Secret Walls x Aotearoa

Overview

Armed with a kit of brushes, black markers and paint artists go head to head and hand to hand in a battle of skill and imagination. Secret Walls x Aotearoa is a unique insight into the private mysteries of a creative mind. Watch artists at work and see their creations come to life, with beer on tap and a DJ spinning tracks.

As an added bonus, the 95bFM Sound Walls competition features as part of Secret Walls. Pre-battle entertainment is provided by the Band of the Month, giving aspiring young musicians the chance to be heard and keeping us up to speed with the contemporary music scene.

Battle #1 of Secret Walls x Aotearoa pitted Paul Walsh against Misha Wert, aka WERT159. With such diverse styles at play the battle was intriguing right from the start. After a stellar performance from Auckland-based rapper and beatmaker Randa, the battle stars took the stage.

There's a certain seduction in watching an artist at work. It's a kind of rush, thinking of all the possibilities and waiting eagerly to see what emerges from the empty space. What started out as a few random lines gradually grew into a life-like portrait on Misha's wall and an urban landscape on Paul's.

The standard of work was impressive across the board but Paul took it to another level with his reference to Skee-Lo's 'I wish', beating Misha by just 4 decibels of crowd roar. Producing a large-scale work in ninety minutes with neither pencil nor resource requires skill and confidence and these guys definitely showed they were up to the challenge.

To tide us over the winter months is a series of seven art battles, culminating in a grand final in December. Battle #2 takes place this month with Liger vs. The Pest Fiver and the competition is fierce. Award-winning Samoan comic book artist Michel Mulipola aka Liger takes on accomplished mural and graffiti artist Jonny4Higher.

If you're looking for evening entertainment out of the ordinary Secret Walls Aotearoa is an event you should definitely check out.