Audience enjoys avant-garde performance

Throbbing base lines, wailing blues harmonica, and reverberating beatnik spoken lyrics filled the main exhibition hall of the Whangarei Arts Museum on Thursday 3rd December celebrating United Nations International Day of Disabled Persons.

Philip Patston, ex comedian and ex vegetarian was sponsored by DPA Northland, Whangarei Art Museum and Tiaho Trust to deliver an edgy avant-garde performance of Poetry on Music accompanied by Tony Lewis on the harmonica.

The performance punctuated the end of a successful Access Art exhibition curated by Scott Potham which included ‘Sweet As’, a multi-sensory installation and ‘More than Looking’, an installation by Glenn Heenan.

The diverse audience included, trustee of the Whangarei Art Museum Councillor Warwick Syers, members of the disability community from all over Northland and the general public.  Philip Patston received multitudes of applauds and encores from the audience who thoroughly enjoyed his performance.

Anna Wild from the Art Museum said that is was “A profoundly moving and so very human performance.  I laughed, cried and was reminded of the immense frailty in us all. Thanks so much to the trust and to Phillip for this special evening.”

Tiaho Trust CEO Jonny Wilkinson said that it’s so refreshing to have a cutting edge, funky performance from a contemporary artist as apposed to the usual institutionalised drab attempts to celebrate the unique diversity of disabled people.