E ngā mana, e ngā reo,  e ngā waka, e ngā hau e whā.
Nau mai, haere mai, ki tō mātou nei kura.

Toi Whakaari’s 2021 Costume Showcase livestream event will be a 30-minute visual delight, where a year’s work comes to life from the creative minds of our students.

The Costume Showcase started as a small in-house showing back in 2006, when the Diploma of Costume Construction had welcomed its first cohort of students. Since then the event has gone from strength to strength. Kaarin Slevin, Head of Costume Construction says, “We created a realisation project for the costumiers to stretch their abilities and investigate a character of their choice from an existing design. It was a magical moment; we got to see in the responses from our colleagues and peers that Costume had arrived at Toi Whakaari.” 

While 2021 has been a challenge for the performing arts, Toi Whakaari is hoping to spread the word to costume lovers all over Aotearoa (and perhaps further afield) that this year’s event will be as colourful and  creative as ever, and accessible to everyone through the livestream link. Audiences will see the major works of the 7 graduating costumiers, ranging from historical portraiture to concept critters and a larger than life drag artist! The first year costumiers get to share their work as well with their 1830’s ensembles, featuring bonnets and parasols. The kura is excited this year to also have the participation of the first year contemporary dancers from the New Zealand School of Dance, who will be  wearing dresses and masks made for an in-house film project called Vortex. 

The Diploma in Costume Construction is dedicated not to the design of costumes, but to their realisation. Students learn all facets of costume making and supervision; including millinery, tailoring, corsetry, textile manipulation, and costume props. The course allows them to grow as artists who can create their own work, and build strong dynamic industry relationships that will last a lifetime. Student applications for 2022 close on 1 October 2021 at toiwhakaari.ac.nz.

To watch Toi Whakaari’s Costume Showcase on Saturday 2 October at 6:30pm (NZDT) please visit: https://youtu.be/BjAPsN18pZE