Launched in 2008 by poets and artists Hannah May Thompson, Makyla Curtis, Christian Jensen, and Renee Liang, Metonymy was an interdisciplinary project focused on fostering "creative match-making."

For this inaugural six-week iteration, 70 participants were paired across disciplines to form new collaborations, with selected artworks exhibited at Cross St Studios, chosen by a panel that included John Pule, Evan Woodruffe, CK Stead, Genevieve McClean and Simona Albanese.

The exhibition was supported by a performance night on 21 May 2008, hosted by Liang and Jensen, featuring spoken word, music, video and book launches. Both events were presented as fringe events of the Auckland Writer’s and Reader’s Festival.