Munn's art off to Melbourne

The furore surrounding flying the tino rangatiratanga flag on Waitangi Day has inspired the flag's designer to "claim it back" as her own.
Mount Maunganui artist Linda Munn is the last surviving designer of the flag, which was created 20 years ago.
The Government's decision to approve it as the preferred Maori flag on Waitangi Day put Ms Munn in the spotlight.
"I was so traumatised by the whole flag issue, I didn't want anything to do with it.
"I have decided to reclaim it back - kind of like it's my role to get the real story, and not let people become entrenched in what's been made up."
The flag features in two pieces Ms Munn has painted for an exhibition in Melbourne next month.
Ms Munn was invited to exhibit after attending a gathering of indigenous visual artists hui in Rotorua earlier this year.
The Melbourne exhibition, at the Montsalvat Gallery, is themed around the title A story that must be told does not forgive silence.
And the tiro rangatiratanga flag features in the two paintings she has submitted.
"I've started putting the flag in my paintings, where before I didn't.
"It's subtly in the background, because it's not the only thing I'm about.
"Being an artist and a mother comes before the other stuff."
One of the paintings is a "subtle comment" on the media after Ms Munn's experiences with the flag.
"It's just things that happened to me. It's subtle, you would only know if I told you the story."
The exhibition, which includes work by six New Zealand artists, opens on September 18.
Ms Munn will travel with her paintings, which are acrylic on paper.
One of the groups attending, known as The Blakharts, are a collective of Aboriginal artists based in Melbourne and surrounding areas.
"It's a good place to showcase my work because one of the key things about being an artist is networking and getting together.
"I'm really excited to be working with Aboriginal artists. The issues they have there with land, and people being caught up in addiction, and their stories ... [are] quite gut-wrenching."
Ms Munn, who is completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Waiariki Institute of Technology in Rotorua, is also planning to exhibit in New York in June.
The mother of four children aged between 18 and 26, Ms Munn said she was now able to make time for her art.
"In between bringing up and having children, and life, my life hasn't been a box of roses, and that comes into the work."
She has also been invited to exhibit in Hawaii and Oregon, and hopes to seek funding to make the trips.