Archive >> April 2007

Ideas of abstraction

New York’s Esso Gallery in Chelsea’s West 26th Street, is holding a second solo exhibition by Auckland artist Julian Dashper. Titled The Abstract Office, the exhibition is a broad…

High Price for Anzac Artwork

An iconic Anzac painting has sold for more than twice its estimated price at an auction of wartime artworks in Sydney. Simpson and his Donkey by NZ artist Horace…

Gates of Hell open in Fulham

Hell Pizza has opened its first UK outlet in Fulham, northwest London. Founders Callum Davies and Stu McMullin decided it was time to test a new market after…

Short and Sweet

Auckland writer Charlotte Grimshaw has been nominated for the world’s richest prize for collected short stories, the £35,000 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award. Grimshaw joins 32 authors…

Hunter retains her edge

NZ-born Alexis Hunter features in the WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution exhibition at LA’s Museum of Contemporary Art. Hunter moved to London in 1972 aged 24 and…

Inside Perspective on Disarmament

New Zealander Bob Rigg has written an essay for Open Democracy protesting the US manipulation of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), and the ousting of its Brazilian…

Royal Welcome for NZ Flora

The largest collection of NZ native plants in the UK has opened at the Savill Garden, near Windsor Castle in Surrey. The NZ Garden in Great Windsor Park was officially opened…

Nesian Mystik: Nesian Style

Nesian Mystik’s music video for the song, Nesian Style.

Phoenix on the Rise

A Wellington-based franchise is to replace Auckland’s NZ Knights in the Australian A-League soccer competition beginning in August. Wellington Phoenix will be the eighth team in the 2007-2008 series, which runs…

All Black Up-and-comers

NZ has won the world under-19 rugby championship for the first time since 2004, with a decisive 31-7 victory over South Africa in Belfast, Ireland. “To win tonight, and also so resoundingly,…

Healthy Competition

A NZ healthy fast food chain has opened its first European outlet in Glasgow, Scotland. Owner Conrad van der Klundert believes that Reload, a South Island-based juice, salad…

Matterhorn Among World’s Best

Wellington institution the Matterhorn has been named one of the world’s top five bars by respected US trade magazine, Bartender. The Cuba St local was ranked fifth behind…

Trailer: River Queen

A Star Among Men

Frank Bateson, one of the world’s most respected astronomers, has died in Tauranga aged 97. Born in Wellington in 1909, Bateson was the internationally acknowledged expert on variable stars…

The Black Seeds: So True

New Zealand reggae band The Black Seeds much loved track, So True.

Ice Blacks Perform Haka on Ice

The New Zealand Ice Blacks perform a Haka on ice during the 2007 World Championships.

Blanket Bay Among World’s Best

Queenstown’s Blanket Bay Lodge has been selected as the best lodge in the world by the US Discovery Travel & Living channel. Blanket Bay will feature on Discovery’s new Five-Star Insider…

NZ Triathletes Dominate at Ishigaki

NZ athletes dominated at Japan’s Ishigaki Island World Cup series triathlon, despite their lack of a gold medal finish. Bevan Docherty, Kris Gemmell, Shane Reed and Andrew Hewitt finished second, third,…

Fight night

Two New Zealanders have been nominated for the 2007 Taurus World Stunt Awards. Ben Cooke (pictured) and Kirk Maxwell are both up for Best Fight, for their…

Icon and Storyteller Who Inspired All

Veteran actor and filmmaker Don Selwyn has died aged 71 after a long illness. Selwyn was a founding member of the New Zealand Maori Theatre Trust and…

Auckland Pioneers Landing Technique

Auckland International Airport is leading the world in trialling a landing method designed to reduce fuel use and emissions. Beginning April 18, the test landings will see selected Air NZ and…

Tributes Flow for Reading Expert

Educators the world over have mourned the loss of Dame Marie Clay, an internationally renowned reading expert who has died in Auckland aged 81. Clay was a leading figure…

Dragon: April Sun in Cuba

Take a look at the music video for the iconic New Zealand song, April Sun in Cuba.

Trailer: Goodbye Pork Pie

Big pond, big promise

Wellington singer/songwriter Brooke Fraser relocated to Sydney three years ago, hoping to create an Australian following to rival the one she enjoys back home. In NZ, Fraser’s first…

Th’ Dudes: Bliss

The music video for the classic track, Bliss.

Something for Everyone

The recent volcanic lahar at Mount Ruapehu has done nothing to put off eager skiers, from NZ or overseas. As a news.com.au article points out, visitors continued to ski and snowboard…

Keats Inspires New Campion Film

The doomed love affair between English poet John Keats and his neighbour, Fanny Brawne, is to be the subject of a literary biopic written and directed by Oscar-winning NZ…

Planned to Perfection

The Toronto Star reports on the wonder of Victorian-era town planning that is Christchurch, NZ. Prior to its December 1850 settlement, Christchurch was designed to be a replica of the ideal…

Cliff’s time in the sun

NZ actor Cliff Curtis has a starring role in Sunshine, the latest critically acclaimed film by English director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later). The film is…

Te Mata in Dream Opener

Hawkes Bay’s Te Mata Estate will open next month’s London International Wine and Spirits Fair (LIWSF) with a tasting celebrating 25 years of its flagship Cabernet/Merlot, Coleraine. Te Mata CEO John Buck…

Cheap Solar Power a Step Closer

Massey University researchers have developed a novel means of harnessing solar energy, at a fraction of the price. Scientists at the university’s Nanomaterials Research Centre have produced a range of coloured…

“A Little Savage From New Zealand”

A Telegraph review of Penguin’s Collected Stories of Katherine Mansfield celebrates the influential author’s short yet remarkable life. Born in Wellington in 1888, Mansfield made a strong and lasting…

More Gold for Kendall

NZ sporting legend Barbara Kendall is back in the spotlight after winning the women’s RS:X windsurfing event at the Princess Sofia Trophy regatta in Palma, Spain. The three-time Olympic medallist was…

John Rowles: Cheryl Moana Marie

John Rowles performs his much loved song, Cheryl Moana Marie.

Fresh Perspective on Antarctica

A NZ doctoral student and her Dutch counterpart have initiated a radical new program to involve the humanities and social sciences in Antarctic research. Canterbury University’s Daniela Haase and Machiel Lamers…

Zambesi Marches on Moscow

NZ fashion label Zambesi has netted its largest ever international account. Zambesi will be stocked in Moscow’s soon-to-open Cara & Co concept store, which describes itself as a “deluxe…

Praise for Bright and Vital

Ferris South Australian Liberal Senator Jeannie Ferris has died after a two-year battle with ovarian cancer. Born in NZ, Ferris studied agribusiness and worked as a journalist and political…

Nga mea o te ora (“The stuff of life”)

Outside its chilled down big time. We’ve had a long sweet summer but the turn is on and we all have to prepare for the immediate vicissitudes of winter…

Writing in the margins

Auckland writer Tzeming Mok spoke about globalization and the Chinese Diaspora at last month’s Shanghai Literature Festival. Mok, a published poet, author, blogger and journalist, is known for writing…

Smither reveals wild side over tea and cake

NZ poet laureate Elizabeth Smither was a guest speaker at the recent Kuala Lumpur International Literary Festival. A journalist interviewing her for the Malaysian Star was amazed at her…

NZ a Modern Treasure Hunter’s Dream

NZ features in a “21st century treasure map” for entrepreneurial Americans, published by Inc. magazine. The interactive online map is a guide for American business owners looking for international opportunities. The NZ…

Stamps Commemorate Centenaries

NZ Post has issued a series of stamps celebrating the centenaries of four organisations that have played a major role in the country’s history. Released April 24, the stamps pay tribute…

Surf Secrets Revealed

Artificial Surf Reefs (ASR) co-founder Kerry Black has been profiled by CNN. Black, a former Waikato University professor, has spent the last few years perfecting the world’s first fully adjustable computer-controlled…

Mason Wins at Raglan

NZ surfer Airini Mason has scored her second Billabong Pro Junior Series title for 2007 by winning the girls’ division of the $13,000 Raglan leg. The 18-year-old beat pre-event…

Herne Bay Haven

Wallpaper’s April issue includes a Pacific-inspired Herne Bay home designed Auckland’s Stevens Lawson Architects. “For us, it’s the ultimate modernist abstraction,” says architect Nicholas Stevens of the…