karangahape Road, Auckland CBD

Owen Dippie’s mural “Hine”
Can you believe that this only took four days to complete?!? Amazing.
30 Upper Queen Street, Auckland CBD

‘Untitled’ by Benjamin Work
Cross Street, Auckland CBD

Street artists Daegar and Jonny 4Higher
Cross Street, Auckland CBD

Wall art by Andrew J Steel
Sunset Tattoo, 4 Cross Street, Auckland CBD

Jonny 4Higher with his mural ‘Hina’
2 West Terrace, Auckland CBD

Anyone else think this looks like Human Centipide? / By Andrew J Steel
Karangahape Road, Auckland CBD

By paul x walsh

Saddleback🐦💛
Poynton Terrace, off Pitt Street, Auckland CBD

Bottom of the stairs in St Kevins Arcade, Karangahape Road

After walking for two hours, we were ravenous. We headed to Selera in Newmarket for some delicious Malaysian eats! Pictured below is their beef rendang, roti and noodles!

Late Night Art

One of my favourite nights of the year, where galleries all around Auckland are open late, there are installations, guided walking and bike tours, live music and I loved the new addition of streetARTdego:

How cute is this house?🏡 The roof is even made out of bottle caps!🍾
Entitled ‘The Recycled Playhouse’ 🍭
Lorne Street, Auckland CBD

‘Where the path leads you’
By Lucy M Mulholland, Bhav Bhuthadia, Toby Falconer (The Open Fort) and artist Selwyn Vercoe
Durham Lane, Auckland CBD

streetARTdego

Food meets art.💥⚡️🍙🍣

My favourite event at ArtWeek. Five of Auckland’s best street food vendors teamed up with five renowned artists to create dishes:

Judge Bao x Pacific Heights
Hatchling Bao
The dish is inspired by the band’s 2016 album, The Stillness

Temaki Truck x artist Tiffany Singh
Spicy Salmon filled sushi cone
Their dishes are inspired by “concepts of reciprocity and generosity to coincide”

The Pie Piper x Walters Prize 2016 nominee Nathan Pohio
Kumara + Kawakawa Pie
This pie was inspired by Nathan’s photographic work, Raise the anchor, unfurl the sails, set course to the centre of an ever setting sun! (2015). I didn’t actually try this, but it sure looked delicious!

Other food and art collaborations included: Coreano x visual artist Kerry Ann Lee and Kraken Crumpets x performance artist Mark Harvey.

Auckland Art Gallery x Pacific Heights

Limbo 2015💜⚡️🔮 by Judy Darragh

Performance by Pacific Heights

Street Art in Newmarket

You will find street art all around Newmarket. My favourite area is a no-exit lane which runs between Cali Eatery and Wok n Noodle Bar in on Nuffield Street. I love coming here every few months, because the art constantly changes. Here is what’s current:

Glow@ArtWeek

Last weekend, as part of Glow@ArtWeek, Bachelor of Architecture students from Unitec designed and prefabricated their own light pavilions. These were displayed at Windsor Reserve in Devonport⚡️

The cone installation below is by team ‘Kina‘ and their project is “derived from the idea of bringing sea life to land, whilst including Devonport’s volcanic topography as inspiration”.🌊 It was pretty spectacular both in the daytime and at night!

Who Am I ?

Excited to be inside a Kaleidoscope💎🔮💞🔆🔹 by The Three Lumineers – loved it!!!

It was a chilly night in Devonport, so we headed to Asahi Japanese restaurant for a yummy meal of gyoza, takoyaki, bulgogi beef and a sashimi bento box 💥⚡️🍙🍣