Brigitte Sistig

CreativeMornings with Kristine Crabb
Friday 1st March, 8.00am-9.30am
The Basement Theatre 

Kristine Crabb is a gentle powerhouse of creativity. She is led by her intuition and integrity, and her eponymous label, Miss Crabb, possesses a loyal fanbase that most creatives can only dream about.

For almost 15 years elegant and unique Miss Crabb pieces have been worn by women all over New Zealand and the world, with our prime minister Jacinda Ardern being a dedicated wearer. Kristine’s journey has been incredible and inspirational, beginning with Rip Shit and Bust in 2001 on K Road and growing into Miss Crabb on Ponsonby Road in 2004.

Kristine describes Miss Crabb as ‘much more than a fashion label, it’s an art project, a state of mind and a ‘culty’ family; I have had three children along the way which has added another dimension to things.’ This multiverse that Kristine inhabits grew another dimension when it was announced that on 31 March 2019 Miss Crabb would be closing its doors for the last time, taking the out-of-it creative force of Miss Crabb in a whole new direction.

Come hear about how you find SYMMETRY between creativity and commerce, motherhood and work, and get an insight into how to stay true to yourself as a creative.

CreativeMornings with Wayne Pick
Friday 26th October, 8.00am-9.30am
Studio One Toi Tū

There’s no two ways about it, Wayne Pick is an honest-to-goodness superstar. He is to the Executive Creative Director role what Richie McCaw is to the No.8 jersey. Wayne Pick is a standout, a champion, and has repped hard for NZ on the international stage. And he’s also a really good guy.

With over 25 years of global experience connecting some of the world’s biggest brands with their customers, Wayne has worked at leading agencies in the USA, UK, Singapore, South Africa, and New Zealand. He has won in excess of 100 international awards (OMG) and is a sought member of jury panels at ad awards and festivals.

This year Wayne made the move from ECD and CX champion at Colenso BBDO to setting up his own agency, &Pick. It is our absolute delight to have Wayne come and lay down some truths and connect with our community as this month’s CreativeMorningsAKL speaker. We are fans!

CreativeMornings with Kendal Collins
Friday 31st August, 8.00am-9.30am
Studio One Toi Tū

A community is a reflection of what we crave: belonging.

Belonging is the heart of human connection and this is what Kendal Collins lives, eats, sleeps and breathes. Along with her sisters, design guru Narelle, and the choreographic force-of-nature, Parris Goebal, Kendal co-founded and co-leads Sisters United.

Using creativity – the mediums of spoken word, dance and visual art – Sisters United is an organisation dedicated to helping young women discover their talents, build their confidence and find their voice. Parris’ Palace Dance Studio is a safe space for young women to start their own journey of self-discovery, combating the negative effects of bullying, low self-esteem, negative body image and cultural disconnection of young women in Auckland.

Kendal is of Samoan and English heritage and was a 2017 Vodafone Foundation World of Difference recipient.

CreativeMornings with Julia Waite
Friday 20th July, 8.00am-9.30am
Auckland Art Gallery 

Julia Waite is a woman whose intention is to bring the beautiful work of New Zealand art into our everyday. She holds the role of Curator, New Zealand Art at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, where she has worked on a number of large-scale exhibitions including the 5th Auckland Triennial (2013) and Space to Dream: Recent Art from South America (2016), Freedom and Structure: Cubism and New Zealand Art 1930– 1960 (2015) and most recently she co-curated Gordon Walters: New Vision, which opens at Auckland Art Gallery in July 2018.

Julia has worked at National Gallery Singapore and The Substation, Singapore however her real passion is in exploring the development of modern art in New Zealand and global modernisms, and how this reflects the development of our country as a whole. She has a Masters in Art History and a Master in Museum Studies.

CreativeMornings with Bridget Taylor
Friday 29th June, 8.00am-9.30am
Studio One Toi Tū

This month’s speaker, creative powerhouse Bridget Taylor, is using her CRAFT to lead the way in the call to make the advertising industry in our country more diverse.

Co-owner and Executive Creative Director of Contagion, a full-service creative and marketing agency based in central Auckland, Bridget has been awarded at all the major shows globally - Cannes Gold, D&AD, One Show, Clio, Award, ADFEST best in Show and ADFEST Grand Lotus. She is also the only Māori female Executive Creative Director in the New Zealand advertising industry, and one of only three women in this position.

Bridget has enjoyed a stellar international career, as Deputy Creative Director of DDB Group between 2004 – 2009 then as Creative Director at BBDO Proximity Singapore, before returning to New Zealand. When home, she was one of the twenty New Zealand women selected to complete the 2011 global leadership course, Global Women.

When Bridget’s not creating marketing, she likes talking about it. She has just completed the fourth series of the hit ABC show The Gruen Transfer, where she demystifies advertising, or at least tries to….

We are also welcoming in DRY JULY with a co-pro with Seedlip. This beautifully crafted drink is the world’s first non-alcoholic spirit, so get ready for morning cocktails that won’t stop you from going to work. Crafty.

CreativeMornings with Marcus Powell
Friday 25th May, 8.00am-9.30am
Studio One Toi Tū

A commitment is a promise to show up whether you’re having a good or bad day. It’s a behavior and mindset that signifies the posture of a professional. It’s about saying yes with your whole heart.

A creative life is built on the commitments you make to projects and people. It can feel like a leap of faith. But is that not the very essence of leading a creative life?

Our speaker this month is Marcus Powell. Marcus is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Crescendo Trust of Aotearoa (CTOA), an organisation that works to connect and re-engage New Zealand’s young people back into education and employment while making meaningful connections with others working in creative industries. Marcus has also helped build Rawkusradio.co.nz, a radio station lead by the youth for the youth. Through his work in building pathways for youth into the NZ music industry he has received a Vodafone New Zealand Foundation’s World of Difference Award and received a nomination for the prestigious “New Zealander of the Year” award.

Marcus is also one of New Zealand’s most decorated rock guitarists. Marcus was an original band member in the multi-platinum band Blindspott who were signed to EMI and Grindhouse Records, performing with Linkin Park, Deftones, and Metallica throughout the world. Blacklistt (gold) which was formed after Blindspott, debuted at number one in 2013 and won the “Best Rock Album” at the 2014 Vodafone Music Awards.

This month’s global exploration of Commitment was chosen by our Vienna chapter and illustrated by Florine Glück. Thank you to our global partners MailChimp, Adobe, and WordPress.com for their ongoing support of the CreativeMornings community.

CreativeMornings with Maru Nihoniho
Friday 27th April, 8.00am-9.30am
Studio One Toi Tū

Throughout human history, games were about winning or losing.

Maru Nihoniho, MNZM, is the managing director, game producer and designer at Metia Interactive (an award-winning game design studio she founded in 2002) pushes the boundaries of what is possible to achieve with a game.

Author James P. Carse extends this concept beautifully in Finite and Infinite Games: “A finite game is played for the purpose of winning, an infinite game for the purpose of continuing the play.”

Maru epitomises how the gaming world can improve our realities. In 2016 Maru was awarded a New Zealand Order of Merit for her work in gaming and mental health, and recently awarded the Innovator of the Year in 2017 MCV Pacific Women in Games Awards from Xbox. She has completed her Masters Degree in Technological Futures, where she produced a game called Tākaro to teach rangatahi to strengthen spatial awareness skills and learn coding concepts.

Which game are you playing with your art? Keep your eyes on the journey, not the prize.

This month is presented by our global partner MailChimp. This month’s global exploration of Game was chosen by our Liège chapter and illustrated by Jeffrey Phillips.

CreativeMornings with Samuel Te Kani 
Friday 16th March, 8.00am-9.30am
Samoa House

Courage has no specific form and knows no bounds. From starting a side project to the act of listening when you would rather interject, every day we are wrapped in opportunities to exercise courage.

Courage has nothing to do with your title or level of expertise. It’s not for the few or the gifted. It’s an act of humanity, of choosing to take an action that is risky because it demands vulnerability and curiosity.

Our speaker this month, Samuel Te Kani is a courageous and generous soul. His art pushes boundaries and disrupts the world around him.

Samuel is politically minded and opinionated, and a firm believer in social justice. The best way to understand him is to kick back with a coffee or mimosa, and just listen. You will find Samuel hanging out around K’Road eating fried chicken, drinking Rosè, nose-deep in a novel that challenges the very fabric of what we call society.

We need your courage. It’s going to be risky and will require vulnerability. A posture of empathy and curiosity will empower you. And above all, you must take action.

Samuel has chosen Rainbow Youth as our charitable partner for March. We believe this awesome organisation aligns strongly with the theme Courage. Please feel free to bring along a gold coin donation to contribute to Rainbow Youth on the 16th.

We are very excited to also announce that In true Sam Te Kani style, breakfast will be Mimosa’s and fried chicken (we will also be providing vege/vegan/gluten free goodies) + non alcoholic beverages.

CreativeMornings with Dominic Glamuzina
Friday 24th November, 8.00am-9.30am
St Matthews

Death has inspired humanity since time immemorial, influencing ideologies and our understanding of life and how we live it.

Death itself has literal and figurative definitions. Taken literally, as a species we have leveraged the fear of death to inspire achievements that seemed impossible, and to create work that needed to be made. Taken figuratively, we have used the concept of death to challenge ideals, and dissent from the establishment. Death represents both decay and renewal, and as creatives this gives us a whole lotta room to move.

This month’s speaker, Dom Glamuzina, is an award-winning architect and dedicated disruptor. In typically robust style, he will explore the figurative role death plays in challenging New Zealand architecture to embrace self- and peer- critique in the profession.

In 2000, not too long after graduating from the University of Auckland, Dom started his own practice. From here he and Aaron Paterson combined their talents for the successful 2007-2015 partnership of Glamuzina Paterson Architects.

Since the rebirth of Glamuzina Architects in 2015, various typologies have been explored in the practice, from the Waiheke Island bach, to commercial builds in the ever changing K’Rd, to working with iwi in the far north to complete a community-based, multi-faceted program of broad value.

Within his profession Dom is happy to challenge the status quo. He pushes beyond aesthetics to rethink our familiar cityscapes and breathe life into our ‘machines for living in’, always finding joy in the creative process. Forever keen to start necessary conversations, Dom was part of the creative team for the provocative ‘restaurant at the end of the universe world’. This was part of the Future Islands exhibition, the New Zealand Institute of Architects’ work at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale.

With an opinion on everything, a love of critical dialogue, and a mile-a-minute banter Dom Glamuzina will lead on us on an adventure that is a matter of life and death.

CreativeMornings with Johnson Witehira
Friday 29 September, 8.00am-9.30am
Studio One Toi Tū

Compassion is a pause button that reminds us of a fundamental truth: we’re all stumbling and nobody has it figured out. The best part about compassion is that it’s a learned trait—unlike your height or eye color—and the more we practice accepting others the sooner the easier it becomes to accept ourselves.

When this is at the forefront of our minds, we give people a chance to show up and be seen. When in doubt, the answer is compassion. It’s something that is essential in graphic design, and something our speaker for this month, Johnson Witehira, has been investigating and practising himself.

At High School Johnson dreamed of being a video game designer. At the time though this didn’t exist in New Zealand’s education system. So, with a love of art and computers He ended up studying the next best thing, graphic design. Typography. Grids. The Bauhaus. It was all so new and exciting. Yet, for some reason it also felt wrong. Why? Graphic design has its roots in Europe in America. What does it have to do with being Maori, being Pākehā or being a New Zealander?

In search of answers, Johnson went on to complete a Masters in Graphic Design (2007) and a Doctorate in Maori Visual Art (2013). A the same time, his many art and design projects, which have been profiled by Monocle Magazine, Novum and AIGA, are responses to the challenge of how we might develop unique approaches to art and design here in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Join us on Friday 29 September at Studio One Toi Tū to hear about Johnson’s explorations and discoveries. Registrations open on Monday 25 September at 11am.