​In 1995 I  was the president of the Noah's Ark Playgroup which was held in an old Convent. Each of the groups that used the place was required to contribute to a fundraiser for it. They asked me to be in charge of a creche and candy floss machine. With a  boisterous 7 year old, a 3 year old who rarely slept and a new born the prospect sounded like my worst nightmare so it came to me that the building would be great for a murder mystery night.

I wrote the show for it in collaboration, the shows were very successful, other organisations asked for the script and then I got going on writing more and selling more.

We had one of the few websites in 1997 and I mostly sold these interactive dinner theatre shows to the USA.

In 2001 I collaborated with my very good friend Debbie Wright and we wrote a kids musical and I directed it at the St James Theatre in Gore. This came about out of frustration at trying to find a decent kids show that extended and showcased their immense talent and freedom to create. It was very successful and things progressed from there.

Monica Moore Productions didn't get started until 2001, previously it was called other names but a marketing advisor told me to use it as 'Monica Moore" had a memorable ring to it. Many of my friends have commented that I'm certainly not forgettable.
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That's a tricky one. A couple of my Dinner Theatre shows are still running after 20 plus years... One is in the middle of the United States and one in a restaurant in New York. At the time I sold them for a one-off cost of $250, never thinking that they'd do more than a couple of shows.

Noah, the first show I ever wrote, was re-written so that a community theatre group in London could put it on. They asked me if I had a full-length version of it, I said yes and then spent the next 48 hours writing it. My friend Debbie arranged some extra music and the script got sent off in time.

I was in an airport in Sydney a few years axgo and got chatting to a couple from England. They'd come over to see their granddaughter in her school production in Melbourne. I asked the name of the school. They show they'd gone to see was written by me.

Recently, I was in Samoa and met a couple from Gore. I asked them if they'd seen Mamma Mia down there. They had and the woman said "Monica Moore directed it. She's from Auckland" It's probably the only time in my life that I'll get to say, "I am Monica Moore." It was very funny.

I'm sure I've got a good dollop of ADD as ideas are always pinging around. I'm very slowly writing a show based on NZ theme and real experiences.
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I'm hoping to collaborate on the music and have it ready for fringe festivals somewhere in 2019. I've written a children's book that goes with one of my shows and it's about the environment as well as friendships and self-belief. It's a chapter book with headphones to sing along to the songs. I think it will be useful to engage kids who are not big on reading but love adventures and to sing.
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The 'key' is to never take yourself too seriously, but believe in what you're doing. Theatre is dramatic so expect to work with 'dramatic' people from time to time. Have a good laugh, work really hard and keep going. The only way forward is forward.
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Helen Riley-Duddin is the owner of Tinch Design and a founding designer of Dunedin’s premiere collective design store, Guild. While setting up for one of her workshops, we caught up with Helen to talk about Guild and building connections between designers and the local community.

Guild is a beautiful retail & gallery space set in Dunedin’s historic Moray Place Arts Quarter. It’s the first project of Dunedin Designed INC - a non-profit society conceived to support Dunedin designers, artists and makers. The store is staffed, 100% of the time, by one of our twelve resident designers.

This means that to operate the store six-days, we each work a weekly, half-day shift. Customers are always served by a designer on duty which helps to extend the designer's stories from maker to customer. People love to meet the makers; it's a unique and meaningful shopping experience.

Guild provides 12 designers a small part of the CBD to sell their wares; a place where, independently, we probably wouldn't or couldn’t be. We share fixed costs, and sales reimbursements go directly back to the designers, who each share approximately one square metre of shop “real estate”.

The current12 designers has evolved and grown from the founding five who initially worked together to found the Society and start the shop. At the time we were a mix of acquaintances with some friendships already established. We were all in similar places with our labels: ready to have a presence in the CBD to complement our web presence, and to have a base retail store to collectively sell from.

To begin with we had representatives from a broad cross-section of design disciplines: fashion, jewellery, and homewares. The mix of product offerings ebbs and flows with each new designer: recently we've had perfume, fine art, ceramics, skincare, textiles join the mix.

Yes, a dynamic part of the shop’s offering is that, every month, the stock changes. Every four weeks we showcase and sell products from other creatives around Aotearoa. These are our pop-up guests whose products are selected to complement our existing ranges and offer an ever-changing experience for our visitors. This is generally an invite-only opportunity. Having a curator managing the pop-up designers maintains a consistently high-quality and diverse range of stock; representative of creative work from around the country.

For our pop-up guests, it’s an amazing opportunity to expand their reach into Dunedin city. They can raise their profile and generate some sales without the typical consignment agreement or retail margins. Being run by a non-profit society means the shop aims to support these designers; helping to tell their stories and to grow their independent labels. We manage to run the pop-up opportunity on a zero-commission model. Guests only pay a fixed rental sum that helps to cover the running costs of the shop. The pop-up spots are highly coveted and well earned by the designers who are invited. 

Absolutely! There are three ways to be involved with Guild. 

Resident designers are locals who are permanently involved in the shop. They help to staff the store every week and their products have a permanent place in store, managed by them. The opportunity to become a resident designer is rare, but comes up when one of our current residents moves on. We like to have a pool of keen, local designers for when the opportunity arises, so expressions of interest to join Guild are always welcomed. We'll always put a call out when there is a vacancy. Interested designers can visit our website for more information.

Pop-up designers, as mentioned above, are generally contacted by our curator and booked several months in advance, but we also welcome designers and makers of high-quality, unique goods to introduce themselves and their wares. We are always interested in discovering new talent and aim to showcase a diverse mix across a year. Designers can email popup@guiddunedin.co.nz or visit our website to learn more about this.

Also, we are working to extend the programme of creative workshops on offer through Guild. Our resident and pop-up designers are encouraged to offer these, but the opportunity exists for other creatives to run a workshop as well. So far, we’ve had workshops covering painting, book-binding, ceramic crafting and illustration, and we’ve had amazing feedback from people who've taken part. Our aim is to offer more regular opportunities for the community to 'meet the maker' and learn new skills. 

I think it's fair to say we experience highlights almost every week. Whenever we sell each other’s work, there's this sense of excitement, support and validation. We know each other’s work and are able to help customers to find the ideal piece, or have something made especially by one of our colleagues. It's really encouraging for all of us.

We've had some great publicity in our first two years, including stories in Harpers Bizarr, Air NZ Kia Ora magazine, Your Home & Garden magazine, Mindfood and the local Otago Daily Times. They’ve all helped to extend our reach and tell our story and each time someone mentions an article there's that sense of success all over again. Just recently, we were successful in receiving some funding from the Dunedin City Council in support of our efforts. It is a huge sense of achievement to have the recognition that our aims are in line with the City's strategy for economic development, particularly for the arts and design. It means we can continue to focus our energy on things like our workshop programme, and our work with the Otago Polytechnic design school where we have a growing relationship to support emerging designers.

Probably, our overriding challenge is time! The store is run by the Society, and our members are volunteers who each have their independent design businesses and projects to focus on. All accomplishments are due to the kindness and dedication of our members and generosity of time given to grow the shop and achieve our aims. At every meeting there's so many ideas for growth, evolution, and improvement, which are all really time-dependent. Looking back at what we've achieved in two years, though, it's incredible what a creative collective can do with pockets of spare time and energy.

Perhaps the rules of our founding Society are the keystone to the success of our model. Whenever there's been any uncertainty, they've helped to steer the course.

A shared aim, a unified concept, a collective commitment, and a common sense of purpose from all members also helps our model to work. Each of us contributes something unique and has strengths in different areas. Fostering these different strengths is really important. Combining our skills and networks, and learning from each other is central to our success and we're really proud of what we've accomplished together.

Written by
George Arthur-Amohau

Photographs by
George Arthur-Amohau

Every visit to Guild, a collective design store nestled in the heart of Dunedin’s historic Moray Place Arts Quarter, provides a unique opportunity to meet one of the store’s 12 resident designers. Growing from a founding group of just five, the store’s designers represent a cross section of design disciplines from fashion and jewellery to fine art, ceramics and homewares.

Working a half-day shift each week in order to staff the store, each designer is afforded approximately one square metre of premium CBD real estate. In addition to the resident designers, Guild operates a coveted space for ‘pop-up designers’; providing creatives from all over New Zealand the opportunity to showcasing their work.

Helen Riley-Duddin, resident designer and one of the store’s curators, has been central to the store’s development, and says that the Guild provides a unique opportunity for customers to meet the makers. “It’s a unique and meaningful shopping experience”.

Guild also connects the community with designers through a programme of workshops that cover a range of creative topics such as painting, book-binding, ceramics and illustration. “We've had amazing feedback from people who've taken part in our workshops to-date”.

Guild is located at 45 Moray Place, Dunedin and is open Monday to Saturday each week. You can also visit their website, guilddunedin.co.nz.

​Read the full interview with Helen Riley-Duddin here.

A walk around Christchurch, a city in the full-swing of redevelopment, is almost a sensory overload. But, rather pleasingly, amidst the seemingly endless construction, the rumble of trams and the glittering new buildings you’ll find an invigorating array of artworks. The street art and a quirky array of installations that have sprung up in spaces all over the city are enjoyed by the community and visitors alike.

Embracing this urban evolution, Fiksate, a studio and gallery in the heart of the city’s post-earthquake east, is drawing crowds with its mix of contemporary urban art. The studio and gallery space is a collaboration between artists Jenna Brown, Nathan Ingram and Clint Park (aka Dr. Suits, Jen_Heads and Porta) who came together following the creation of a collaborative work for Spectrum Street Art Festival in 2015.

Predominantly a working space, Fiksate opens for set hours only during exhibitions. “Our gallery is run by artists and is a working studio, so 85% of the time, we are using it as just that: our working space,” Brown explains.

The gallery hosts a number of exhibits throughout the year including CAP’D: an annual street, graffiti and urban contemporary art exhibition. The current show, ‘Face Value’ brings together a diverse array of artists connected by their desire to depict faces.

“This is the most cohesive group exhibition we've put on. All the artists involved and the work on show are outstanding and we had a great opening night. We've had excellent feedback from the artists and public alike". The Fiksate team are now working on getting all the artwork up on their website so it can be seen by an even larger audience.

Fiksate is also home to typewriter collector, writer and abstract artist, Jon King; and, more recently, two up-and-coming music producers by the name of Crooked Lids. Excited about collaborative possibilities, Brown has already begun thinking of potential art and music combinations.

‘Face Value’ will run at Fiksate until December 17 and is well worth a visit. With varied opening hours, it’s worth checking out their website, fiksate.com, to plan your visit.