Local artists wanted for Ag Art Wear competition
Creative people of Waikato are wanted for the Ag Art Wear competition in June.
Organisers of the hugely popular Fieldays Ag Art Wear garment design competition want more work by Waikato artists on their catwalk.
Entries opened this week for the Hamilton Ag Art Wear competition.
The Fieldays event challenges designers from around New Zealand and Australia to create wearable art made entirely of agricultural materials.
Organisers Adam Reinsfield and Sonya Anderson want to see more Waikato entries.
Last year there were 23 Waikato entrants, 12 from the elsewhere in New Zealand and five from Australia.
“We’ve got some real talent in the Waikato, I would like to get some of that talent on the catwalk for sure,” said Reinsfield.
There will be six shows at Mystery Creek during Fieldays in June, followed by a gala dinner where awards will be given to the top designs from each of the categories.
“It’s not only an award ceremony and not only a show, it’s all about art, body and movement,” Anderson said.
This year a new category called classroom couture has been added specifically for high school students. High school students were able to enter in the past but had to compete against professionals.
The designer of the best classroom couture garment will receive a ticket to the World of Wearable art show held in Wellington in October.
Organisers of Hamilton’s Ag Art Wear competition challenge designers this year to push the boundaries.
Reinsfield and Anderson asked designers to think as “out-of-the-box” as possible.
“If you think you can’t do it, do it,” said Reinsfield. “As long as it is made from an agricultural derived product and as long as it’s something that can only be found on the farm, do it.”
Reinsfield said the weirdest garment he has seen in this competition was a dress that was made out of grass. “They’d got weed matting and they’d sewn in it cotton wool and kept it wet. That was pretty impressive, it had to be squirted a few times a day with water,” said Reinsfield.
The three categories this year are avant garde, class room couture and designer traditional. There will also be a supreme award for the most outstanding garment of the entire competition.
Anderson and Reinsfield say they would like to see the Ag Art Wear show grow into a week-long event.
“[Our] ultimate vision for the show is to still have it during Fieldays week, but hold the entire event in town,” Anderson said.
Anderson believes this would be a great way to connect Fieldays with the entire city.
