Artspace Aotearoa / The Blue Dome
Friday 8 May 2026, 10:00am

In Focus: The image that moves me with Selina Ershadi and Nova Paul

Date Friday 8 May 2026
Time 10:00am – 4:00pm
Location The Kit, 8 East Street.
Entry Invite only
Part of The Blue Dome

Join artists and filmmakers Selina Ershadi and Nova Paul for a one-day workshop for early career artists with an interest in moving image making. This workshop will draw on Selina and Nova’s interest in film as a key tool to tell personal stories and explore whakapapa to explore a range of topics that matter if you are making or interested in moving image.

To apply write an expression of interest which includes:

  • Introduce your practice by sharing any guiding principles, underlying questions, research interests, curatorial approaches or methodologies that drive your work (150 words max).
  • State your motivation: answer why you want to join this intensive and what you hope to get out of it (150 words max).
  • Supply a short curriculum vitae and/or portfolio (optional).

This opportunity is open to people across Aotearoa but please note we are unable to cover travel costs. Expression of interest is essential as space is limited to 15 participants.

Please contact matthew@artspace.org.nz to express your interest by 27 April, 2026.

WHAT TO EXPECT

This event is free.
Space is limited to 15 participants.
This session requires an expression of interest, there are no drop ins.
This event will be held in the Kit, which can be accessed by the main gallery entrance or alternatively by our car park on 8 East St for assisted access.
This location is accessible with assistance.
Please wear warm and comfortable clothes.
Light refreshments will be provided but please bring lunch.

Biographies

  1. Selina Ershadi is an Iranian-born, Aotearoa based artist who works across filmmaking and writing, drawing upon personal and familial histories and archives. Ershadi’s work complicates straight-forward autobiography and troubles the camera’s relationship to lived reality, making visible the risks and failures that haunt any act of documenting. Her film Amator (2019), co-made with her mother Azita Chegini, is the first Farsi language artwork in the Te Papa Tongawera collection. Ershadi's work has been exhibited widely including Bangkok Experimental Film Festival, Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery, The Physics Room, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, and the 2025 BFI London Film Festival.

  2. Nova Paul is of Te Uriroroi, Te Parawhau, and Te Māhurehure ki Whatitiri, Ngāpuhi. She is a filmmaker, writer, educator and Indigenous rights researcher currently residing in Tāmaki Makaura. Her creative practice of over 20 years explores experimental film history and the medium of 16mm film. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from Otago University (1994) and a Master of Arts (First Class Honours) from Auckland University of Technology (2000). Paul is internationally celebrated with projects locating inclusivity and community. Her many films have been shown around Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, United States of America and Canada.