Border Crossings is an exhibition of Whanganui artists' works, exploring cultural diversity, geographical borders, and identity and place. The artwork refers to borders between South Taranaki and Whanganui, as well as in the wider world. The title 'Border Crossings' reflects the intent to examine borders, between place and culture, and work towards crossing those 'borders'. The exhibition is timed to coincide with a Race Relations Day celebration of lunchtime entertainment at the Hawera Town Square on March 19. Local dance groups and musicians will perform, accompanied by food stalls; peace flags created at the Parihaka Peace Festival 2010 will also be displayed. The Lysaght Watt Gallery is also offering an education programme based around the theme of Border Crossings to local schools. Border Crossings will be opened by Race Relations Commissioner, Joris de Bres, on March 2. Find out more online.

Upper Riccarton Library celebrated the Lunar New Year from February 20-21, by creating a space for local communities to mark the important calendar event. On Saturday the Korean community gave performances of dancing and drumming, and on Sunday the Chinese community celebrated with Tai chi, choir and Lion dance performances. There were also songs and stories, as well as lantern making and papercraft sessions.

On Feburary 16, the library hosted a workshop run by Chinese Paper Cut Artist, Liu Jieqiong, who was awarded the title of Master of Folk Art and Craft by UNESCO. Participants made Chinese paper cuts incorporating bat, bird, and flower designs, which symbolise good luck, health, wealth and success for the New Year. Paper cutting is a traditional art in rural Chinese communities as a way of recording ancient myths and storytelling. The workshop was supported by Asia NZ Foundation and the Christchurch Arts Centre.

Upper Riccarton Library's celebrations are part of a wider Christchurch City Libraries initiative to recognise and celebrate diversity and multiculturalism in the city.

Kelsey was a finalist in the 2009 Race Unity Speech Awards. Following the awards she applied the principles she spoke about in her speech to her life at school and in her local community. Kelsey established a race unity group at Otago Girls High, where students from different cultures shared things about themselves and their lives. The group organised an international day with different types of food and cultural performances. She also spoke at a local primary school, where students had studied her speech. The students discussed different cultures and races living together.

Kelsey's speech on 'Good Neighbours Come from All Different Races and Cultures' provoked thought about harmony and conflict between neighbours, and how "each of us has to make an effort, change will not come if we don't act, if we don't stop talking past each other, if we don't stop just hearing and start actually listening, because as Henry David Thoreau once said 'things do not change; we change'."

The 2010 Race Unity Speech Awards, organised nationally in association with Race Relations Day, are coming up soon. More information is available on our website: the deadline for applications is March 8.

Gore's multicultural Race Relations Day celebration will this year also mark the establishment of the Gore Newcomers Network. As last year's event was such a success, this year's Expo aims to reach out to Gore's new community members and provide information about local services, such as the English language courses. There will be a movie and popcorn for the children. The event will be on March 18 from 7- 9pm at James Cumming Wing, Ardwick St, Gore. Contact Colleen Te Au or the Community Connection Centre for more information (03 208 8480).

The Hokinga Mai dawn ceremony, held at Canterbury Museum, marked the return home of the Mō Tātou exhibition from Te Papa. The exhibition is accompanied by Mō Kā Uri, showcasing both Ngāi Tahu taonga and contemporary work by leading Ngāi Tahu artists. It celebrates past and present Ngāi Tahu culture, with a focus on the Waitaha (Canterbury) and Tai Poutini (West Coast) regions.

The dawn opening was conducted by senior local kaumatua (tribal elders) and kaikarakia (prayer-leaders). Said Human Rights Commissioner Richard Tankersley, himself of Kai Tahu, Kati Mamoe and Waitaha descent, "It was a fine acknowledgement of the arrival home of our treasures, and a great opportunity for many people from a broad spectrum of the community to join with takata whenua in celebrating our identity, our history and our place in the community."

Since the exhibition opened at Te Papa in 2006, over one million people have viewed and experienced the taonga. Now accompanied by Mō Kā Uri, it is the largest exhibition of Ngāi Tahu arts to date: "For the first time, more than 200 objects of cultural importance spanning more than 600 years of Southern Māori tradition and lifestyle will be on display."

The exhibitions will run until 20 June 2010, accompanied by a range of programmes and events.

It is a celebration of cultural diversity and a commitment to harmonious race relations. It involves cultural performances, ethnic foods and dress, and sports, art, speech and essay competitions, intranet profiles, media features, discussions, intercultural exchange, people sharing their backgrounds, migration stories and opinions.

There are festivals and events in towns like Invercargill, Gore, Oamaru, Timaru, Greymouth, Blenheim, Nelson, Hawera, Waitara, Hastings, Palmerston North, Rotorua, Tauranga, Hamilton, Waiuku, Pukekohe, Dargaville, and Whangarei as well as the metropolitan centres.

If you are organising something in your community or workplace, let us know. You can also order a free Race Relations Day poster from nzdiversity@hrc.co.nz to promote the day. Also available are copies of the New Zealand Statement on Race Relations.

The Human Rights Commission will launch its annual review of race relations on 11 March in Auckland, in advance of Race Relations Day. It will be available on the Commission's website, or you can order a hard copy from nzdiversity@hrc.co.nz .

March 21 recalls the tragic loss of life at Sharpeville in South Africa in 1960, and is dedicated by the United Nations to the achievement of the goals of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Form of Racial Discrimination. New Zealand signed the Convention in 1966 and ratified it 1972 after establishing the Office of the Race Relations Conciliator.

This year marks the 50^th anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre, when South African police mowed down 69 unarmed people and injured 180 others who refused to carry the hated dompas identity document that was meant only for indigenous Africans.

The newly formed Pan Africanist Congress had called on Africans to leave their pass books at home that day, go to the nearest police station and demand to be arrested for not carrying the dompas. Every indigenous African male above the age of 16 had to carry the dompas on his person day and night and produce it on demand by the police. Failure to produce, forgetting the pass at home, or not having the right stamp, meant arbitrary arrest and jail.

When the police in Sharpeville saw the masses marching towards them, they panicked and opened fire, killing the 69 and injuring hundreds. There was an international outcry. In the aftermath of the massacre, following the declaration of a state of emergency on 30 March 1960, thousands of blacks were arrested throughout the country. In April 1960, the Nationalist Party (NP) government, under the premiership of apartheid architect Hendrik Verwoerd, banned the PAC and ANC, forcing the two movements to go underground and eventually into exile.

Today, 21 March is celebrated in South Africa as Human Rights Day, and is a public holiday. The ANC-led government chose Sharpeville as the venue to launch South Africa's new Constitution, signed by its first democratically elected president, Nelson Mandela, on 8 May 1996.

In 2001, the government marked 21 March by unveiling the Sharpeville human rights memorial on the site outside the police station where the 69 men, women and children were shot - most of them in the back. Their names are all displayed on the memorial plaque.

Professor Paul Morris is Victoria University's Programme Director for Religious Studies and his appointment is significant, as this is New Zealand's first UNESCO Chair award. In his position as the UNESCO chair, he will engage in and publish research on religious change in New Zealand and the Pacific; foster links between scholars in the region; and engage with governments on the impact of religious and cultural change. Professor Morris has also been strongly involved in the NZ Diversity Action Programme and wrote the National Statement on Religious Diversity. The appointment will be formally announced at the 7^th National Interfaith Forum in Christchurch this weekend.

Andrew Corrêa, who is a composer, arranger and jazz musician based in West Auckland, is organising a Blockhouse Bay celebration with a view to uniting people from diverse cultures and 'bringing the community together with music on Race Relations Day.' There will be two shows, in which around 100 amateur musicians and dancers will perform a variety of cultural musical items that celebrate New Zealand's rich diversity. Proceeds will be donated to local initiatives promoting unity.

The concerts are sponsored by the Blockhouse Bay Community Centre, and the two shows will run at 4pm and 8pm at the Blockhouse Bay Community Centre. Please email Andrew Correa to make a reservation.

Hamilton's eight day festival kicks off with a fashion show and parade of international and traditional costume on March 14, and closes with a ceremony to mark Race Relations Day on March 21. The festival programme is extensive and includes a film festival showcasing international cinema with hosts from origin countries; dance and music performances; arts, crafts and international food; community activities at the Waikato Refugee and Migrant Centre; and a convoy of waka ama canoe races.

[caption id="attachment_4880" align="alignleft" width="160" caption="Indigo Festival"][/caption]

The goals of the festival are to:

• Educate people about the diverse cultures within Hamilton
• Celebrate the richness and colour of cultures in Hamilton
• Communicate and strengthen understanding between all cultures.

The event is supported by the Hamilton Community Arts Council, Hamilton City Council and the Department of Internal Affairs. You can find out more information on the Indigo website.

The Mixing Room is a product of collaboration between Te Papa and 70 refugee background young people from diverse communities, including Afghani, Bhutanese, Burmese, Burundian, Cambodian, Colombian, Congolese, Eritrean, Ethiopian, Iranian, Kosovar-Albanian, Rwanadan, Somali, Sudanese, Tamil, and Vietnamese. The exhibition presents the young people's stories in a range of creative mediums, including art, short film, poetry, performance, screen-printing, cast glass and digital story-telling. It was underpinned by the 'capacity building' approach, whereby the young people were able to tell their stories in their own way and upskill themselves in the process.

[caption id="attachment_4878" align="alignleft" width="160" caption="Freedom banner made at Christchurch workshop."][/caption]

Following initial consultation with community leaders, a youth forum was held. This confirmed the exhibition's concept: 'Optimism in a new land', with the three themes of Challenge, Connection and Freedom. Subsequently, a Youth Reference Group was established in Wellington comprising 10 young people. The group has helped with choosing material for the exhibition and provided feedback to the development team, ensuring the project is defined by young people. Next, a set of 12 professional tutorial workshops were held with young people in the six main refugee settlement areas: Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington, Nelson and Christchurch. Young people from refugee backgrounds were employed to rally other young refugees to attend the workshops.

A taste of what is to be included in the exhibition can be viewed on the new Mixing Room blog. You can also watch the music video 'Belong' on Youtube. The end product, the multimedia 'Mixing Room' exhibition will open at Te Papa on April 10 and will run for three years in the community gallery.

Tirimoana Primary School ran a two week programme in which children were encouraged to share their culture with their classmates. The celebration included sharing cultural taonga, talking about what they represent and their significance to respective cultures. The project also engaged parents and family, with a very successful shared lunch of food from different countries: the theme was 'something of your own culture or your favourite food.' Tirimoana means 'View of the sea' and the school is located in Te Atatatu South, Waitakere. It has a roll of almost 600 students. The school encourages the celebration of diversity every day with values such as 'Tolerance and Respect'.