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Arts
In San Francisco Lorde Shines Like the Sun
It’s been nearly a decade since New Zealand pop star Lorde rocketed to stardom at the age of 16, propelled initially by the chart-topping single “Royals” and then a…
Singer-Songwriter Emma G Specialises in Empowerment
When Covid-19 closed venues and cancelled concerts, Waikato-born Emma Ghaemmaghamy, like many of her peers, took to new avenues to connect with audiences, including live-streaming and podcasting, Chris Kelly…
Yuki Kihara Celebrates Samoa’s Third Gender
Representing New Zealand at the Venice Biennale, the Samoan-New Zealand artist is foregrounding Samoa’s fa’afafine and transgender communities, and the climate crisis hidden from tourists, Jinghua Qian writes…
Life After Life’s Thomasin McKenzie is Otherworldly
At just 21, Thomasin McKenzie, who plays Ursula in the four-part BBC series Life After Life, already has a list of impressive credits including Leave No Trace and Last…
Joel Little’s Big Fan a Gift to the Music Industry
Walk into the unembellished black building tucked away in Morningside, Auckland, later this year and there’s no telling what musical superstars one might find, Leena Tailor writes in an…
Photographer Cody Ellingham Wanders Japan at Night
The latest project by New Zealand photographer Cody Ellingham and British composer and sound artist Simon James French is Wander the Night Japan which will be launched as a…
Photographers Chase New Zealand’s Glowing Waves
Capturing bioluminescence, a phenomenon in which glowing algae give crashing waves an electric blue glow, requires technical skill and a bit of luck, Mike Ives reports in an article…
Artist Kate Newby Exhibits for Earth in Paris
In celebration of Earth Day 2022, Wallpaper discovers the group exhibition ‘Reclaim the Earth’, a wake-up call for humans to reconsider our relationship with the planet. Exhibiting two pieces…
Fiordland Bookseller Ruth Shaw’s Extraordinary Life
New Zealander Ruth Shaw has embodied many roles throughout her life: pig farmer, navy deserter, solo sailor, illegal gambler, environmentalist, chef to archbishops, psychiatric patient, failed escort. She’s been…
Star of 32 Sounds is Composer Annea Lockwood
New Zealand-born composer and academic musician Annea Lockwood features in American filmmaker Sam Green’s documentary about the physics and emotions attached to sound. The film, called 32 Sounds, recently…
Oscar Number Two for Best Director Jane Campion
Jane Campion has won her second best director Oscar, the first woman to be nominated twice for the directing prize, after also landing a nod for her 1993 film…
Opera Singer Simon O’Neill Wins Grammy
Ashburton-born tenor Simon O’Neill recently won a Grammy for his work on the Los Angeles Philharmonic recording of Mahler’s Symphony No 8, under conductor Gustavo Dudamel, David Skipwith reports…
Ali Smith Discusses Mansfield, Woolf and War
In a piece for The Guardian, Orwell Prize winning author Ali Smith looks at how the first world war forced writers Katherine Mansfield and Virginia Woolf to rip up…
Francis Upritchard Casts in Bronze for Huge Commission
New Zealand-born London-based Francis Upritchard, and Aucklander Lisa Reihana, are two of nine artists commissioned by the Art Gallery of NSW to create works that will go on display…
Tate Modern Surrealism Show Features Len Lye
An exhibition on Surrealism, co-curated by Tate Modern and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, explores the movement’s previously unacknowledged multi-culturalism. Artworks from six continents, including Oceania, explain how, says…
Aldous Harding’s Latest a NY Times Critic’s Pick
“On her fourth album, Warm Chris, the New Zealand singer and songwriter delivers unpredictable but enchanting vocals and enigmatic lyrics that revel in simplicity,” Lindsay Zoladz writes…
Brace Yourself for Peter Day’s Feature Off the Rails
New Zealander Peter Day’s “bracingly kinetic snapshot of contemporary British urban youth”, Off the Rails recently premiered at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. The film is reviewed by Screen Daily’s…
Solar Power the Best Song in the World
Lorde’s ‘Solar Power’ has won Best Song In The World at the BandLab NME Awards 2022, with the title track of the New Zealand pop star’s latest album, beating…
Lychee a Mark of Benee’s Distinct Voice
“Where 2020 debut album Hey U X saw Benee gather an impressive guest list (Lily Allen, Gus Dapperton, Bakar) to pepper her bedroom pop with outside influences, the seven-track…
Will the Real Aldous Harding Please Stand Up?
New Zealander Aldous Harding remains in an off-kilter space throughout Warm Chris, her third collaboration with producer John Parish, who’s worked alongside PJ Harvey and Jenny Hval, among others,…
Becky Manawatu’s Auē an Enthralling Bestseller
Things have gone right for New Zealand author Becky Manawatu. “Spectacularly,” Tina Makeriti writes in a review for The Guardian. “Unusually for a first book, Auē won New Zealand’s…
Vanity Fair Cover For Director Jane Campion
A decade ago, she almost walked away from movies. Now, New Zealander Jane Campion is the only woman ever nominated twice for an Oscar best director thanks to The…
Vanity Fair Looks Over Grant Major’s Back Catalogue
In ‘The Portfolio’, Vanity Fair’s ‘Awards Insider’ columnist speaks with some of this year’s most notable Oscar nominees about their entire body of nominated work. Here, The Power of…
Andrew Dominik’s Nick Cave Doco Hypnotises
“Illuminating tracks from the superb 2019 Bad Seeds album Ghosteen and Nick Cave’s 2021 collaboration with Warren Ellis, Carnage, this remarkable performance documentary …
Our Flag Means Death Stars Waititi and Darby
“The new comedy series Our Flag Means Death was created by American writer David Jenkins and produced by the prolific Taika Waititi, who also stars as Blackbeard, to whom…
Inside Musical Instruments with Charles Brooks
The New Zealand photographer Charles Brooks’ project “Architecture in Music” takes the viewer inside instruments, where music is created. A result achieved through a very specific technique. He explains…
US Shows for Auckland band The Beths
As The Beths make their way across the United States for a sold-out gig in Boston, it’s a good time to celebrate a strange band on a normal rock…
Getty Research Institute Acquires Max Gimblett Artist’s Book Collection
New Zealand American artist Max Gimblett ONZM has celebrated six decades of creativity with the Getty Center’s acquisition of an archive of 275 of his artist’s books.
The Getty of…
Mainstream Cottons on to Talented Melanie Lynskey
After 30 years of critical acclaim, but not mainstream fame, New Zealand-born actor Melanie Lynskey is getting noticed and it feels very, very strange to her. Her show, Yellowjackets,…
Peter Jackson’s Beatles Epic Unmissable
“Nonplussed coppers, 60s London panoramas and the fab four very much alive … Peter Jackson’s film is moving and unmissable,” according to Guardian reviewer Peter Bradshaw, who rates the…
Jane Campion Tops Oscar Nominations
Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog has received 12 Oscar nominations, the most of any film this year. Amongst the categories, the New Zealander’s film was nominated for…
Nina Mingya Powles Explores an Otherness
New Zealand writer Nina Mingya Powles’ essay collection Small Bodies of Water “just might change the way you see the world” the Star Tribune’s Cory Oldweiler suggests.
“Powles was born…
Britain is Starstruck By TV’s Rose Matafeo
With the hit BBC Three show Starstruck returning to UK screens for season two, Glamour magazine catches up with its New Zealand creator and star, Rose Matafeo.
“Given the sheer…
Director Peter Jackson Leads Forbes Rich List
At the end of 2021 he was still making headlines with his Beatles documentary Get Back. Now Forbes magazine has named New Zealand director Sir Peter Jackson, 60, the…
Meet Todd Antony’s Subjects from Sierra Leone
In Sierra Leone, the beautiful game is proving to be a source of joy and empowerment for amputee footballers, writes Deborah Nicholls-Lee for UK journalism magazine, Positive News. “They’re…
1922 – A Year of Katherine Mansfield and Other Great Modernists
“James Joyce’s Ulysses and T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land are rightly hailed as masterpieces – but they unfairly overshadow 1922’s other great books,” writes John Self in a feature…
Photographer Rebecca Zephyr Thomas Lights Up
As the chaotic fashions of the early 2000s are poised for revival, according to Dazed’s Emily Dinsdale, New Zealand-born photographer Rebecca Zephyr Thomas shares her images from the first…
Gang of Youths Bassist Max Dunn on the Bigtime
Music magazine NME sits down with one of Australia’s biggest bands, Gang of Youths, in their adopted home of London to talk fame, grief and their powerful new album…
Leave No Girl Behind Sings Kimbra in Campaign
Grammy award-winning artist, New Zealand-born New York-based Kimbra, has released an original song to launch the Leave No Girl Behind initiative with the not-for-profit So They Can, Leah…
Shining the Light on Actor Melanie Lynskey
The Yellowjackets star New Zealander Melanie Lynskey has gone from character actor to leading lady thanks to her singular ability to project simmering rage beneath a placid exterior, EJ…
Finnegan Tui Releases a Reflection of Darkness
New Zealand-born multi-instrumentalist and producer Finnegan Tui “has released a haunting electronica ballad, ‘Spring’, describing the search for hope at the darkest time of year,” the UK’s Notion magazine…
Tom Hardy’s Stuntman Jacob Tomuri Opens Up
There is an icy chill to the water in Wellington’s Oriental Bay at 7pm. For Jacob Tomuri, after long days filming high-octane fight action, a daring dip cleanses, rejuvenates…
Reappraising Unjustly Neglected James Courage
“New Zealand-born James Courage is one of those fine writers who, though he enjoyed considerable success in his lifetime, has now more or less slipped from view. None of…
Olivia Shivas Helps Those with Disabilities Travel
In a Washington Post story, three travellers with disabilities, including New Zealand journalist Olivia Shivas, relate how they cope with an added layer of worry and logistics.
In the podcast…
Gemma New a Highlight of 2021 Classical Calendar
The year in classical music was marked by challenge and determination as the pandemic continued its cultural stranglehold for much of 2021. But for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO),…
The Power of the Dog Among Worthy Globe Winners
Jane Campion’s “handsome, complex and brilliant” western The Power of the Dog won best picture (drama) and best director at this year’s Golden Globes, along with best supporting actor…
Temuera Morrison’s the Only Face for Boba Fetta
New Zealander Temuera Morrison vividly remembers the first time he tried on his Boba Fett suit, David Betancourt writes in a story for The Washington Post.
He sat in a…
Podcast Explores Vibrant Roots of Our Hip Hop Scene
In podcast Aotearoa Hip Hop: The Music, The People, The History, Phil Bell aka DJ Sir-Vere talks to some of the genre’s most iconic figures and unsung heroes, exploring…
Pop Artist Billy Apple Defied Parochialism
In an article for New York-based magazine Artforum, contributing editor Thomas Crow looks back on the life of New Zealand artist Billy Apple, who died aged 85 in 2021.
“Though…
Dreaming up 1925 Montana with Grant Major
Oscar-winning Palmerston North-born production designer Grant Major has transitioned from The Lord of the Rings to the wilds of 1925 Montana for The Power of the Dog, director Jane…
Rose Matafeo Arguably Breakout Star of 2021
After winning a New Zealand international comedy festival award for stand-up in 2007, at the age of 15, Rose Matafeo has conquered just about everything she has ever attempted,…
Lorde Is Learning to Put Real Life First
Lorde was thinking the other day about the strange fact that she is a pop star. ‘I wonder if part of it is because pop happened to be the…
How Peter Jackson Became a Local Hero after LOTR
When Amazon announced in August 2021 that its billion-dollar Lord of the Rings TV series would shift production to England, fans were stunned. Though J.R.R. Tolkien was British and…
Riyadh Sculpture Prize for Artist Anna Korver
Taranaki sculptor Anna Korver has been awarded first place at the 2021 edition of Tuwaiq Sculpture for her work entitled, ‘The Lighthouses triptych’.
“Her masterful work fuses abstract geometrical forms…
Parris Goebel in Nike Dance as Sport Campaign
New Zealand dancer Parris Goebel is the creative mastermind behind some of the best choreography from your favourite pop stars, Maria Bobila reports for Nylon. So it’s no surprise,…
Musical in Pipeline about Surgeon Archibald McIndoe
The story of the pioneering Dunedin-born surgeon Archibald McIndoe who developed a host of new treatments during the Second World War to help heal disfigured airmen and shaped the…
