Dr. John Hinchcliff - A Creative Mover & Shaker Interview

This interview was conducted in Dr. John’s home in August 2007. I received a signed copy of his biography after being entertained by a neighbor who was obviously proud to have John Hinchcliff living next door - I was an hour early, so desperate was I not to miss the opportunity to talk with Dr. John.

I had finished Parihaka about 2 months earlier and had quite a few notes and questions prepared. I had no idea that he already had a biography, nor much more knowledge than the fact that he was an Auckland City Councilor, Chairman of the Partnerships Committee, a mayoral candidate, and the former Vice Chancellor of AUT University that he had lead and developed into a major progressive institution. I also knew that he was an activist who had as he put it “gone up against a nuclear submarine in nothing more than a dinghy on the Auckland harbor.” He laughed it off, I found that inspiring, courageous and not at all the foolhardy event he made of it.

Hinchcliff’s novel starts with the unfamiliar, but most appropriate context of Maori creation myths. This creation legend becomes the legend of the Mountain God, Taranaki and thus takes us into the story of Parihaka. There is a powerful relationship here, for Taranaki has a nobility that is paramount and a sense of reason that, for me, calls to the goodness of the best qualities of man. This same spirit calls to me of John Hinchcliff—there is a similar set of characteristics to this man; I understand well the choices made and the motivation behind that choice and I share it, as I settle into the story itself. It took me a little while to warm to this story, but once I got into it I discovered some beautifully turned phrases which demonstrate an acuity of observation that offers the author’s insight into human character and those expressions which can convey so much more of the deeper nature of man.

TFA: What prompted you to write Parihaka? Why Parihaka? What does Parihaka mean to you? How did you first hear about it?

Dr John: I read this book I referred to in my preface. An historical account of the story. My story goes half way, not as deep. It was an amazing revelation to me, that this happened in NZ and I never heard about it. So few people around the country had heard of it, even Maori people. I thought that this message should get through. It was important. So I thought I’d add a bit of subjectivity to it. Try my hand creating a story that made sense of the main historical one.

TFA: Why is it important?

Dr John: I grew up in Nelson. At the time there were maybe two Maori families there. One was the hero of the class, brilliant personality, rugby player, singer, and unfortunately he got killed in a car accident. But we never talked about Maoridom. Hone Heke, (two others) were the only names anybody had heard of.

Nelson was a perfect backwater; a couple of Chinese families, a Fruiterer and a Laundry. They were seen as alien beings, as were the Catholics on the other side of town. They were not seen as appropriate as friends. The lack of diversity was very evident there as well. So I thought if I could bring this to light, the more we could so something to understand each other. The more I got involved in understanding Maori culture, the more I came to like it.

I got involved in the nuclear movement. Then went to the States, and as I traveled across Asia met different cultures, beings and relations and started to get an awareness that diversity was a good thing.

Went to Israel; now there was a real place where people from so many different backgrounds were trying to come together and accomplish something with their diversity.

But I met a girl and then started to break through my own prejudices. I went back to the States and did my doctorate. We lost a child to miscarriage. Decided to adopt, and there are lots of babies available from other ethnicities. We took on a part-black, Willy.

The prejudice was amazing.

We went to get family photos and the photographer taking the pictures would move the colored child out of the way, and I would put him back. They didn’t want to stand up to me as I was a big 6-foot rugby player.

The women there were breaking through their prejudices but the men weren’t. The women were doing this because they were teaching in school. First two blacks to come to the university majored with me in the philosophy department. I stood by them, supporting and helping them when it got rough.

Our oldest daughter was intellectually handicapped and we put her in there. She was one of these vivacious characters, she liked everybody and everybody liked her. Totally naïve but everybody liked each other and she was so trusting. A black priest was run out of town for producing a pamphlet that had black hands and white hands clasping; all very interesting.

I became a leader in the peace movement as a result of discovering that natives on the islands of Ronalap, Christmas Islands were exposed to nuclear radiation as the winds blew over exposing the kids. We went out and protested.

A friend of mine organized this, a theologian. I kept talking with the Opposition, and my father in law was in the American navy. We went out and sailed against the nuclear submarines, and he thought we were around the twist sailing against nuke subs. The American consul came around and wanted to invite us to tea on the Pintado, an American sub. I said “I can’t do that, I’ve just been out protesting against it.”

Keeping the friendship with the other side I thought was always important. And that bringing people together through understanding, so that people would understand that ideology is important in bringing us together around peace. Parihaka was about the peace movement.

TFA: How did you organize life so you could write it? When did you write it and what sort of environment do you find conducive to writing? What’s the methodology you employ?

Dr John: I did it in stages. In Melbourne I did quite a bit. Wife said I wasn’t spending enough time with the family. It was a piecemeal production in some respects. That may have in part contributed to my putting it away for a while.

A quiet room. Did it all by hand. I love to write with a pen, I’ve got a fountain pen and I occasionally bring it out and write. I don’t really have a secretary or any more, so I have to learn to type two fingers. Whole novel written by hand. Sunday afternoon writing or a couple of nights or using holidays. I had a full time job so didn’t have the time to do it otherwise.

TFA: What sort of preparation did it take? And how long did it take to write it? How did you research the history? Where did you go?

Dr John: Most of the research was done in Melbourne because they had a fabulous library with dozens of books on Maori at the time of Parihaka. In NZ I read through the Hansard (collection of transcriptions of parliamentary debates around Parihaka). It was fascinating reading the early MP’s scholarly approach. They were quoting from Shakespeare in parliament and of course they didn’t have television and it was quite a revelation to see that they were very sensitive people, who read a lot. It’s not like that in parliament today.

Most of the first draft writing was done in Melbourne between 1980 and 1983. Then I put the book into my closet and forgot about it for a few years. As I was finishing my tenure at AUT I brought it out and thought I put a lot of work into that, and I should get it published. This was after I finished at AUT. In my last 2 to 3 years at AUT I would pick it out and do a little work on it and then put it back. And during 1990 I was working on the Hansard materials reading and studying.

TFA: How did Maori participate and what action did you take to ensure cultural authenticity and respect for Maori culture? Were there issues to deal with there? How did you approach them?

Dr John: I made friends with a kuia (the feminine counterpart of a kaumatua), Marjorie Rau. I wrote to her and received no response at first, and then I telephoned her and when we met she was very friendly and we got along great. She was keen to support me. So I went down to meet her and she had read the manuscript and made not many changes, but she had put all the Latin names by the plants for some reason. When I launched the book she came out and delivered this wonderful speech.

Before I started to write it I went to Parihaka, but there was not much to look at there. Met a man from the Taranaki Herald and he was very supportive, which was kind of ironic as they were totally opposed to the Maori and here was this editor totally supportive of my story. Whiti Huniera also helped me.

Subsequently I found out that there are still two divisions of Parihaka, that there had been a divide between the followers of Te Whiti and Tohu. It got bad after the book was finished and there was some acrimony. The Tohu people and the Te Whiti people have factionalized since the times of Parihaka. But they have a festival there now, every year. I sent the head of the festival a copy and he never responded and I wrote to him and he wrote back a very negative piece. And I was a bit taken aback and tried to go and see him and couldn’t. He didn’t seem particularly interested in following up on it.

Paul Reeves was from that area and he was very encouraging. Toby Curtis, head of Maori faculty at AUT at the time was also a big help.

TFA: Who are the principle characters and why did you choose those particular ones to convey the story? Turi? Marama? Daniels? Gwen?

Dr John: Te Whiti and Tohu were the main ones I wanted to come out clearly but thought if I took them through the eyes of people such as the daughters and the interchange between the Pakeha view of the world and the Maori leadership role and the changing view of the young lieutenant was the reflection for the Pakeha’s journey of understanding.

TFA: Why include a romance?

Dr John: It’s part of life, adding human interest and to bring out the interplay of the people who are projected into that setting to illustrate how life was. Some of my critics found this to be the weakest link of the entire book.

TFA: What do you consider the most important aspects of writing an historical novel to be?

Dr John: You have to really enjoy the subject the topic and the era and be willing to really look and see the contextual details to be as accurate as possible, knowing that it’s impossible to break out of your own particular mold.

TFA: How do you act as a caretaker of history when you’re writing what amounts to a fictional work? Did you have access to the writings, speeches and other materials that related the words?

Dr John: I remember reading other novels of what it is like to be a British soldier, you throw yourself into as many aspects of life in those times as is possible to get a sense of them.

I used the words that were spoken in that era when I found them. There was a sermon included that I made up, and there was one speech I found that flabbergasted me, I couldn’t believe it, but I used it word-for-word as it just seemed to me to epitomize colonial arrogance, treating the Maori as nincompoops, keeping the Maori in their place, the noble savage and the condescending nature of arrogance. There were times I couldn’t stand the language and so I didn’t use it, but other times I just did.

TFA: How did that work with the Maori who have an oral and not a written history?

Dr John: When it came to the Maori I just did my best, I gave it to a few Maori to read it who seemed to think it was okay.

I tried to get the historical details as correct as I could and I worried about that as I was writing it. You can’t always be definitive because you are not one of them and you weren’t there, alive in those times. So there is inevitably going to be reason for doubt. But there comes a point where you can’t move unless you take a leap of faith.

TFA: There are two romances in the story, a Maori romance which ends in tragedy and a Pakeha/Colonial romance which has a happier ending. What is the purpose of including these and what did you hope to illustrate, if anything by including this particular romance? Is the romance a context and canvas for the political nature of the history?

Dr John: It’s hard to bring all the events together and it helped to bring the Maori and Pakeha perspective together. It helps to bring in the different perspectives of other genders.

TFA: NZ is often touted for its multiculturalism and surely in the last few decades this has broadened considerably, is there some aspect of Parihaka that you wanted to put across?

Dr John: Just the simple fact that we could learn so much from their wisdom and ways of doing things which Pakeha in those days didn’t come to terms with. Yet, in those days some did. Pakeha would not have survived if it had not been for the Maori, who in terms of fishing, trading, farming, were far ahead o the Pakeha. I also found the story of the first cheese factory, a Chinaman Chou Chong, people don’t realize the value of these different things, skill sets and knowledge that people bring into the community, enriching it.

My favorite saying is: “In America they made a melting pot where you come to America and you throw away your history, your culture and your defective ways of doing things and come face to face with the great dream of America and doing things in the land of The Plenty. Whereas I think we should have a tossed salad, where people keep the integrity of their own culture and different ways of doing things so that the whole is enriched; with each flavor added to the feast, then it is so much better.”

When you’ve got a melting pot what happens is you come and toss it all into one pot and you stir it around and it all comes out with a unique flavor but you can’t tell any of the ingredients apart. But with a gourmet approach, you take a bit of this dish from the table and a bit of that from another, and you mix and match what you want and each time it’s different and each time it’s unique thus the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, but the parts are instrumental to the whole without being compressed into one dimension. Each culture is thus able to manifest the fundamental diversity of perspectives.

TFA: You’ve mentioned that you’d like to see it as a movie, what audience do you see it appealing to and who would you like to direct it?

Dr John: Everybody could benefit by learning about peace and the older generations who have not read much about Maori culture could benefit. I know some Maori had read the book and got a lot out of it about their culture. I don’t know about a director, I don’t move in those circles, but I know there’s a guy down in Wellington who did a big movie and he seems to know what he’s doing. I do enjoy going to movies but I don’t remember who is who, not even the actors.

TFA: In the chapter Council of Peace you refer to events of 1879 when Te Whiti spoke, and Benjamin Daniels finds the words of Te Whiti “claiming his sympathy” and in this passage you write about the power structures of worldly governance, saying: “The governments of the earth have built structure that exist only by the power of money” and then this is contrasted by Te Whiti naming how he has built his power… ”I have built up my power by the force of my will. No worldly considerations affect my followers. They are superior to the power of money.”

Is this in fact a true speech or is it is something that you have fictionalized in an effort to express your own views through the vehicle of an historical novel, about the nature of power?

Dr John: I suspect it’s a true speech. Dick Scott records quite a few of them and they were reported in the newspapers. I don’t know where the accounts are now; I threw away all my notes.

TFA: Doesn’t this passage equate with your position as a mayoral candidate running on a principled platform, rather than the traditional materialistic platform that perpetuates hegemonic rule?

Dr. John: Yeah, hope so. Just did a brief video clip where I said that I believe, I began by saying that Auckland is a great city a good city, but it could be a great city for all of us caring for the whole rather than the part. If we really got caring for people first then we wouldn’t be as dedicated to building pyramids and crystal palaces, that don’t mean anything to people on a lower income, who couldn’t even afford to go there.

TFA: It seems to me that capturing such moments correctly are pivotal in writing such a story, how do you approach that concept and work to respect it and honor it, without getting so caught up in it that the reader suddenly finds themselves reading authorial viewpoint?

Dr John: I never thought about it, I just let it flow. There were times I was preaching and I backed off and didn’t push my viewpoint. Maintaining that viewpoint of balance is important.

TFA: In a later chapter (p. 258) you refer to diversity and make a particular comment about the nature of Maori with respect of disability with a conversation between Captain Knollys and Benjamin Daniels, where Daniels says,

“Yes, they take care of their own. I’m particularly struck by their attitude to those who are mentally afflicted, or crippled, blind or deaf. No one is allowed to mock them, and they’re treated with special respect.”

Dr John: That happened to me in sense. I had a daughter (died 27) who had physical problems and intellectual problems. We took a drive down to a marae with a lovely Maori guy who was a brilliant orator and looked as rough as guts, and he took us to his marae on the edge of the Ureweras. And Miriam was given a place of honor because of her disability. They made a fuss of her and she had such an open personality, it was all just how it should be to her, she didn’t make a fuss about things.

TFA: On the same page you refer to Colonial land grab tactics, and this is but one of several examples where you appear to be focusing on the issue of colonialism as not necessarily the most enlightened of mankind’s actions during history. Later you close off the chapter with a piece of dialog that has Turi saying “I suppose even Queen Victoria and John Bryce could be little Christs if they worried more about caring for the people than conquering them.” Is this book meant in some way to set the record straight, and help to heal the deep rifts caused?

Dr. John: Yes. You could say that. You have to understand the mistakes of history before you can repair them. Through the process of repair you often come closer to people. If you’re prepared to reach out it’s a good way to come together.

TFA: What would you do differently, if you were to sit down and do it again?

Dr. John: I don’t know. No idea.

TFA: Is there another book coming?

Dr. John: Oh, yeah. If I don’t get elected I’ve got quite a few ideas, I’d like to do a play on Socrates and his brilliance which quite a few people misunderstood. He had three students who became quite evil people. His wife, who he hated, and it’s very interesting. But most of all I’d like to explore the difference between academic merit and wisdom. Sometimes I wonder about Socrates and whether or not he was playing mind games and I think people have not taken a hard enough look at his ideas.

I’d quite like to write a humorous novel on my experience at council because some very humorous things happen. I’d also like to write an account on the future, on what it will be like in 25 years time. I’ve been to the world future society conference. Kind of frightening. Have you heard of the point of singularity?

TFA: No.

Dr. John: The point of singularity. It is predicted that in 30 years time computer power will be so significant that it will be out of our control. Will we become servants of the machine? To what extent will we be part of the machine? We can replace all sorts of body parts and organs now, and we’re working on being able to transplant the head. If they can do that then they could put your head on the body of a twenty year old. People are saying they are going to live forever. We can heal all the diseases that cause us to deteriorate. And there are people who want to live forever, who would do that. It’s quite frightening.

***

I have to agree with that last idea, and am reminded of Queen’s song and the line “Who wants to live forever?” We had run out of time and Dr. John was tiring, so we wrapped the interview and agreed to take it up later in 2007, after I had returned from a brief sojourn in Seoul.

In December 2007 we returned to the last parts of this interview and a discussion of some particularly poignant parts of Dr. John’s mayoral vision. The rest of this interview was conducted by phone and parts of Dr. John’s mayoral manifesto are quoted.

Dr. John’s Mayoral Vision: Creative Artist Support

We must encourage wild card thinking, boundary riding with unusual ideas, and out-of-the-box concepts. We must not fear being unusual or different or radical in our challenges to the status quo.

However, as Aristotle would say, there needs to be a balance. Whereas we should respect those willing to challenge conventional wisdom with their crucial corrective, we must acknowledge that dissent can also be used maliciously to cripple social cohesion in a mindless and destructive way. Extremism based on sloppy intelligence and pious rectitude can create unfortunate and pointless mayhem just as easily as unfortunate and pointless reactionary conservatism.

As an important city, Auckland should be in the vanguard of creativity, not the after-guard making more rules and more and more regulations. We need those creative and sometimes maverick boundary riders who have confidence in their innovative beliefs and a willingness to expose them in serious debate to the rigorous examination offered by similarly concerned citizens.

Being open to creative initiatives means being able to respect valuable new perceptions, regardless of the people offering them. It is sad when a good idea is denied because of some epithet such as “do gooder”, “conservative”, “radical”, “holier than thou” or “reactionary”.

We need every possible initiative to focus on the mindset change. Because it is a moral and cultural challenge we need the energy and engagement of everyone including poets, artists, musicians, teachers, parents, business people, mythmakers, prophets, dramatists, photographers, etc.

~

The next questions are about the above passage.

TFA: With respect to this particular part of your manifesto what would you like to see artists doing?

Dr. John: There are different levels of mindset change, there are people who get the “Ah-hah” expression and then change. But mostly we change gradually. The new perception needs to be reinforced. So if there is an artistic manifestation of a challenge to the status quo then it can create momentum. If it’s a little, a lot of us want the fast answer (the silver bullet), the artist, if it’s a successful artist can do a lot more, and it’s a constant challenging and coaching.

TFA: What should Creative Artists consider when creating?

Dr John: Be authentic and express what you really feel, because people can see through when people see that you’re pushing something you don’t really believe in. Then, they need to understand the context and experience.

One of my favorite philosophers, Gabriel Marcel, a French existentialist, writer and philosopher said the tipping point was during the First World War and his job was to go around and speak to people whose family members had died.

He was given a number and an address. He said, “I went into their home and spoke to them about their loved ones. The number become a person so the subjectivity was crucial, and was subjective and lead to an understanding of life’s deepest meanings.”

Some people think they’ve got to go bohemian, experience drugs, etc. yes, that’s one level of experience but there are others, where people are dying of starvation, or where people are doing jobs they don’t like or have suffered personal tragedy or movements that are confronting the global arms race, so connect with the real issues, not the self-centered notions as such. That would be my hope, that artists would really get involved with the real issues in life and then be creative with what they see in real terms.

Oxfam or the Church World Service, are some of the best groups, Amnesty International and others; I don’t know that many artists join these groups and get to know what they’re about and what’s going on.

There are occasionally prophets who can make a huge impact. Al Gore’s presentation or some of these things that can sway thousands of people are worthwhile. Some of these issues could be picked up by Creative Artists and be very consequential.

Interestingly, Rotary has got behind a cause to end leprosy or polio and Rotarians all around the world are contributing money and paying for medical teams and communities are much more powerful than individuals and sometimes we think we have to be more individualistic, and our culture is like that, but if we combined our forces within a particular framework with something that’s achievable then it would encourage others and inspire us all.

I published three or four books on the matter of nuclear power and took a film around New Zealand, The War Game, very graphic, very meaningful exposition.

Lange was facing the American desire to come in here, and several went out, including George Armstrong and we organized the Peace Squadron to confront the nuclear powered submarine when the Pintado came in. It was the most thrilling experience to be standing up against this huge monstrosity of a submarine coming into Auckland’s harbor. Tremendous pressure was being put on Lange to allow these ships to come in. He was in Australia and Bob Hawke persuaded him to let the ships come in and support the ANZUS treaty to stand up against the Communists. And he came back and cabinet said “No, we can’t, the people of New Zealand won’t let us.” So he stood up against the United States.

So, it’s a matter of getting a focus, cause, and a belief that it can be done. Forming little groups to make a difference. We can’t perhaps change things holistically but Michelangelo was asked “How did you create David?” and he replied saying, and this is a favourite quote, “Just by chipping away at the edges.”

TFA: Would you care to make a comment about balancing that against the need to entertain people?

Dr John: We need to get a balance between work and play. There is not enough made of celebration that replenishes the mind and the body. The word sport comes from the word French desporter meaning: to carry away from work and the word Athlein, which means to compete for a prize.

A lot of sport is athletic contest, and sport’s primary purpose is to enjoy yourself. Part of the enjoyment is the rules of the game, part is the doing and the main thing is enjoying it, win or lose. You can paint for pleasure, or fun, or to make a living. And there is value in it. You’ve got to make a living.

But being able to have a freedom to express your innermost realities without it being judged or driven by the need to prove yourself is part of being.

A lot of us do all the time, and it’s all doing and being and doing and being “dooby-dooby-doo.”

Some people become so consumed by the horror story of the military industrial mediaplex that they hurt themselves in the process. Somehow, you’ve got to say “Do your best to hell with the rest.”

There are my dimensions to living. Life is too short to have to win, because at the end of the day someone will always beat you. It’s not the best view for civilization, there have been 23 civilizations we know of that have gone.

If you spend all your life worrying about these then you’ll go bananas. So if you focus on one then you’ll do best. We can’t live an ordered existence. Some strive to be perfect, but nothing can be perfect. The chaos factor is important to understand and it points to these rogue elements that we can’t control. If it was all organized and ordered it would be a dull existence.

~

In your manifesto you also state that you wished:

To provide the appropriate leadership for our all-important future we must have access to the guidance provided by expert futurists.

TFA: Who is an expert futurist?

Dr. John: Next year I will attend a futurist conference in Washington DC. I’m on the board of the NZ Institute for the Future, founded by Professor James Duncan in NZ. It used to get some funding, but Muldoon closed it down as being too radical.

Futurists are people who are looking at where the trends are taking us. They look at visions, and what the possible consequences may be.

We look at issues in depth, like energy, or global warming. We consider the futures of a city for example. Futurist thinking is taught in some universities. Some people would consider it science-fiction., but all great scientists have been inspired by authors such as Jules Verne, with Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

Note: Allforart conducted surveys in Los Angeles in the mid-nineties, and spoke to a number of NASA scientists who, when asked where many of their ideas came from, all stated that it was from reading science fiction or watching science fiction movies.

~

TFA: Your manifesto stated: Futurist thinking is not just an intellectual exercise. And interesting dress rehearsals in city planning are not feasible. To cope sometimes the city must change direction. Every decision has a permanent influence. Invariably, with interventionist action, there is a cost to someone. And, because the action may relate to a trend not yet obvious to the voting public, the action and costs may not win public popularity.

Futurists primarily paint a variety of scenarios about what might happen based on an understanding of new developments. Also, ‘back-casting’ is important where we examine the processes of our progress to date. Some scenarios are based on global trends making it very difficult for a small player like New Zealand to be influential. But, by understanding the probable and possible scenarios we can sometimes deliberately intervene and make it more likely that a preferred scenario will become our future reality.

Obviously, with the wisdom of Chaos Theory, and an understanding of the new technological developments, many wild card factors can and will disturb the firmament. The rapid advances on many fronts of new technologies, make it particularly difficult for us to devise perfectly precise scenarios. But, regardless of how fuzzy they may be around the edges, these scenarios can be extremely useful tools for progressing our understanding of what we should do to create our most preferred future.

TFA: How might Creative Artists think with this?

Dr. John: The idea that if you think correctly you’ll get there, by thinking clearly and objectively then you’ll have it all summed up, just isn’t correct.

Einstein said “Creativity is more important than knowledge.” So Creative Artists have to challenge the existing way of seeing things, and realize that you take off the covers, make manifest the vitalities of reality that can’t normally be summed up by slogans, and captured in a single photograph, but can - through your work - capture the fundamental richness and truth of being human.

“Through your work capture the fundamental richness and truth of being human.”

~

TFA: You have also stated the following about political values and embracing social responsibility…

Dr John’s Manifesto: After years of participating in “good” causes, it is inevitable that my political focus will be classified as “liberal” or “left of centre.” Essentially, this is because I willingly embrace social responsibility and social justice as being politically correct in the sense that they should be the governing values in politics.

I respect the capacity of fair-minded people to think through the challenges, opportunities and difficulties of society and craft policies which will assist our citizens to live together with more justice, peace, and responsibility for the environment.

Some opponents see the principles I have enunciated as pious cant. But calling them “idealistic humbug”, or dismissing them with the pejorative “politically correct” label are thoughtless and deliberately destructive responses to what I allege is a progressive and appropriate world view.

Liberals should be similarly respectful of people committed to the right wing positions on the political spectrum. Their quest to conserve what is tried and tested deserves respect.

TFA: How might this apply to artists?

Dr. John: If you’re going to need some one to hold your hand then you shouldn’t get into it. So pulling together a strong community, a good community, then it’s one that enourages and supports you when things go wrong.

A community is where you belong because you want to help others, and you take pride in the community, as opposed to a society where you maximize your own self-interest, and where if society does well and you do poorly then you feel as if you’ve had a rum deal.

Helping others along the way so you can be strong, it’s how you orient yourself, it’s whether you accept the challenge or not and whether or not you have a team to help you. When you’ve got a supportive network you can move mountains.

Unfortunately, I did not have an opportunity to discuss this next point of the manifesto with Dr. John, but it struck me as one of the most important ideas to consider and explore, and therefore I am including it here for each of our readers to consider.

Dr. John’s manifesto: Point 6 Respect For Enterprise and Creativity states:

Respect for Enterprise and Creativity means creating a dynamic transformative zest within our structures to offer better business opportunities, services, and also greater opportunities for creative artist expression.

Find ways to encourage administrators to challenge existing procedures which impede entrepreneurial creativity. Success increasingly in the future will depend on those with the ability, resilience and courage to offer different and imaginative ideas which must not be curtailed by bureaucratic hurdles. [Mindset change]

Encourage a Centre in Auckland where inventors of new products can get them tested and assessed by competent technicians and business people without cost until an income is generated. [Some minimal financial resource or entrepreneurs’ subsidy]

Continue to nurture the creative arts which are bringing such credit to Auckland. Lobby for Central Government to locate an iconic and national art gallery on the waterfront e.g. Wynyard Point. [Ongoing. Lobby Government]
Work to ensure regulations do not unnecessarily hinder socially appropriate business practices. [Mindset change]

Continue to find ways to assist Auckland entrepreneurs expand their business horizons internationally. For example, the new strategic relationship with Hamburg in Germany should enhance trading opportunities with Europe. [Mindset change]

Find ways to augment and implement the possibilities of entrepreneurial development in association with such agencies as the Universities’ High Tech Parks, The Government Urban and Economic Development Office, the Economic Development Association of New Zealand, Committee for Auckland, Heart of the City, ANew NZ, etc. [Lobby]

Seek ways to attract international investors for Auckland’s economic developments.

Establish a City Development Fund to encourage investors to support innovative projects approved or endorsed by a team of expert entrepreneurs.

Establish a financial advisory service to enable Auckland companies to access funds available internationally.

Explore ways to manage our city’s assets in ways that encourage investment opportunities to enhance the city’s finances without adding to our ratepayers’ burden.

Establish a legal review of the myriad of regulations under which Council is forced to operate, perhaps with the assistance of the Law Commission. Regulations are important to prevent wrong doing. But their impost must not be so draconian that they frustrate and make unnecessarily expensive innovative developments.

Continue to encourage and support as strongly as possible cultural expression whether music, dance, theatre, art, sculpture, etc. This should include our varied ethnic cultural performances.

~

Before I read his manifesto I had no idea that Dr. John had contemplated so deeply the issues that face the arts, not just in Auckland, New Zealand, but actually around the world.

I think, given the nature of these ideas that you can see why I was so excited to engage in conversation with Dr. John Hinchcliff, whose vision is far reaching and embraces wholeheartedly a creative vision, that I believe, no matter where we are in the world, are capable of achieving and should strive to achieve.

Dr. John, thank you for time and generous assistance in cooperating with me to produce this Feature in the Free Articulator and thank you for including Creative Artists in your considerations of the future of humanity, and not only in your vision of what Auckland could be. Thank you too, for recognizing what we are doing with Allforart and the Free Articulator, your support is most welcome and much appreciated.

Get Ready For Spring Cleaning

Spring is the time of new growth, birth and rebirth, hope and promise. Just like spring cleaning, it’s a great time to clear away creative clutter. Every creative type out there hits blocks of some sort. Whether it’s a true creative block or just the pressures of everyday life that stymie your creative juices, it’s time to clear out the clutter that can cause it.

It’s easy in the fast paced world we live in to get caught up in the doldrums of everyday life and have your passion placed on the back burner. I know it happens to me frequently. So what do you do about it?

I have a few tried and true methods that work great for me.

1. Meditation

Meditation is one of the most highly regarded forms of creative enlightenment. Going back thousands of years, people have meditated to gain insight, deal with grief, and cleanse one’s soul.

Meditation comes in a variety of forms, from relaxing to ambient music to guided meditations.

It allows one to self-examine, reflect, and cope with daily life. Many use meditation as a vehicle for growth of the soul. All of these things lead to greater creative freedom. If you don’t know how to meditate, get some CDs, a book, or just sit quietly for 15 minutes. Zen Habits has a good guide if you want to learn more.

2. Write

Even if you are not a writer, write every day. Get up an hour earlier (it’s not as hard as people make it out to be) and write for one hour, uninterrupted. It doesn’t matter what you write. It can be stream of consciousness, an ongoing story or just what you need to get done that day. Just like meditation is proved to cleanse the soul, so writing is proven to cleanse the mind.

In The Artist’s Way, (a book about finding your creative path), Julia Cameron, an award-winning journalist and writer, writes, “A lasting creative awakening requires the consistent use of…,” what she calls, “…the Morning Pages.” Learn how to become a morning writer…

3. Have Fun

If you’re not enjoying at least part of your life, then how do you expect to be creative in it? Set aside a night every week to have fun. Take that time to do whatever you want. Spend time with loved ones, go to a movie, treat yourself to a sinful desert. The idea is to forget the stress of life for a while.

Cameron describes this as, “The Artist Date.” She recommends that you take at least 2 hours a week set aside to nurture your creative consciousness. This is time for you to open up and be receptive to new experiences and the enjoyment inherent therein. Get some ideas in the article 75 simple pleasures and fun things.

So there you go; three things you can start doing today to spring clean your creativity closet. Get cleaning!

No Room for Protest Music on Corporate Radio

In the 1960s the Vietnam War raged, the military draft was in place, and young people took to the streets in protest. The radio waves burned with protest songs. Bob Dylan sang about the death of the military-industrial complex in his song Masters of War, and in their song For What its Worth Buffalo Springfield proclaimed, “We better stop, hey, what’s that sound, everybody look what’s going down.” Read more

Violators of Copyright Law — Oh (No) Canada! Not You Too!

Imagine that. Placid, peaceful Canada, deemed year after year as one of the best countries in the world to live, has been accused along with 10 other countries of being a major violator of U.S. copyright law by the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA). Read more

Dr. John Hinchcliff’s Parihaka - Review

New Zealand has a habit of being considered second, rather than first among nations, even when it has a clear claim to the position of first. There are reasons for this—we don’t have a large standing army, for instance. Rather New Zealand tends to avoid conflict, and seek the path of reasoned enlightenment and diplomacy. I didn’t fully understand our legacy for non-violence very well until I read John Hinchcliff’s Parihaka, and became interested in it as a place and the events that transpired before Gandhi’s peaceful protests in the 1930s.

Parihaka – the Gentle Bridging of a Cultural Gap, Dr. John Hinchcliff’s historical novel bridged the gap for me, taking me outside of the colonial history I had been taught to secure my spirit and loyalty to the supremacy of white ethnocentrism. It’s not a limitation I would have imposed upon myself. But, then, nobody consulted me about how I should be educated.

Hinchcliff’s novel starts boldly with the unfamiliar, but most appropriate context of Maori creation myths, and it is beautiful, simple and moving. As a storyteller who creates races and gives them a mythology, it is always interesting to read the ideas of real world races and how they have explained the world they live in to themselves.

I have always observed this about the Maori, always wondered at their seeming simplicity, yet behind this is a sophisticated set of social ideas that I find, in many cases more appealing than so-called civilized western culture. The concepts of iwi, hapū and whānau were strange new words until recently.

Before I learned otherwise, I believed that the colonial races plundered and destroyed the earth, and that the indigenous peoples cultivated and worked with it. Who then is factually, more intelligent? I often wondered. Now I know better, I know that all men plunder the earth, and that it is time we stopped. It was in this context that I came to Parihaka; eager to learn more of the things that were denied me when I grew up in Aotearoa, the Land of the Long White Cloud, and that for twenty years I distanced myself from.

However, there was also another aspect to reading this novel for me. I respect John Hinchcliff for his accomplishments, his connections and his position with respect to humanity, and I wanted to discover more of him, by reading this work—though it will barely suffice as more than an introduction, as the man has many accomplishments.

It will probably take a movie telling the story of Parihaka to let the world know that before Gandhi was Te Whiti and Tohu, the original peace activists and developers of non-violent protest and civil disobedience.

I’d like to see that film made, it’s a story worth telling and is a great part of the heritage and legacy of Aotearoa, New Zealand, who though small has established itself as a forward thinking progressive nation, that did a better job of managing the consequences of colonialism than any other nation, even though the job was not perfect. Truly, this demonstrates that we can and do get along and the path of peace is not an impossible one to travel.

For those interested in a gentle introduction told from the multiple perspective of Christian Colonists and Maori natives, to understand the conflict with some sound historical research, John Hinchcliff’s historical novel Parihaka is an excellent introduction, mingled with a little romantic tragedy, that adds a sweet poignancy to the bittersweet political consequence and backdrop that fuels resentment that today’s generations often remain unaware of, but at the mercy of.

I abhor discrimination in all its forms, Parihaka is a work that seeks peace and truth. It brings disparate people together and demonstrates they can get along.

You can buy Parihaka here.

Dr. John Hinchcliff - Futurist - 2004 Report - Ideas for Creative Artists to Consider

Dr. John Hinchcliff has graciously provided some insight into ideas that were under discussion at the Annual Conference of the World Future Society in 2004. This contains some remarkable ideas and insights that are even now making current news. I asked Dr. John about the Futurist Society and he provided me with the following information as insight into what they consider.

It is most encouraging to know that there is such a society. Read more

The Points of the Creative Artists’ Code: Fifteen - Room at the Top

In this article discussing the 15th point of the Code of a Creative Artist, NDK discusses the myth that there’s not much room at the top of the industry. Joel Falconer, Editor-in-Chief Read more

Dr. John Hinchcliff - Historical Novelist & Creative Philosopher

“Dr. John,” as he is known, is perhaps one of the most accomplished men I have ever had the privilege of meeting and getting to know. If I was running the world, having read his political manifesto, I would use him as a model for all politicians and world leaders; the Powers That Be will not like that idea, that’s for sure. Read more

Say It Again, Slim Shady

Eminem is about to share the intimate details of his chaotic life with us—yet again.

According to London-based Orion Publishing Group, the hip hop megastar plans to write an autobiography, aimed for release this Fall in the UK. And the book already has a title: Eminem: The Way I Am. Read more

Say Hello to Creativity, Culture & News

In the last few months the Free Articulator has grown beyond our expectations. We launched Free Articulator 2.0 on the 1st of January and soon after, introduced our first Feature that explored the mind and work of talented digital artist and model Lena Semenkova. We’re also hard at work on a slew of things you’ll find out about soon. Read more