Culture 101

It’s difficult not to use the cliché description of ‘whirlwind’ but the past few years have been life changing for New Zealand Chinese actor Jess Hong. 

We’re in a housing crisis, most people agree. With strong awareness of the inequalities that it brings.  Yet, when it comes to talking about solutions to something so complex yet so personal, people struggle - reaching for phrases like ‘this housing thing’.  This Housing Thing is the title of a moving image work by artist Dieneke Jansen, who has long dedicated her art and activism to housing. It’s...

It’s 1979 in Ōtautahi Christchurch and an energetic underground punk scene is spewing up. It’s decades before the internet, with the very latest overseas sounds dribbling in slowly by import. Records shipped all the way from the UK.       This is the fertile and nostalgic setting for Sydney-based director, Jonathan Ogilvie's excellent fourth feature film, Head South. It’s premiering in Aotearoa Ne...

Arts News for 28 July 2024

Culture 101 puts the spotlight on a different region in Aotearoa every Sunday and this week we’re in New Plymouth, Taranaki.

From Sappho, to Sweden’s Queen and the Suffragettes, Unsuitable is the first book of its kind, spanning centuries and continents, uncovering the often hidden history of lesbian fashion. 

They’ve been dubbed ‘the MTV generation’ and the ‘Forgotten generation’ (though now they’re in power: ‘forgotten no more’ we say). They are Generation X: those born between 1965 and 1980.  The baby boomers came before them, the millennials after and the Gen Xers may still be getting used to it - but they are all now middle-aged. So, brought together, what does the art they’ve made tell us?  

It’s described as genre-bending, bespoke and immersive - a show you can’t fit into one category.

Hugo Grrrl keeps rather busy. He’s a fulltime drag artist - not just performing, but MCing, producing, writing and providing opportunities for the next generation of performers.  The alias of George Fowler, Hugo Grrrl’s events are also notoriously inventive - and sparkly - working in all manner of social spaces. 

Dream Chambers is the moniker of the multifaceted artist Jess Chambers, a composer, performer, and cofounder of the Pōneke electronic music collective - Techno Echo.

Talia Marshall (Ngāti Kuia, Rangitāne o Wairau, Ngāti Rārua, Ngāti Takihiku) is a gifted writer but a reluctant one. While most debut authors refer to their new books as their babies she prefers to refer to Whaea Blue as an orphan. 

It’s an intersection of technology, art, science and music in a new digital immersive installation at The Grid Artspace in Wellington. Rivers of Wind takes eight years of weather data from Wellington Airport, transforming it into a visual artwork accompanied by an ambient soundtrack.

It’s the torturous question of “what if?” - that sliding doors moment which can haunt people. It’s the premise of a new New Zealand musical When We Were Us at BATS Theatre this month. 

Legendary and beloved author, Dame Lynley Dodd, is hoping a new award will give a fellow writer a boost of confidence - similar to a gift she received in the 1970s which changed her life. 

Stage and screen actor Bronwyn Turei has been appearing on stage at Circa Theatre this month playing not one, but five different character’s in a reimagining of Sense and Sensibility.

Author and poet Warwick Stubbs wrote his new book, Two Left Feet  in public libraries, park benches and in his vehicle and in local writing workshops

NZ’s latest comedy offering, Madam, is putting the spotlight on sex work. Based on the soon-to-be published memoir by Antonia Murphy, who ran an ethical brothel in Whangarei for three years. 

Each week, Culture 101 puts the spotlight on a different part of Aotearoa and this week, we’re in Northland visiting KeriKeri. 

Nick Hall is the co-owner of Caluzzi Cabaret Auckland’s original Drag Queen cabaret show and one of New Zealand's most recognisable Queens, Drag Superstar Anita Wiglit joins Culture 101 to discuss Eat It.  July marks the first ever edition of Karangahape’s Restaurant month; Eat It - celebrating the pairing of the two greatest sins, lust and gluttony.

This School Holidays Spike Milligan's classic tale Badjelly the Witch takes the stage. Creative Director of The Glow Show, Sarah Burren handmade all the stage costumes and developed an original blend of music, puppetry, science and darkness to 30 venues across Aotearoa in July and October.

PickPath has been working with Te Papa, Taranaki Winter Festival and Barbarian Productions in the past few years and are now taking the platform to the market. Joel Baxendale spoke to Culture 101’s Perlina Lau.

TV presenter Kanoa Lloyd is preparing to immerse herself in the world of yoga training.

Dunedin teacher, academic, director, producer, actor and author, Lisa Warrington reflects on her longstanding advocacy for Aotearoa New Zealand drama and what it means to receive a Kings Birthday honour. 

Dame Fiona Kidman is borrowing the words of other writers to Raise the roof for Randell Cottage: Live Letters. While not associated with the British version, it has been inspired by the concept which has been running for more than a decade. 

Each week, Culture 101 puts the spotlight on a different part of Aotearoa and this week, we’re on the island of Waiheke.