9 NEIGHBOURHOOD THEME www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2016 LAID-BACK MUSIC Thorndon's always been a neighbourhood rich in history, first as the site of the Pipitea Pa, now an urban marae, then as part of NZ's first planned settlement and when Parliament opened here in 1865. But it's always had a Bohemian fringe that's drawn creative types further up the valley. When I first moved to Wellington in the 1990s, Thorndon's the neighbourhood I came to. I came here as a young gay man full of ideas and idealism. This neighbourhood's got fantastic architecture, culture, vibrancy and fun. There's nowhere else quite like it in NZ. Let's meet some of the locals. In this episode of Neighbourhood, we'll discover a place that is cherished by the Hungarian community. Anyone who comes here who's Hungarian obviously feels something quite emotional; they feel like it's a very Hungarian place. A musician-in-residence tells us about the affinity he has with the man who lived in the house before him. Douglas Lilburn, of course, was for many of us a kind of father, grandfather. Perhaps one of NZ's most important composers. We'll hear the way a local family is fighting to bring some beauty to the lives of Syrian refugees. The participants who are taking part in these fundraising events are getting just as much as, hopefully, we will be able to give to Syrian kids. And a Thorndon restaurateur shares some French savoir faire. Today I make one of my favourite dish because I feel like at home and I like to share this dish with my Kiwi friends. It's a tartiflette. I'm Grant Robertson, and this is my neighbourhood. Copyright Able 2016 SLOW, CRUISY MUSIC I guess like a lot of people, I came to Thorndon in Wellington to make a fresh start. It wasn't that I'd had a bad time growing up in Dunedin, I'd just struggled a bit with the fact that I was gay. So I came here to start again. A lot of people do that, and the good news in this neighbourhood is that there's people to help you out, even if coming here is forced on them by events beyond their control. WAVES LAP GENTLY PEBBLES CRUNCH My name is Michelle, and I was born in Glasgow in Scotland. My name is Michel, and I was born in Aleppo, Syria. We live in Wellington with our 12-year-old daughter Naia and 9-year-old son Luka. Syria is a little bit bigger than the South Island, which has the population of 22 million before the war. And then half of them left or don't have homes, don't have some... in some areas, don't have food, don't have shelter, don't have any support, family support. Um, and... it's huge. Make Foundation really grew out of a project that Michel did at Naia and Luka's school. It was a Christmas project where the concept was showcasing all the different cultures that made up the school. And Michel worked with one group, and they sang a song in Arabic, the whole class, and they learnt about the situation in Syria. It was really moving. And then after that, Naia wrote a song based on what the class had learnt. They learnt what was happening to Syrian children and having to leave their homes and go and live in refugee camps. # My feet ache and hands injured, feeling tired. # I don't know which path to take. I think we realised that actually there's a huge opportunity here for engagement, um, highlighting the issue but also to create an empathy with the kids, um, with NZ kids, connecting them to, erm, the situation of other kids in a completely different part of the world. # Bed made of sand. # No blanket. No one understands. # Canvas world with zips and holes. # I just want home. # I just want home. # HAUNTING GUITAR MUSIC The next project is an art project. What we're gonna do is invite five refugees to Island Bay School. And, uh, these refugees are gonna tell their story to five classes. And, erm, from these stories, the kids in Island Bay School are gonna write their own variation based on the story. And then the kids can create their own paintings as part of a whole story. So every class will create their own story. And the story will turn into a book. Hi. Hello. KIDS: Hello. My name is Gianhn. I come from Syria. (SPEAKS ARABIC) INTERPRETER: My country was very peaceful, and I had a home. It had two floors. I did everything in the house. My home was very pretty, and I was happy. Then bombing started, and my house was under fire with shooting between the people. What was the hardest thing to do, coming to NZ? (SPEAKS ARABIC) INTERPRETER: It's been very difficult because I didn't know this country. And it's hard to learn a new language. OVERLAPPING CHILDREN'S VOICES I think it has a huge importance because the kids will hear, uh, a story right from the mouth of the person who lived the story. And from what you've heard, it's very simple, very basic. People had homes they had to leave because of the circumstances. There's not just one goal. It's` The participants who are taking part in these fundraising events are getting just as much as, hopefully, we'll be able to give to Syrian kids in, um, Lebanon or Jordan or wherever we can send money to. RELAXED ELECTRONIC MUSIC When I first moved to Thorndon after finishing university in Dunedin, I realised I'd come to a different community. I had gay flatmates, went to all kinds of different parties. I started volunteering at the Aids Foundation. And I even met my partner, Alf. We were playing rugby together in the Krazy Knights, NZ's first openly gay rugby team. MUSIC CONTINUES In 2009 we had our civil union here in Old St Paul's. This beautiful church, built in 1886, is one of the many historic landmarks in Thorndon that give people a real connection to the past. GENTLE PIANO MUSIC I'm living here in Thorndon on residency. It's a one-year residency run by the NZ School of Music. And one is simply here to compose. There's not a lot of teaching attached to it, anything like that, although I do have quite a bit of contact with some of the students at the university. I'm here with my partner, who had been working as a lawyer. And he's here in Wellington for the year as well, so we're able to spend a lot of time walking around the neighbourhood when I'm not working. Music to me is everything that comes into my ears, in a way, and I guess this is why it's such an important part of my life. I don't even set up a boundary between the sounds around us and what I regard as music. Um, so sound is very important to me. The residents at the School of Music are also offered the use of this house, which was originally occupied by Douglas Lilburn. In fact, when I was a student back in the '70s at Victoria University, he was living here. Douglas Lilburn, of course, was for many of us in the world of contemporary classical music a kind of father, a grandfather, whatever you like to call it. Perhaps one of NZ's most important composers. I guess the thing about living in a house where Douglas Lilburn was is that you perhaps feel that there's some sort of spirit coming into our lives. I certainly feel something here. (PLAYS BRIGHT, OFFBEAT TUNE) This is some of Douglas Lilburn's music ` the Nine Short Pieces for Piano, which nine composers were engaged with last year, including me. I was working on the ninth piece. (CONTINUES PLAYING) They're all short. Little aphoristic pieces. I've always also been an outsider in the sense that even classical music is a strange thing. And when I grew up in the suburbs of the Hutt Valley, it was a minority interest of the deepest kind. So I guess that fitted in well, in some ways, with being gay. REFLECTIVE MUSIC It's much more satisfying than a recording, of course, to be able to just pick up the scores and play them. MUSIC CONTINUES One of the hardest things to talk about is... how we write music; why we write music, even. We just feel the need to express things which can only be expressed in sound. ROLLING PIANO ARPEGGIO MUSIC Reuben's a masters student in saxophone, and we've been working together on a project. I've seen one or two crazy jazz players who actually pick up two instruments and play them at the same time. Maybe we can work this into the piece in some way. So it's all grown out of a few ideas sketched on paper. And we've been together in a couple of work sessions, tried things out, and I've reshaped the piece. So we're now in the final stages for a performance that's coming up in a couple of weeks' time. (PLAYS SHORT, DISSONANT PHRASES) The piece is really fun. Yeah, at the start I was stressing out about it cos I've never played two saxophones before and it was quite hard. And also trying to hum as well as` while I'm playing two saxophones, and look at the changes in the fingerings and the dynamics and things like that. But now that I've done a bit of practice and we've compromised on some things and reworked a few passages, it's heaps of fun. (CONTINUES DISSONANT TUNE) I think most composers just continue until there's no more need to compose. Probably I'll write something for as long as I'm here. LAID-BACK MUSIC Parliament really is the heart of Thorndon, and it's been the scene of plenty of protest and controversy. 30 years ago Fran Wilde, the MP for Wellington Central, sponsored the Homosexual Law Reform Bill through Parliament. And 20 years later, myself and others stood on the steps of Parliament to face down Destiny Church when they came to oppose the Civil Union Bill. Parliament's nearly as well known for its food as it is for its protest, be it Bellamy's up in the Beehive or The Backbencher pub across the road, what they say in Wellington is if you're not talking about politics or weather, you're talking about food. RELAXED GUITAR MUSIC FRENCH ACCENT: When you cook, it's like relaxing. That means, you know, I love so much my job I can work 14 hours a day, come here and feel to eat something and cook something. But I love what I do. It's my passion. And it's sharing, you know? You cook and you share. Everything can be told around a table. But what say around the table stay around the table, don't worry. (CHUCKLES) I would like to describe my bistro like authentic French bistro food personalised with a tour de France menu to be able to touch every different area and region ` what we call region in France ` with different tastes. She's got a wonderful sense of humour, though. I came in here once for Dish of the Day, and she said, 'Oh, it's just fish of the day, Cathy.' So I sat down to eat my fish of the day. And it looked very odd, and at the end of it she told me, 'Hee-hee! You've been eating stingray.' LAUGHTER Six years ago, my husband took over a very small business where they imported cheese and some French produce and a few things. And next to this small business was a small cafe. And we decide to... run both of us one of the business. He was in charge of importing French cheese, and I'm charge of the cafe and cook there. REFLECTIVE MUSIC This is my husband, Ludovic. Um... I miss him, but he's always with a cheese tray, so it's OK. SIGHS: Monsieur Fromage. Say cheese. (CHUCKLES) Ludovic was unfortunately hit by a very bad cancer two years ago. And, um,... he was very strong till the end. And when he passed away, one of the well-known chefs in Wellington sent me a beautiful letter and said, 'I know you are not the most religious person on the Earth, Vero, 'but I'm sure where Ludo is, he's going to sell cheese to everyone or offer to everyone.' And, uh, I thanked him very often and said, 'Well, I imagine that now.' FUNKY ACOUSTIC GUITAR Today I make one of my favourite dish because I feel like at home and I like to share this dish with my Kiwi friends. It's a tartiflette. The origin of the tartiflette was called pela, P-E-L-A. Pela means frypan with a long handle. It is a mountain dish. And of course when you are young, this dish was, yes, a ski friend in the Savoie, where the Reblochon is from. And, um, the main thing is the Reblochon, the French cheese, from Savoie. Because to make this cheese, you need, um, second milking. Second one is to have the most fat you can to put the dish very rich and very nice. GENTLE SIZZLING To be a chef I trained in France in a small town called Saumur on the Loire Valley. I was very lucky to be able to work 15 years for the different French ambassadors. Each time you work in a country with a French ambassador, you need to cook French. But sometimes you need to adapt yourself to the cooking of the ambassador. But sometimes say, 'Well, I have a delegation from France, 'and they would like to eat something more local.' 90% of your job is finished. I'm going to bring this dish at home with Reblochon cheese. I'm going to cut the Reblochon at home, grill it in my oven. We have a drink when it's warm, and we pass it to table. ACOUSTIC GUITAR I love NZ. It's a big country with not too many people. And all this small amount of people in these two big islands are quite amazingly supportive, and I would like to thank them to be like the way they are. But more and more I enjoy because I find good cheese in this country. And I find good, uh, bubbly in this country. And good wine. WINE FIZZES, SLOSHES GENTLY Tonight I'm going to receive a few friends, and only one French. And like me, he don't come for me, he come for the tartiflette! (CHUCKLES) GLASSES CLINK (INHALES) Ooh! This sounds perfect. TARTIFLETTE SIZZLES La Tartiflette! PEOPLE EXCLAIM I put on the middle probably. And what is it? A tartiflette. Tartiflette. Uh-huh. SERENE MUSIC The cheese is the important thing, isn't it? It's beautiful. I think I was starving. And really, to have your best friends around this table for tartiflette is great. I hope you enjoy the same way I enjoy to do it. < It's beautiful. Thank you, Boyd. You know, you cook sometimes for three days to have the perfect canard a l'orange. And is disappear in less than 10 minutes. And for me, this is fantastic. This really gives something. Three days' work, 10 minutes' pleasure. Pfft, I'm happy. ...the question with which we charge you, and that's the question with which we would like an answer, sir. And I'm going to give it to you if you hold your breath just for a moment. LAUGHTER I can smell the uranium on it as you lean towards me. I can still remember listening to David Lange at the Oxford Union and how much he inspired me when he threw down NZ's anti-nuclear gauntlet to the world. I related to him cos he was a big guy with glasses, but I think he inspired a lot of NZers when he stood up on the world stage for our values, for the values NZers hold dear. We can still do that today by welcoming those in need to our shores. LAID-BACK MUSIC My parents were born in Hungary` uh, that is, Hungary today. Uh, my father in the south in Szeged and my mother in Budapest. My father was a Catholic priest during the revolution. His sermons were, uh, rather encouraging of standing up against the oppressive communists. And, uh, he found out that he was blacklisted. And when he found out, he wrote a letter to my mother and said, uh, 'If you come with me, I'll marry you.' We were conscious of our parents having gone through a hard time, although they didn't talk much about life as refugees. We were very aware that we were Hungarian because we had a rule we could only speak Hungarian in the house and English outside the house. PIANO MUSIC After World War II, Hungary was very brutal` there was a very brutal regime in Hungary, very brutal communist dictatorship in the '50s, in particular the early '50s. And being on the blacklist, my father realised that if he stayed he could lose his life. So when they married in the refugee camp, that wasn't able to be recognised by the church because they were excommunicated. So that was always difficult for them. They nonetheless raised my sister and I to believe in Christianity. But they were excommunicated, so they couldn't, theoretically, go to church. My father was a very studious man, so we would` a common sight was that he would, after dinner, disappear into his little study and work. And... he put himself through library school and, um- and... achieved a lot through this very diligent attitude of his. There was the fall of communism in 1989. And Hungary decided that it was appropriate to extend its representation throughout the world. They approached my father and asked him whether he would be willing to be NZ's first Hungarian honorary consul. He had dreamed of having some sort of Hungarian memorial for all Hungarians in NZ somewhere. And so when the idea about this came about, it seemed obvious to choose something that everyone could identify with. And the lovely thing about it is that anyone who comes here who's Hungarian obviously feels something quite emotional. They feel like it's a very Hungarian place. We thought to ourselves, 'Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could have a Szekely gate here in Wellington.' They're entranceways to people's properties, they're entranceways to national parks. They symbolise being Hungarian. My father started working away at this idea. So there are about 250 donors, and we were most fortunate to receive large donations from the people who have a plaque on the benches. We applied for grants, of course, and did what we could, but it was a massive exercise. The Szekely gate arrived three days before the opening by ship from Hungary in 11 pieces, so it was all very dramatic to get it ready for the opening. But it worked, it was erected. It came from Transylvania and it was gifted by the Hungarian Parliament. My father would have been immensely proud of this. I guess` We spoke about this on his last day, when he knew that he only had a few hours to live, and this is what he talked about. And I said, 'Help me. How am I gonna make this happen?' (CHUCKLES) And he said, 'You can do it. You can do it.' I feel very grateful that we could do it. It's something that the community really needed because we needed to have a place that we could call our own in terms of the Hungarian feeling that you get at this little garden. But also ` perhaps even more importantly ` it was an expression of gratitude towards NZ for taking in 1100 refugees back in '56, '57. It's also a legacy to future generations of Hungarians who may know very little about their Hungarian-ness, but they'll identify with it because they'll know that those are Hungarian structures and a Hungarian garden. CRUISY GUITAR MUSIC (MOUTHS) Thorndon's a neighbourhood that's welcomed people for generations, no matter who you are or where you're from. We've come a long way in NZ in tolerating and accepting people who are different, but there's always more to do. But what we really should do is celebrate the diversity that we've got in all its shapes, forms and colours. Captions by Tracey Dawson. www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2016