Wintec’s School of Media Arts welcomes 24th Ramp Festival
Now in its 24th year, RAMP Festival is still going strong with a diverse programme of events.
The 24th annual Ramp Festival launched this week in Kirikiroa-Hamilton with a mihi from Wintec kaumātua, Tame Pokaia.
The festival, which runs from August 16-18 on the Wintec-Te Pūkenga city campus, is centered around events and workshops in art, design, music, and media. It aims to bring together students, tutors, creatives, and industry professionals, with all events open to the general public.
The theme chosen by Director, Megan Lyon, is ‘home’ and the programme includes practical workshops, art exhibitions, and panel discussions with Aotearoa based experts.
Presenters include Amanda Gaskin and Tim Donaldson of design studio Seachange, artist Sarah Smuts-Kennedy, and Alex Haskell from Hamilton agency Likeable Lab.
Lyon says one of the most popular events is the Grad Panel, a festival tradition, where past students return to talk about their life and careers. This year’s panel is filmmaker and editor Tara Durrant of FireFire Productions, Alex Haskell of digital marketing and design agency Likeable Lab and musician Jessica Ruck Nu’u.
Local fashion designer Amanda Mathews will be showing people how to restore their clothes beautifully and sustainably in a workshop called Artful Mending, while writer Megan Dunn (‘Things I learned at Art School’ will be speaking and leading a writing workshop.
An exhibition at Ramp Gallery by artist Cat Fooks is also running throughout the week.
The much-anticipated festival is an opportunity for students to learn from and collaborate with industry experts, including designer Alan Deare, who has worked with Ramp Festival for almost ten years as a designer, and internship mentor.
This year is the festivals 24th anniversary and Sam Cunnane, head of School of Media Arts says it will be the last year under Wintec branding, as the polytechnic merges to become Te Pūkenga.
Ramp Festival talks are free and open to all Wintec students, alumni, industry and the wider community. To attend a workshop, registration can be completed here.
