NZEDGE News — New Zealand through the eyes of the world's media

Kiwi Homme

Following Hunter and Bax Henry Hargreaves is the latest Kiwi clothes hanger to attract the lens’ attention on the international fashion circuit. The New York based model has campaigns for Lacoste, Prada, Kenzo and…

Deluxe Drop

Christchurch brewer Dux de Lux was awarded the grand champion trophy at this year’s Australian international beer awards. The brand’s Nor’wester Pale Ale was judged best brew out of a record field of 590 beers from 22…

Variation the key to “Briwi’s” success

NZ born popster Daniel Bedingfield profiled in the Philippine Star. “You know how an artist will go to great lengths to maintain his style and keep some elements of his first hit in all…

Tastefully turning heads

Turner NZ restaurant – serving up an all-Kiwi array of food and wine – stands out in the sea of Italian, Asian and American cuisines on offer in Southern California. Says an enthusiastic reviewer…

Peter Robinson: “Migrateur”

Artist Peter Robinson, exhibiting in Berlin, described in ArtForum as ” the profile of the artist as a global player … a migrateur in the emphatic sense.” Aware of his edge exoticism but fused…

Little Brother

New Zealand ranks near the top in an international index ‘Ranking the Rich’, published by Foreign Policy and the Centre for Global Development, gauging how rich nations help out poorer nations. NZ toppped the list with The…

Frankly Fascinating

Mike Moore’s A World Without Walls hailed as a fascinating, candid and paradoxical account of ideals versus bureaucracies in Foreign Affairs magazine. “When all is said and done, believes democratically elected governments and markets will respond…

Possum Bourne Mourned

Rally champion Peter “Possum” Bourne, who died April 30th (aged 47), has been praised as “a humble man with rare ability, a relentless competitor who inspired a new generation of drivers.” “The most successful rally driver in…

Singing London

Victoria University graduate Wendy Dawn Thompson has won the prestigious Kathleen Ferrier Competition for singing, earning nearly $30,000, a website and a recital at London’s Wigmore Hall. She is currently studying at the Royal…

FAQ: “Why (oh God, why)?”

NZer Simon Jansen profiled as online icon of the week in The Scotsman‘s “lazy guide to net culture.” Jansen is a master of asciimation; making moving pictures out of letters, numerals and punctuation marks….

Street Eyes

Pavement regular, fashion and portrait photographer Derek Henderson, is showing at Sydney’s 2010 gallery. The images in the collection, entitled with sweet melancholy, I Don’t Feel Alone, are described as, “contemporary landscapes and cultural…

Boyd baffles in London

The Guardian art critic admits defeat in his attempts to explain Boyd Webb’s short film – Horse and Dog – currently on show at London’s Estorick Collection. Adrian Searle: “Immune to Webb’s enigmas and…

Rock’n’roll Road Trip

The Datsuns continue their successful courtship of the US music scene, earning rave reviews across the country. Boston Globe: “It’s a high-energy assault with mammoth guitar riffs, strutting bass and raw vocals that cartwheel…

Te Maori ki Te Ao – Paratene on Patriarchy

In an interview with SMH, Whale Rider star Rawiri Paratene discusses patriarchy – both within and outside of Maoridom – and the universal appeal behind the heart and award-winning film. “I think Maori stories well told can…

X-factor

Anna Paquin featured in New York Daily News, one of numerous high-profile interviews given during her hectic promotional tour for X-Men 2. Currently finishing an English major at Columbia between films, Paquin’s next plan…

Life on the (Geological) Edge

Times of India lists NZ as its readers’ third most popular summer holiday destination. “The ice age carved the exquisite fretwork of Fiordland and the Marlborough Sounds, huge tectonic forces pushed up the Southern Alps and volcanism…

Pavlova Paradise?

Observer offers a how-to guide to buying property in NZ in its assessment of the global property market’s latest hot spot. According to their sources, “screen gods and goddesses are buying up idyllic island…

Whistle-stop NZ

Lonely Planet experts offer Brits-in-need a two week itinerary of NZ. Reader response: “A two week(!) trip to NZ? We’re UK bird-watchers who have just spent three months there. It’s far too short a time…”

Two-ton Fleming Squashes Records

A testament to leading by example, Black Caps captain Stephen Fleming hit a career-best 274 not out in the first Test against Sri Lanka. Fleming’s total is the second highest test score ever made by a…

Battle of the Bulge

Auckland University is at the forefront of new medical research linking malnutrition at the time of conception to instances of premature birth. Pediatrician Dr. Frank Bloomfield has conducted a study using sheep which ” suggest that…

Zambesi Deals in Dark Delights

NZ fashion house Zambesi lived up to its reputation for thoughtful sewing of the seams with an inspiring show at Sydney Fashion Week, netting a lucrative distribution deal with Canada’s largest department store chain…

In His Father’s Image, The Shadow of a Mountain

Peter Hillary interviewed about his own Everest experience and his part in the filming of National Geographic‘s documentary, Surviving Everest. “Our challenge was not just to climb, but to make the film about the…

Karen at the Cutting-edge

Work by leading NZ fashion designer Karen Walker is currently on show at Seattle’s Bellevue Art Museum. Walker is featured alongside fellow rule-breakers John Galliano, Issey Miyake and Alexander McQueen in Fashion: The Greatest…

A winter’s ale: Montieths

“This dark, brooding, Kiwi ale with its deep nutty, malty flavours is the perfect thing – served just chilled, of course, rather than cold – for old fashioned roast…

Ed MTV: Frontrunning Len Lye Revisited

Aussie indie music treasure, ex-punk and co-founder of the Saints, Ed Kuepper, has written music for six short films made by legendary NZ conceptual artist Len Lye over 50 years ago. Lye was setting…

The D4: Up Close and Personal

They say the essence of rock and roll is live performance. It’s a mantra for kiwi rockers D4, who are currently touring the US. Boston Daily Globe: “A knockout band from New Zealand, much…

Nearest Neighbours Worlds Apart?

Gerard Henderson makes a pre-ANZAC Day assessment of current Aussie-Kiwi relations. “The Australia-NZ commercial relationship has never been healthier … However, the trans-Tasman economic co-operation has been accompanied by an increasing disagreement on security issues. The NZ…

The Quiet Life

Observer recommends Paua Cottage in Russell to Britons seeking a seaside escape. “Wake up in wondrous solitude to the sun rising from the Pacific Ocean at Paua Cottage … At the foot of a cliff sits…

Samurais & Surfers: The World Comes to Taranaki

The inaugural Foster’s World Masters Surf Titles were held in Taranaki over Easter weekend, attracting over 450 local and international competitors. The International Surfing Association-sanctioned event was open to any rider over 35. Says organiser Wayne Arthur; “What’s…

Byow! Cartoonist With Cut Through Remembered

John Kent, well-known political cartoonist, lecturer and illustrator, died on April 13 aged 65. Born in Oamaru, Kent’s work was a familiar feature in Private Eye, Guardian, Daily Mail, The Sun and, finally, The…

Conchords Take Flight in Melbourne

Kiwi act Flight of the Conchords was voted Best Newcomer at the 17th Annual Melbourne International Comedy Festival, following on from similar accolades at Edinburgh last year. The two-man performance – made up of…

“The Nick Cave of New Zealand literature”

Chad Taylor’s growing international reputation continues to buzz, this time in The Australian. In Electric drug-addled number crunchers negotiate the power cuts of Auckland’s sweltering summer of 1998, “This is a rare and…

Evolutionary Edge

Soil-analysis undertaken in a NZ cave has uncovered a rich and previously unknown evolutionary heritage. A team of scientists have found DNA traces of an extinct animal and from plants alive 3,000 years before the first human…

Napier Goes Ga-ga for Gingko

Ron Massey, of Napier Council, thinks the city’s onto an export winner after its successful growing of high-grade gingko trees. The Chinese herb is currently the trendiest pill to pop, supposedly offering dramatically increased energy and cognitive…

Lest We Forget in Troubled Times

Due to the current world climate, ANZAC services in Australian and NZ this year carried particular emotional resonance CNN remembers an event “marked by both countries as a tragic turning point in their national development.” The Age: “In…

Free GE or GE-free?

The GE debate steps up a notch as the government prepares to lift its current moratorium on modified organisms. A commissioned financial projection of the pros and cons of going GE (by Business and Economic Research Ltd)…

NZ vs. Wales: The Name Game

A bid by the NZRFU to make “All Blacks” a registered trademark has been called into question after the discovery of a Welsh team playing under the same name. The Welsh club Neath has been known…

A New Zealand first

NZ Drama School student James Ashcroft has secured an internship at New York’s prestigious theatre and film company, The Wooster Group. The Wooster Group was founded by actor Willem Dafoe in the late…

“The Greatest Rock’n’roll Band in the World at That Moment”

SMH bows down before “snake-hipped Kiwi axe gods,” The Datsuns. The concert review: “When the lights came up it had been barely 70 minutes since the first note and yet no one felt short-changed….

Teen angst pays off

Wellington actress Michelle Ang has been nominated for Australia’s premiere television award (a Logie) for her role in Neighbours. Ang, who has previously appeared in The Tribe and McDonalds Young Entertainers, is entered in…

Hillary on show

The National Geographic Society’s Explorers Hall in Washington has opened an exhibition to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary’s Everest climb. Curiosities include the ice-axe Hillary used in the last few metres…

Protecting Shared Heritage

The NZ and Australian governments are making a combined application to the World Intellectual Property Organisation to protect the use of the word Anzac. Both countries have legislated against the unauthorised use of the word at…

Hey big spender

Australia’s John Fairfax Holdings Ltd has bought NZ’s top media group – Independent News Limited (INL) – for NZ$1.19 billion. The package includes more than 80 major newspapers and magazines, and means that over…

Making music behind the scenes

19-year-old New Zealander Martine Hardaker is one of three students featured in an article on the prestigious Violin Making School of America. The four-year program involves more than just sanding and filing; pupils study…

NZ: Wine Enthusiast ‘Region of the Year’

American-based Wine Enthusiast Magazine named NZ “Region of the Year” at their prestigious Wine Awards for 2002. Said judges of our viticultural edge; “When examining the NZ wine industry, broader themes emerge, encompassing such important concepts as innovation,…