A Home for Our Creative Whānau
After 35 editions of Coromind, I wonder if there is a house somewhere in Te Tara-o-te-ika-a-Māui that doesn’t have a copy sitting on a coffee table? For those of us who have found this monthly periodical, I’m sure you can relate; the pile has steadily grown since the magazine’s inception in January 2023. Every month 3,000 copies are distributed all around the peninsula and another expertly crafted mag finds a new destination.
Even with such a beautifully printed edition, Coromind can also be found digitally, and its online version is super-charged. The website further amplifies the content with podcasts, gig guides, a search bar to look up artists and content, poems, articles, video clips – and a shop, which will be coming soon. The website offers featured artists incredible connectivity and reach. Has an audience ever been closer?
A good portion of creatives live in solitude on the Coromandel and can hermit away just like the hard-to-find crabs that live along the coastline. Everybody knows that working with artists is likened to herding cats, but Coromind does this quite effortlessly. The articles and podcasts offer our local artists an intimate link to the international stages of Google, Spotify and many other platforms and algorithms. What’s more, this opportunity for creatives to showcase their work is performed in the spirit of inclusivity and respect.
With so much talent already shown, one might question, ‘How many artists are there? They must be running out by now?’ If I were a newcomer to this place, I might agree; however, experience teaches wisdom it seems. I have noticed over the last 39 years of living on the Coromandel that it is a place that replenishes itself creatively, and the arts community is regenerative and resilient. Here on the peninsula, creative people arrive and live in perpetuity and have done so for many years. They love working and carrying on with the project at hand. Coromind champions the artists of the day, but imagine the extra workload the editorial team would have on their hands if the magazine were to also go back in time and investigate the artistic archives of Te Tara-o-te-ika-a-Māui.
With each new issue comes a celebration of life and of what is good in the world. When our efforts come together, they help strengthen the vibrant connections within our community. A great example is Coromind’s partnership with our beloved Coromandel Open Arts Studios this year, along with the wide range of sponsors and local businesses who all play a part in keeping this creative spirit alive and thriving. Fabio Minomizaki, Reuben Watson, Lana Garland, Helen Oliver, Samuel Ribet and Lorelay Magri make up the current team behind the magic. The efforts by the contributors and artists are enormous, but without the leadership at the helm, Coromind wouldn’t even exist. So, with no further ado … I would like to say on behalf of us all who love reading and listening to the inspiring stories of this publication, Taylor O.G and Leo Magri, you are both legends. Te Tara-o-te-ika-a-Māui got very lucky when you decided to make this place home.
* Te Tara-o-te-ika-a-Māui means the Coromandel Peninsula.
Words by Genevieve Morley
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