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Auckland Illustrator Lands Space on the Wall next to Banksy
25 February 2014 – Auckland-based illustrator Henrietta Harris will exhibit alongside the world’s most famous street artist at the Robert Fontaine Gallery in Miami from…
Friends Bid Farewell to an “Outstanding Human Being”
Auckland-born television personality and former model Charlotte Dawson who has died in Sydney, aged 47, was “outrageous, outgoing and outspoken”, said sports presenter Ben Fordham, who worked with Dawson…
Sublime Southern Photographic Opportunities
The South Island’s 13 most beautiful photo opportunities include a view of the braided banks of the Waimakariri River (pictured), the Matai Falls in The Caitlins and icebergs on…
Brothers Thriving in Phnom Penh’s Lively Culinary Scene
“As Phnom Penh’s traffic roared nearby on a recent late afternoon, George and William Norbert-Munns were busy decorating. Amid piles of rubble and cement bags, the brothers…
Black Caps on the Rise
What a summer. Three test victories, two test series wins and a 4-0 drubbing of the No. 1 ranked one-day side in the world. New Zealand has risen one…
Impressive and Uncommonly Versatile NY Triple Bill
24 February 2014 – The opening of Royal New Zealand Ballet (RNZB) at The Joyce in New York “marked the final stop on a US tour that has covered…
Restoring French Colonial Ruins in Southern Cambodia
Chris Connop, a 57-year-old New Zealander with a degree in engineering and a background in horticulture and construction, says he stumbled into his current occupation – restoring and rebuilding…
Artisan Café to Open in Revitalised Central London Precinct
New Zealander Jodie Whitelaw, 33, will open the first Antipodean artisan coffee shop in the “Government and God” quarter around Victoria station in London of which the first stage…
Learning to Stand Upright in New Zealand
Historically, geographically, culturally – there are many points of comparison between New Zealand and its neighbour to the west, Australia. But there are notable differences. Victoria University’s Professor Harry…
Lange Intelligence Revelations Resurface in US report
A report by US online investigative journalist specializing in intelligence and international affairs, Wayne Madsen, reprises 2006 reports of the extent of New Zealand’s ongoing involvement in…
Lorde Scoops Best International Female Solo Artist at The Brit Awards 2014
Lorde has overcome the odds and won the best International Female Solo Artist prize at the Brit Awards 2014.
Despite going into the show as a huge underdog, the 17…
Xero Eyes 29 Million US Small Businesses
Wellington-based accounting software maker Xero signals a major push in the United States market, with appointment of former and current executives from Microsoft, HP and PayPal in a move…
Epic Innings Earns International Acclaim
Black Caps captain Brendan McCullum’s magisterial triple century – the first ever achieved by a New Zealander – has been hailed by Indian media as one of the greatest…
Cover Duties for Our Own Alternative Pop Voice
Lorde takes one of four covers for fashion magazine V’s music special as part of a feature on the “next wave of alternative pop voices,” starring alongside HAIM, Say…
Fledgling Party Giving a Voice to New Zealanders Living Overseas
An estimated one million New Zealanders living overseas will become a serious political force if the newly formed Expatriate Party of New Zealand gets its way, says the Guardian.
Based…
NZ Farm the Basis for Winning London Butchery
Nothing tastes better than grass-fed beef and lamb, as anyone raised on a New Zealand farm can tell you. But for those poor souls who flew the coop in…
Women in Walker Strut Faster Better and Stronger
Karen Walker’s suffragette-inspired fall 2014 collection was shown at New York Fashion Week; “a modern and tongue ‘n cheek nod to women on the march”, the Daily Mail reported…
Cricket’s Hottest Property Nearly a Millionaire
Black Cap Corey Anderson is only 23-years old and nearly a millionaire. Indian Premier League side Mumbai Indians paid $866,000 for the young all-rounder, who set the cricketing world…
Booker Judge Explains Catton’s Genius
Eleanor Catton’s Booker-winning The Luminaries is a novel in which almost everyone is obsessed with the acquisition of wealth, writes Robert Macfarlane in Intelligent Life, the sister publication to…
Toxicologist Claims Alexander the Great Died from Poisoned Wine
National Poisons Centre toxicologist Dr Leo Schep may have unravelled the mystery surrounding the death of Greek king Alexander the Great, who died at 32 in 323BC.
Schep thinks the…
Astronaut Says NZ Vineyards Most Appeal from Space
15 February 2014 – The vineyards of Marlborough are the part of the world which most caught Canadian Chris Hadfield’s eye from space. The “selfie”-taking astronaut, who became widely…
National Australia Bank Appoints Tech Whizz Geraldine McBride
Victoria University-educated Geraldine McBride, founder and chief executive of software company MyWave, has been appointed director of National Australia Bank (NAB) and will join the board in March.
McBride’s appointment…
Boy from Russell Turn Couture Designer for the Stars Returns
After leaving New Zealand 23 years ago for the lights of London, can-do eccentric artist Lyall Hakaraia is back this month for Auckland’s Pride festival. The nightclub owner, event…
One British Fashion Influence on Another
Coveted New Zealand-born designer Emilia Wickstead has hailed the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, as a credit to British fashion.
Talking to CNN’s Max Foster, Wickstead said: “I am always…
Exciting Things Afoot at the Royal New Zealand Ballet
Artistic director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet Wellington-based Ethan Stiefel is significantly raising the “well-respected” company’s profile. The former American Ballet Theater principal was about as famous as…
Atea Setting Itself Apart with Considered Minimalism
A dress designed by New Zealand-born Laura Myers, founder of the London-based brand Atea, is included in a Wall Street Journal feature about new midprice labels setting…
Understated Luxury a Big Drawcard for Tourists to Queenstown
Alpine and resort destination Queenstown, New Zealand’s answer to Aspen and Lake Como, offers outdoor adventurers vacation-home options for every season says global luxury source, Robb Report.
In recent years,…
Neil Finn’s Latest Solo Album His Funkiest
“Neil Finn makes pop music, and good pop music at that. He can’t help it,” espouses the Sydney Morning Herald’s senior music writer Bernard Zuel, and he “makes the…
Eric Tracey UK New Zealander of the Year 2014
Eric Tracey has been named the UK New Zealander of the Year 2014 at the New Zealand Society’s Waitangi Day Charity Ball held in London.
Announced by the High Commissioner…
Devastating Fairytales Evoke Story of Painful Youth
Janet Frame’s The Mijo Tree, a previously unpublished novella first drafted in 1957, follows the pattern of her other stories, with their “anthropomorphism and their small, clear fairytale phrasing,”…
A Test Win for the Ages
Test cricket’s status as the most important and exciting form of the game was given a resounding endorsement with New Zealand’s win over India at Eden Park, Auckland. Sports…
Fighting for Freedom in Post-Communist Poland
Acclaimed New Zealand war correspondent John Borrell thought he’d left the big battles behind when, aged in his 40s, he established with his Polish wife an idyllic lakeside resort…
Super Bowl Advertising Hilarity Starring Sookie and P Diddy
Anna Paquin, 31, and True Blood co-star and real life husband Stephen Moyer starred in a “hilarious” Super Bowl commercial alongside P Diddy on 2 February “and it certainly…
Other Pop Riches Doing Us Proud in the US
While Lorde is New Zealand’s biggest success story at the moment, she’s far from all we have to offer in terms of pop riches. Billboard’s Andrew Unterberger looks at…
Guided Tours Showcase Napier’s Fascinating Architecture
“Nobody was building town centres during the Depression, so Napier is rare,” says Robert McGregor, Independent journalist John Lee’s guide and the author of several books on the city….
There Is More to the World than Australia, There’s NZ
Even the weeds in New Zealand are beautiful, says bewitched Australian journalist and television host Andrew Bolt in an article describing his trip throughout this “amiable” country for the…
One Summer This Fearless Man Drove off the Luftwaffe
Keith Park was one of the great heroes of World War II, yet years later, when Peter Robb came across the laconic New Zealander, his contributions had still to…
Shepherd’s Bush Gig a Trip down the Rabbit Hole
Eccentric Connan Mockasin may be, but it’s his wayward musicianship that has won over famous fans like Radiohead, Beck and rapper Tyler, according to the London Evening Standard, which…
Metaphorical Moustache Twirling as Villain Otto Luger
“From fleeing dinosaurs in Jurassic Park to Oscar-lauded films like The Piano and historical dramas like The Tudors, Sam Neill has treated his acting life like a grand escapade,”…
Computers Number One Risk to Humanity Says NZ Scientist
In 2011, New Zealander Shane Legg, co-founder of London-based DeepMind, the artificial intelligence company acquired last week by Google for some US$500 million, made an ominous prediction more befitting…
Isolated Gisborne Gallery Has a Different Set of Rules
Two exhibitions by New Zealand-born artists based overseas are opening at PAULNACHE in Gisborne. Matthew Couper, who lives in Las Vegas and Matt Arbuckle, who has spent…
Kenyan Artisans Team Up with Walker for Visible Campaign
Designer Karen Walker has taken her sunglasses to Kenya shooting her latest campaign in association with the United Nations’ International Trade Centre Ethical Fashion Initiative, which works with…
New Zealand Exports to China Are Soaring
Thanks to an ever-increasing demand for milk powder, New Zealand’s exports to China rose 45 per cent last year superseding Australia as New Zealand’s top export market for the…
Christchurch Dedication Wins Rome Art Prize
Kaikoura artist Ruth Stirnimann’s Earth Grid 4, which was dedicated to Christchurch after the earthquakes, has beat 1050 other artists to win international art competition La Tua Arte Nel…
Insurance Boss Marks One-Year Anniversary at Helm with SE Asia Deal
Chief executive officer of Britain’s second-largest insurer Aviva, New Zealander Mark Wilson, has marked his one-year anniversary at the company targeting high-growth markets in Southeast Asia. This month Aviva…
Hang Wire a Love Letter to Weird America
Auckland-born author Adam Christopher, 36, has “built a name for himself over the past couple years spinning fanciful yarns full of superheroes, shifts in time, and a refined pulp…
Jackson Hits His Personal Stride with Smaug
Peter Jackson explains how The Desolation of Smaug, the second film in his Hobbit trilogy, brought certain freedoms and how the “sole responsibility of this film to just…
New Zealanders’ Discovery Defended in London Review of Books
New Zealander Constant Mews’ academia-shaking discovery of the lost love letters of legendary lovers Heloise and Aberlard is being defended in the London Review of Books after a new…
World’s First Flower Vending Machine Opens in London Tube Station
New Zealand-born film production designer Andrew McAlpine has launched Rockflower, the world’s first flower retail and vending kiosk on the forecourt of London’s Blackfriars Underground station.
Trading has been going very well so…
Rare Red Panda Cubs Open Their Eyes to the World
Rare red pandas, one of Asia’s most threatened species, have been born at Auckland Zoo as part of a global management plan.
The two cubs, born on 3 January, each…
The World Could Do with More Helen Clarks
4 February 2014 – Ranked 21st most powerful woman in the world, Helen Clark, 63, New Zealand’s Prime Minister for nine years, and now head of the United Nations…
Toddler’s Golf Swing a Match for Tiger’s
A New Zealand toddler has just placed third in an international competition for junior golf swings. William Tye, who modelled his golf swing on Tiger Woods after watching a…
Royal New Zealand Ballet Return to US after Two Decades with Giselle
For the first time in 21 years the Royal New Zealand Ballet is touring the United States, performing “a fresh production of the classic” Giselle, premiering in…
Frigate Deployed for Anti-Piracy Exercise in Gulf of Aden
New Zealand will become the second non-member state to join a NATO anti-piracy exercise in the Gulf of Aden, with navy frigate HMNZS Te Mana participating in Operation Ocean…
Last Meals Offer Glimpse into Minds of Condemned Men
Henry Hargreaves’ latest project is recreations of the last meals of various serial killers on death row. The Christchurch-born photographer has made a name for himself making and photographing…
TV Actor Antony Starr Proving a Fighting Force in Banshee’s Second Season
New Zealand actor Antony Starr is carving a name for himself in the American TV industry, with the second season of his show ‘Banshee’ premiering this month.
In an interview…
