February 2013 Archives

Glowing Gold at Grammys

Glowing Gold at Grammys

New Zealand pop star Kimbra, 22, has won two Grammy Awards for record of the year and best pop duo/group with Australian musician Gotye. “Somebody That I Used To Know” was…

Campion Returns a Champion

Campion Returns a Champion

New Zealand director Jane Campion makes a ‘haunting’ and near-perfect return to TV production, according to Andrew Pulver, The Guardian’s Film Editor.  Campion’s return to high-end TV film-making comes with her directing the first…

Critical Mass

Critical Mass

The Auckland University Press Anthology of New Zealand Literature edited by Jane Stafford and Mark Williams of Victoria University is reviewed by Peter Pierce for The Australian. He traverses the customary literary punch-ups that…

Architectural Designs

Architectural Designs

Feminine beaded tops over boy shirts were paired with punky skinny pants adorned with zippers on the New York Fashion Week runway of New Zealand fashion designer Rebecca Taylor as she…

On Foreign Affairs

On Foreign Affairs

Prime Minister John Key spoke with The Diplomat’s Zachary Keck concerning nuclear security, Afghanistan, relations with the United States and China as well as the Trans Pacific Partnership. “New Zealand views nuclear security as…

New Creatures from the Deep

New Creatures from the Deep

In a recent joint expedition between the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) and the University of Aberdeen, to one of the deepest parts of the Pacific Ocean, scientists turned up something…

Cup Hope in Culture

Cup Hope in Culture

Team New Zealand can’t match billionaire Larry Ellison’s budget in the America’s Cup this year so it’s relying on sailing nous for what managing director Grant Dalton sees as a last chance to reclaim…

Class Written All Over It

Class Written All Over It

“New product from Bright Star director Jane Campion is always welcome,” the Guardian says about the New Zealander’s six-part television series, Top of the Lake, which is showing in the Berlinale Special section at…

Sheep, Lizards and Hobbits

Sheep, Lizards and Hobbits

February 6 is New Zealand’s national day. Known as Waitangi Day, it marks the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 between the British Crown and the Maori, New Zealand’s first peoples. Britain’s…

Howling at the Moon

Howling at the Moon

In real time, Wellington photographer Mark Gee shot this video of the moon rising over the capital with the silhouettes of people gathering to watch the spectacle at the Mount Victoria…

Challenging Perceptions of Beauty

Challenging Perceptions of Beauty

This week, designer Karen Walker will show her 14th season at New York Fashion Week. And then there’s her jewellery collection, homeware, a range of paints for Resene and the diffusion label Hi There…

YouTube Whizz-kid

YouTube Whizz-kid

Corey Harris is a 16-year-old high school pupil from Kerikeri, who likes hanging out with his mates, gaming, photography and spending time on his computer. The bright-eyed teen with spiky hair is also New…

Campion a Cannes Jury President

Campion a Cannes Jury President

Oscar-winning director Jane Campion has been named Short Film Jury president and head of the Cinefondation at the 66th Cannes Film Festival. Campion has strong ties with the festival, winning the short film Palme…

Looking Back at the Beginning

Looking Back at the Beginning

In the year of McLaren’s 50th anniversary celebrations, a new short film directed by leading Swedish music-video maker Marcus Söderlund, sheds light on McLaren’s very human back-story – namely that of New Zealander Bruce McLaren,…

That Maybe So, But

That Maybe So, But

Sauvignon blanc from New Zealand’s Marlborough region is now Australia’s top-selling white wine. A “savalanche” has left chardonnay and other whites for dust, and that gets right up the noses of Australian winemakers, who…

Shucks, it’s a Hit

Shucks, it’s a Hit

Waiheke Island’s The Oyster Inn, “is a charming project that opened late last year, set up by Andrew Glenn and Jonathan Rutherfurd Best,” Simon Farrell-Green writes for Monocle in an article about “How to:…

One of the Boys

One of the Boys

New Zealander Jesse Peach is the director of a new production of Alan Bennett’s multi-award-winning play The History Boys, which opens at the Sydney Opera House on 8 February. Australian actor John…

Asset Allocation Win

Asset Allocation Win

New Zealander Alex Kim (right), a junior at Duke University in the United States, was one of three to win an asset allocation contest sponsored by BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager….

He Leaves a Chasm

He Leaves a Chasm

Broadcaster Sir Paul Holmes has died at his home in Hawkes Bay. He was 62. Holmes rose through the ranks of media in New Zealand, and not long into fronting his self-named TVNZ current…

Unleashing the Brapp

Unleashing the Brapp

“A.J. Fairbairn mashes the 1966 Ford GT Mark II’s throttle, unleashing the brapp of its NASCAR V-8 as it echoes off the safety walls of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” Todd Lassa writes for Motor…

What’s with All the Padding

What’s with All the Padding

Executive creative director at marketing agency RAPP New York, New Zealander Wayne Pick tells Branding Magazine what Super Bowl means to New Zealanders, in an article about how the American game…

Peace of Mind – Debut Album

Peace of Mind – Debut Album

Anika Moa, Boh Runga and Hollie Smith are three iconic New Zealand songwriters and artists, strong women with voices and personalities to match. Their…