Category: bachelor of creative practice

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EIT student holds first exhibition after winning prestigious scholarship | EIT Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti

Source: Eastern Institute of Technology – Tairāwhiti

1 min ago

EIT IDEAschool student Olivia Wilson pictured with part of her first exhibition Chipper at the Hastings Community Arts Centre. Photo/ Heather Wilson.

Bachelor of Creative Practice student Olivia Wilson is celebrating her first solo exhibition, after winning the prestigious David Fine Scholarship.

The 25-year-old student, who is in her final year of the three-year degree, has been able to bring her creative vision to life at the Hastings Community Arts Centre thanks to the scholarship.

“Winning the David Fine Scholarship was a surprise, but a very exciting one. It’s an honour, and I really wanted to do David Fine and his family justice.”

Olivia’s exhibition, Chipper, draws inspiration from Cyclone Gabrielle and was initially her Level 7 project which required students to solve a problem.

“Cyclone Gabrielle was and still is a huge issue for Hawke’s Bay and I thought that through the opportunity of the David Fine Scholarship, I could do my piece for the Hawke’s Bay Community. A lot of us, following the weather event, suffered from mental stress. I could only relate this to my own experience, and I wanted to help others feel better.”

The Chipper exhibition includes Olivia’s 2D and 3D design work, along with photography and prints from fellow EIT student and fine artist Oriane De Lacey.

A key part of her exhibition is a kinetic windmill design, which Olivia says is a nostalgic reminder of childhood and a grounding symbolism.

“My intention behind Chipper is to simply make you feel good. I want to help you open doorways in your search for a happy life. We all know what it can feel like being stuck in the humdrum of daily life. I wanted to introduce colour to a hard hit Hawke’s Bay community – not just in its literal sense. I also somehow wanted the installation to convey a more positive association with weather.”

“The reaction has been great,” Olivia says. “I’ve loved seeing people’s smiley faces, especially my grandparents, alongside the installation.”

She thanked her team and family, along with her sponsors Resene, Carters, Richard Kepka Builders and Heather Wilson Artist.

Olivia’s passion for design started in high school, where she earned a scholarship in her final year at Napier Girls’ High School.

“My happy place from the get-go has been design. I love concepting and developing ideas and watching them come to fruition. I’ve always known that my passion lies in being creative, and I’m super stoked to almost have a degree and be in my final year.”

Olivia credits her time at EIT as transformative.

“When I left high school, I became quite unwell. I spent several years recovering and learning to manage my illness. I was encouraged by my therapist and my family to enrol at EIT. This decision has been a catalyst for some of the most positive changes in my life to date.

“EIT has been some of the best years of my life – my tutors have really encouraged me, and I feel a very strong sense of community at EIT IDEAschool. I have also made some golden friends.

“I find it really hard to believe sometimes how far I’ve come in relation to where I was. I am now incredibly well, and I think that’s because I have purpose. I owe those who encouraged me along the way, a massive thank you.”

While her two-week exhibition finished on Friday (September 13) the installation has been reinstalled in The Atrium at EIT.

IDEAschool Design Programme Coordinator and Senior Lecturer Anthony Chiappin said: “Livvy and her cohort of third year Bachelor of Creative Practice students have worked together to realise this exhibition”.

“For us it not only showcases the incredible talent we foster within the programme, but the huge amount of support by which the design lecturers who teach the students give, selflessly beyond the call of duty. Lecturers Beck Wheeler, Roger Kelly and Mazin Bahho supported by the rest of the crew, namely Diane Wilkie and Estelle Booth, have been pivotal in seeing this vision through.

“The best part about the education paradigm at IDEAschool is the one on one attention paid to each student, where they get much more real world experience from lecturers who practice in the real world. Overall Chipper can only benefit the entire community, and by default shine some light on the horrific 2023 we all experienced.”

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EIT student wins best female filmmaker at VF48 regional final | EIT Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti

Source: Eastern Institute of Technology – Tairāwhiti

1 day ago

EIT Bachelor of Creative Practice (Screen Production) student Kayla Tepania won Wift Best Female Filmmaker at this year’s Vista Foundation 48Hours Gisborne Final.

EIT Bachelor of Creative Practice (Screen Production) student Kayla Tepania has been recognised for her work on the big screen at this year’s Vista Foundation 48Hours Gisborne Final.

Kayla (Ngāpuhi, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui and Tainui) says she entered the competition this year to redeem herself following an attempt in her first year of study, but did not expect to win the Wift Best Female/Gender Diverse Filmmaker at the regional finals.  

Her team HaReKa Films and their film ‘What Remains’ was also selected as a finalist, and nominated for best director, best script, best editing, best use of genre, best use of element 2 (a traveller or neighbour) and best use of element 4 (an exit).

“For me, it’s quite a big award. Just being recognised in that field is quite incredible, particularly given that the people who judged the category are acclaimed industry professionals. So, it really is validation for me,” Kayla says.

“I couldn’t have done it without the team. It just makes me feel proud to be representing the region. So, I just feel very proud and shocked at the same time.”

The Vista Foundation 48Hours is the country’s largest guerrilla filmmaking competition where filmmakers have just one weekend to make a short film. As part of the requirements, they must also include some random elements.

This year, her genre was animal adventure film. While it is largely left up to their own imagination, they had to include a traveller or neighbour, an exit and a warning.

“For us, it’s finding out what we can do with the region. In our film, we have a dog who is travelling from one destination to another, and we took footage from all around Napier and Taradale. Because what we want to do as well is highlight the region for filmmaking specifically.”

The 27-year-old was a producer and co-director alongside Harry Lawson and Regan Bailey.

“I’m so proud of everybody and what we put out. There could be tweaks to it for sure but for what we did in the time we did it in, we’re so happy.”

Kayla, originally from Waiouru, grew up wanting to be an actor.  

“I’ve always loved film and TV. I can recall as a child that my parents only let me watch documentaries and films. So, when I was in Auckland during my youth, I signed up with an agency thinking I wanted to be an actor. But I’m not an actor, I don’t have what it takes.

“So, I put that aside and thought well film isn’t for me, thinking that acting was the only part of it. And I moved to the states.”

It wasn’t until she returned to New Zealand, that she decided to apply for jobs in the film industry, and soon found herself enrolled at EIT.

“It was basically one of the directors that told me about EIT. I’ve always had a passion for film, but I didn’t realise until about three years ago that I was going to be on this side of it.”

Now, in her final year of the degree, Kayla can proudly say she has found her passion.

“Every single job that I do, I’m passionate about and I love it. And actually studying it and learning how to use the gear and do all the practical learning has just helped so much.”

She says the culture at EIT is supportive and focuses on bettering students.

“You can tell that they care about the students and that they want to better the students. They’re extremely supportive, especially with the 48 hours because we were given permission to use all the screen production gear and use the building as a home base to come up with the ideas.”

The awards and nominations they received have fuelled them to aim to do even better next year.

“I’m so excited for next year. We’ve already learned so much, even just from this year’s competition, so as the years go on, it’s just going to get better and better for us hopefully.”

EIT IDEAschool Lecturer Wayne Dobson says: “Kayla’s involvement with the VF48 began in her first year of study when she joined fellow students and recent graduates to compete.

“Two years on she was a driving force behind this year’s entry, which received award nominations in multiple categories. The skills acquired during her studies and the collaborative nature of the programme have contributed to her success in this competition and locally as an emerging film maker.”