Our presenters

Clay has been part of my life in the past 20 years. Everyday we touch and use objects, when they are made by hand from natural resources it elevates our daily tasks to ritual. I enjoy the meditative wheel throwing production as well as the peaceful hand-building process. I truly believe that using hand-made pottery makes food and drinks taste better. 

I make a wide range of domestic-ware with the focus on an earthy appearance using a matt deep colour expression. I use stoneware clay and mix my own glazes.  

The majority of my hand-built pieces are textured slab vases in a variety of shapes and sizes. The vases offer a unique display for flowers, but also can be used as a piece of art on their own. 

More information about exhibitions and outlets can be found on my website www.galitmaxwell.com or my Facebook page.  My instagram @galitmaxwell is my most up-to-date visual platform.

Ha came to New Zealand in early 2011 to pursue her post-graduate studies in Economics and Statistics after over 15 years as a university lecturer in Vietnam. She is a mother of 2 kids who loves cooking authentic Vietnamese cuisine every day. She has great passion to preserve Vietnamese culture for Vietnamese children in New Zealand.

She founded VietKidsNZ, a program to preserve Vietnamese language and culture, in 2014 and has been the leader so far. https://www.facebook.com/VietKidsNZ.

She used to be a chef for a restaurant in Wellington and was responsible for creating the menus, ordering ingredients and cooking Vietnamese food; a head chef for huge lunar new year parties for over 300 Vietnamese participants organized by Vietnamese embassy in Wellington and a chef for the Vietnamese Food Stall in ASEAN festival in Wellington. 

Helen Vvienne Fletcher is a widely published children’s and young adult author, storyteller and award-winning playwright. She has written an impressive collection of books for everyone from preschoolers to adult readers. Her work has won and been shortlisted for numerous writing competitions, including being named Outstanding New Playwright at the Wellington Theatre Awards, making the shortlist for the Storylines Joy Cowley Award, and the finalist list for the Ngaio Marsh Best First Book Award.

Helen has worked in many jobs, doing everything from theatre stage management to phone counselling. She discovered her passion for writing for young people while working as a youth support worker, and now helps children find their own passion for storytelling through her work as a creative writing tutor and storytime fairy.

 She lives in Wellington with her disability assistance dog, Bindi – a five-year-old, playful Labrador who loves soft toys, cuddles, and can fit three tennis balls in her mouth at once.

 Overall, Helen just loves telling stories and is always excited when people want to read or hear them.

 You can find more about Helen’s children’s classes at www.brainbunny.co.nz and more about her writing at www.helenvfletcher.com 

Hiro moved to New Zealand from Japan in 2017. In his spare time he likes to play computer games as well as learn how to cook new dishes. He has previously volunteered at the New Zealand Blood Service.

Though he is not yet fully fluent in English, he is still studying and tries his best to understand the people around him.

Hiro has experience teaching Japanese to students ranging from 7 years of age to adults. He strives to make his classes interesting and engaging for his students as well as keeping the lessons relevant to student needs and giving fun cultural facts about Japan.

Hi, my name is Iain Watt and I have been a practising artist and designer for over 40 years. I have also been teaching Illustration and many other related art and design subjects both in New Zealand and the UK, I hold a Masters degree in adult education.  Drawing the human figure has been to me, a life times passion.

Jan is a Wellington-based librarian and meditation teacher and makes her living with a mixture of both. She's been teaching meditation since the beginning of 2014 with the local company "mindfulnessworks" and before that occasionally led the meditation and discussion in a local group. 

She came to meditation about 20 years ago through a psychotherapy practice called Psychosynthesis and attended Psychosynthesis Institutes’ courses both in NZ and in the UK.

Like mindfulness practice, Pyschosynthesis uses a modern understanding of psychology coupled with ideas about mindfulness that are ancient.  Jan later used this training as part of a group of peers which met regularly for several years using meditation and other approaches as a way of addressing life’s big challenges.  She now meditates regularly with groups in Wellington and has attended numerous talks and full day retreats with a number of different teachers.

Jan like sthe fact that mindfulness meditation is secular and yet it inevitably directs us to the big questions of ethics, compassion and how we should live in a crowded world

She has found mindfulness and meditation to be a hugely positive and beneficial aspect of her life and is keen to share the simple benefits of mindfulness meditation with others.

Jeanette has participated in Scottish dancing from the age of nine, starting her dancing with a junior group in Wellington, and dancing in the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Australia and Belgium, as well as throughout New Zealand. She has participated in demonstration teams in London, St Andrews, and Wellington.

Jeanette qualified as a teacher of Scottish Country dancing in 1998, through the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society. She has been tutor for Island Bay Scottish Country Dance Club for the last 18 years, and guest tutored at other Wellington clubs, as well as teaching at national Summer Schools and regional classes. She has taught all levels of dance performance, from beginners through advanced to teacher training.

Her classes are known for their fun and relaxed informality. 

 Jill loves creating something different. After working in front of a screen all day she adores supporting people to make something with their hands, knowing that they have created it from the beginning. Jill is passionate about mosaic tiling and beeswax candle making and she enjoys giving these things to friends and family.

 Jill has been a student herself of a number of adult education courses and she has extensive experience in training adults throughout her career. She enjoys helping people to relax and work with their hands enjoying the mindfulness and satisfaction that comes from making something to take away and enjoy.

Trained as a photographer in the early 1990s, John's major area of interest is the documentary genre and he has been working on a long-term project on faith, ritual and worship.

He has worked as a freelance photographer and has been teaching photography for a number of years across a variety of educational environments including community education, tertiary and secondary.

Professional Highlights/Exhibitions:

2012 "Exposed 2012" group show, Photospace Gallery, Wellington
2011 "Neither one thing nor the other" with Andy Palmer, Toi Poneke Gallery, Wellington
2011 "Snap Blossom revisited" Hastings Community Arts Centre, Hastings
2011 "Take me to the river" Pataka Museum of Arts & Culture, Porirua
2007 Two months photographic fieldwork in India.2006 “Exposed-2006” Photospace Gallery, Wellington
2006 “Southern Exposure”, New Zealand House, London
2005 “Seven Exposed”, Blender Gallery, Sydney.2005 “Exposed Group Show”, Photospace Gallery, Wellington
2004 Invited Presenter at “Expanding Documentary Conference”, Massey University Wellington
2004 “Domestic Bliss Part One”, Photospace Gallery, Wellington
2004 “Exposed Group Show”, Photospace Gallery, Wellington
2004 “25 Years of Mary Potter Hospice”, Touring Exhibition, Wellington

2013 “15 Years of Photospace Gallery”, Group Show, Photospace Gallery
2016 “Pilgrimage”, Photospace Gallery, Wellington
2016  Images from ‘Pilgrimage” at Auckland and Wellington Diwali Festivals
2017 “Sign of the times”, “four” group show, Photospace Gallery, Wellington

I have a degree in French and Italian as second languages and I have been teaching both languages for over 30 years.

I was born in Romania where I developed a passion for romance languages and where I am always pleased to return whenever possible especially to preserve my language skills.

After teaching in Europe for several years, I jumped at the opportunity to teach in New Zealand where I have successfully taught French and Italian for twenty years in a number of schools and organisations, both public and private. One of the most rewarding things I have experienced here is the interest of New Zealanders in learning French and/or Italian as well as the cultural aspects of these two countries. This is a great match as I love and know very well France and Italy and teaching these two languages has always been my passion.

I have been teaching students of every age from pre-schoolers to adults and I am happy and proud to learn from them that I am very good at motivating learners to study a foreign language through my language and tourism courses.

Before teaching in the NZ school system I had worked as a tutor at CEC Wellington for ten years, a rewarding and unforgettable experience. 

I am always happy to learn new things and meet new challenges especially if they are beneficial for my teaching and my students.

Every year I travel to France and Italy for language purposes and frequently around the world, as my main goal is to learn new things I can share with my students, develop and perfect my skills as a teacher and become a better human being.