Poet and musicians combine for fundraiser
Rebecca Reider among friends in Shiwayacu, in the Amazon.
Golden Bay will experience a unique blend of locally grown poetry and music when three performers join forces on March 7 to help a community across the oceans.
Local spoken-word poet Rebecca Reider will perform a new collection of poems, accompanied by Jochen Maurer on piano and David Dwyer on percussion. Rebecca is known for her spirited and moving rhythmic performance style, as are the musicians.
“These are poems about the Earth, ocean, spirit, love, death, and everything in between, all inspired by this amazing place we live in, Golden Bay,” Rebecca says. “Jochen’s transcendent melodies provide a lush carpet of sound, while David brings the beats to keep it all moving. It feels like a recipe for magic.”
Rebecca wrote the poems as an original fundraiser, which she dubbed a “poeticathon.” Four years ago, as an environmental researcher, she lived in Shiwayacu, an indigenous Kichwa community in the Amazon rainforest. When mining businessmen encroached on the community, the indigenous families went to Ecuador’s courts to fight for their ancestral land titles, in a potentially historic case—but they had no way to pay their legal bills. So Rebecca collected donations and wrote a poem for each gift. She wrote for 60 consecutive days—and raised over $7000.
“I was amazed by people’s generosity,” she says. “It showed me helping the world doesn’t have to be a struggle; it can be art.”
The performance will take place on Saturday 7 March at 7pm, at Kahurangi Function Centre, overlooking the ocean in Tukurua (on SH60, 3km past the Mussel Inn). Minimum koha $5 to $10. The performance will be recorded, with a CD to be produced to further benefit the indigenous community’s land rights campaign.
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