Wellington Culture

When moving here I knew there was something special about this city. Having visited and Neil’s subsequent emails depicting this culture of artistic "musos" I knew something was awaiting me. However I have officially been blown away by Welly. It exists as the utopian creative environment. One not based on competition and individual "creative rights", which was fully evident by the kiwi reaction to a government creative rights act forcing ISP providers to shut down accounts of users who downloaded illegally and brought into light the issue of musical “sampling”, but a fully idealistic collective environment. Every band, every artist has their own unique persona with the refined delicacy of an aged artisan that comes only from a true community collaborative.

My days are spent job searching and exploring my new city, with a bit of Dr Phil and Oprah sprinkled in for good measure. Bt at night, on those that I hit the town, I go to local bars, each with their own flare, and each always has some random local band. One would expect random local bands to have a certain un-cuaffed grit that can either define or break them, however here in artistic utopia all are surprisingly well polished. I have yet to see a band that screeched or seemed as if they were in their early musical infancy. This stems from the collective atmosphere I seem to love about this place. There is something to be said fro an environment where constructive criticism is not just cherished but expected. Apparently the result is Awesomeness!

When on my First Job “excursions”, I can’t really call them interviews as they were more of a meet and greet, an honest conversation about experiences and current economic trends, each place recommended other firms to check out. When I went to Izzat they talked about designers in their “group” that they could contact to help me should their 2D needs not work out. Each firm I have met with, be it architecture or design, has suggested other firms around town that might be hiring or more likely doing what I’m interested in. In the states you would never invite a candidate in, then refer them to your competitor down the street. In wellington it is this weird “socialism at its best” mentality and coming from a capitalistic environment where even saying you had something to do with a competitor is an automatic dismissal unless it works for the first person is extremely refreshing.

What supports this socialist attitude, with the emphasis on social, is the café culture. With countless cafes serving the most amazing coffee it took me a full month to adjust to the caffeination amounts in one tiny flat white (a single shot of espresso with steamed milk). People here just seem to have the café lifestyle once through to limit itself to Impressionist/cubist Europe at the turn of the 19th/20th century. There is no artistic pretentiousness here like you find in London or New York City but a community of likeminded people who put their art and lifestyle ahead of personal recognition.

I LOVE IT!