Culture 101

The Auckland-based artist shares some of his cultural recommendations.

Foxton's is a small town in the Horowhenua known for its large sandy beach, bustling holiday park, scenic cycling paths and the locally-loved soft drink, Foxton Fizz. But there's more to this charming town than meets the eye. Nestled on the Kapiti Coast, Foxton is a hidden gem brimming with arts, culture, and heritage. Maggie Tweedie dialled up local resident and co-chairperson of the Foxton Dutch...

Stories about jewellery art are often susceptible to the use of bad puns. They sparkle, they're precious, they're worth their weight, and so forth. And sure we also can't resist: Karl Fritsch and Lisa Walker truly are the golden couple of Aotearoa New Zealand jewellery art. Indeed they're a dynasty: eldest child Max Walker is also now a jeweller. Yet both of these artists subvert and play with inh...

At 15, Broadcast Journalist Indira Stewart landed her first journalism job, telling the story of Polyfest in front of the camera-a moment that surely inspired her to step into her career as a television star in New Zealand media. Her experience performing on the Polyfest stage encouraged Stewart to explore the origins of the world's largest Pacific festival in a new two-part documentary series str...

In Kate Camp's new poetry collection Makeshift Seasons she's often to be found in togs, just in or out of the sea. Or, as she writes in one poem, "always driving to coasts in special outfits." 

When it comes to innovative performance, designer and theatre maker Martyn Roberts is something of a quiet tour de force. This season he's been juggling work on no less than five new Aotearoa New Zealand shows for the Dunedin Arts Festival. 

For our regional wrap today we're visiting Nga Motu New Plymouth to catch up with Theresa Tongi - Pacific Program Coordinator at the Govett-Brewster Gallery and co-curator of Lalaga: Le Hui Fono. Lalaga: Le Hui Fono is an exhibition and events committed to deepening relationships with Pasifika artists and community in Taranaki and across Te Moana nui a Kiwa. Theresa Tongi is a multi-media artist,...

In poet Amy Marguerite's impressive debut collection over under fed she explores, "the peculiar loveliness and specific loneliness of the human condition." 

Today many of us have a fancy camera built into the phones in our pockets. These digital cameras do a lot of the creative work automatically for us. Which has led to a resurgence in interest in the opposite: vintage camera lens with a diverse range of glasses, that can be manipulated manually. 

Author, writer and speaker Emily Writes has amassed a huge following online and readership. She first found an audience after writing a blog post in 2015 about struggling to settle her newborn baby at 3am in the morning. It clearly struck a chord. Since then, she's written three books about parenting; the first in 2017 called Rants in the Dark which has been turned into a play. Emily now has a twi...

There have been major changes this week at Whanau Marama New Zealand International Film Festival which is set to kick off in just a few months. The board has disestablished the positions of three key staff: executive director Sally Woodfield, Head of programming Michael McDonnell and part-time finance and HR manager Kirsten Dowsett. 

What started as a look at the worldwide appropriation, exploitation and debasement of Native American culture, turned into a study of its rich influence on fashion, sports, politics and environmentalism. Or as Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond cheekily asks in 2024 Canadian documentary Red Fever, "Why do they love us so much?!" 

Each week Culture 101 puts the spotlight on a different part of the country for our regional wrap. This week we're in the Thames-Coromandel area at Mercury Bay. There's a vibrant hub of artists and a thriving community. Mercury Bay Art Escape started in 2006 as a cultural weekend, but has now developed into a larger event with 57 artists participating this year. Locals volunteer and it's a chance...

It's been almost 40 years of the iconic Dunedin label Nom*d. Launched in 1986, the label has proudly stayed based in Dunedin for the past four decades. To mark the occasion a retrospective exhibition is being held at Dunedin Public Art Gallery opening Saturday 29 March alled This is Nom*d. Known for its dark aesthetic, vintage and avant-garde style, the exhibition will feature 20 archival looks sh...

Every week on RNZ's Culture 101 we ask an artist to share their love of culture and the cultural heroes that inspire them. In actor Ginette McDonald's case they're some of the people closest to her.

Arts News for 16 March 2025

35 years on from the death of a revered and popular New Zealand painter, a biography has been published. Tony Fomison: Life of the Artist, written by Mark Forman has been launched this week by Auckland University Press. Yet something significant is missing: his much celebrated paintings. 

A new moving and very personal animated short film Mirumiru looks at the love and bond between two kaumatu, an elderly Maori couple, Shorty and Lena as they deal with Lena's progressing mate wareware or dementia. Inspired by writer and director Allan George's own family story and personal experiences, the film has no dialogue using visuals and music to tell the emotional story. It's been produced...

Every Sunday on Culture 101 we visit a place big or small for our Regional Wrap to check its cultural pulse. And this week it's Te Puna, which is only a quarter of an hour's drive north west of the city of Tauranga. Its a rural community There are four marae, a primary school and some interesting cultural sites. They include Te Puna Quarry Park, a revitalised environmental site which features a sc...

This weekend in Wellington the Scottish Ballet and Royal New Zealand Ballet share the same stage with a range of short works. The Scottish Ballet go on to present A Streetcar Named Desire from Thursday at the Auckland Arts Festival. For the Royal New Zealand Ballet it's a big refresh year under a new, younger executive team. Executive Director Tobias Perkins started in 2023 and comes to Aotearoa f...

A new social media project d8talk sees a group of young Gen Z New Zealanders taking part in a frank and honest conversation dating. Over the next few months, it's being rolled out across the channels including Instagram, SnapChat, Tik Tok and consists of two parts; Tapes and Diaries. The tapes include 38 interviews from people aged between 18-24 years old and the diaries follows 8 interviewees ove...

After nearly 30 years, British writer and director Mike Leigh has reunited with actor Marianne Jean-Baptiste for his new drama and comedy film Hard Truths.

Comedian, actor and theatre maker Barnie Duncan, is now in preparation mode ahead of this year's NZ International Comedy Festival.

Arts News for 9 March 2025.

Bringing precolonial history alive in the landscape with storytelling and your mobile phone When you travel around New Zealand our heritage since colonisation is visible in museums, monuments and buildings, in town and marae. Yet the long history of occupation of the land prior to this remains invisible to most of us. Yet retold walking the land, the landscape can light up with connections and sto...