MANGAWEKA
FAKES & FORGERIES FESTIVAL and EXHIBITION
Saturday 27 October to Saturday 17 November
2007
Mangaweka's
"BIG
DAY ART"
Mangaweka
Fakes & Forgeries Festival Finale
The inaugural Mangaweka Fakes & Forgeries Festival was “successful
beyond our wildest hopes” says event organiser Maree Brannigan.
This past weekend saw the tiny village of Mangaweka bursting at
the seams with people coming from all over the country to spend
the day celebrating great art. The old historic main street was
lined with stall holders, selling a plethora of crafts, arts and
good old country fair staples like preserves, cakes, and such. The
two fine art galleries, i5 mangaweka and the Yellow Church gallery
were jam packed with people taking their last opportunity to view
the more than 70 ‘fakes & forgeries’ entered in
the festival competition.
Vintage cars from the Wanganui Vintage Car Club and Wellington Citroen
Club provided a fitting backdrop for the old section of SH1 and
a special highlight was Fay and Ian Chamberlain’s 1904 Chrysler
REO, thrilling people with rides up and down the street. The colourful
puppetry of ‘Junk and Disorderly” wove their way around
the hundreds of people gathered to be part of this unique festival,
celebrating Mangaweka as the home of Karl Sim aka CF Goldie, New
Zealand’s foremost art forger.
Goldie was the star of the day, enthralling everyone with stories
of his colourful past. Although turning 84 this December, Goldie
gamely climbed up a ladder onto the verandah of one of the historic
buildings to unveil a magnificent 2.4 metre high version of one
of his most famous copies, popularly known as “A Good Joke”.
There are six different masterpieces permanently on display around
the village, which were created by the local children, residents
and visitors. These feature artworks were funded by Creative Communities
as part of this community arts festival.
 
The formal proceedings included the awards ceremony and celebrity
montages auction. The $500 grand prize winner of the professional
section was Euan Satherley, a tattoo artist currently based in Hamilton,
with his striking oil painting entitled “Still a Noted Waikato
Chief” an updated copy of a CF Goldie original. “I’m
overwhelmed with winning this competition and already have plans
for next year’s entry!” said the proud winner. Other
cateogry winners were Jo Donovan of Taihape with her oil work of
Magdela, inspired by Raphael. Johnny Sage won the children’s
section with his painting of a NZ soldier. The judging panel had
a difficult time selecting from the finalists in each section which
were determined by public vote during the 3 weeks leading up to
the festival closing. Richard Aslett, judge and organiser stated
the calibre of the works entered in all sections was of the highest
standard and has set a benchmark for the next festival.
 
The auction of five peices created by local and national celebrities
including Bryan Crump, Shane Cortese, Paul and Mark Raynor and competition
winner Euan Satherley raised over $4000 for the next festival. Drew
Ferry, organiser was thrilled with the bidding frenzy and delighted
to see the wide appeal of these one-off creations from people all
over the country, with pieces going as far afield as Tauranga, Palmerston
North and Christchurch.
The fun of the day was topped off by the glamour of the evening.
The 5 course 5 michelin star (Goldie style stars!) festival dinner
at i5 mangaweka saw guests dusting off their faux furs, dinner suits
and tiaras. Goldie joined each table throughout the meal and shared
humourous recollections and answered all the curly questions. Showing
he can copy more than just great paintings, Goldie left with a glance
over his shoulder and a cheeky “I’ll be back!!”
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