Culture 101
Episodes
Regional Wrap: Ashburton botanical art exhibition
07 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dunedin-based Artist Jane Marshall Fitzgerald was born in Ashburton and she joins Culture 101.
"Bloody hell" Quintessential Kiwi farmer
07 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Bloke of the Apocalypse is a new animated Kiwi series which has hit YouTube. Creator Charlie Faulks speaks to Culture 101.
Arts News
07 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Arts news. .
"Genuine and stable": Proving your love to strangers
06 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Genuine and Stable is Uhyoung Choi's debut as a playwright and is based on his experiences as a former immigration lawyer.
Contemporary Ana Iti wins $100,000 New York residency
06 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The sculptor, video artist, and writer has been chosen as this year's Harriet Friedlander Fellow and joins Culture 101.
Fast Favourites: Sophie Henderson
06 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Silo Theatre's Artistic Director joins Culture 101 for Fast Favourites and to preview the programme for the 2026 season.
The extraordinary life of botanical artist Fanny Osborne.
30 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Writer and curator Kate Waterhouse has spent the past several years looking into the life of Aotea Great Barrier botanical artist Fanny Osborne. Kate ...
Screen Writer and Producer Matthew Metcalfe
30 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Will a recent change to the screen rebate make a difference to our struggling screen sector? NZ producer and screen writer Matthew Metcalfe tells Cult...
Regional Wrap: Spotlight on Aotea Great Barrier
30 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Potter Sarah Harrison joins Culture 101 from Aotea Great Barrier to talk about life on the island and the creative community that lives there. Sarah'...
Lifting the veil on a new glossy magazine all about weddings
30 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Publishing has been struggling in this age of on-line content, but a trio of Auckland women have taken the plunge and launched a new glossy magazine c...
Arts news for 30 November 2025
29 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Arts news for 30 November 2025
Philanthropist Greg Moyle
29 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Art collector Greg Moyle has promised 20 artworks worth around $5m to the Auckland City Art Gallery. It is one the most significant bequests in the g...
Fast Favourites with Lara Fischel-Chisholm.
29 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Dynamotion dance troupe are back with a new show for the Christmas season. Featuring big dance numbers and lip-syncing to narration, the format of...
"Posture of our generation" Milarky sculpture
23 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Scultpure on the Shore in Tamaki Makaurau winds up this weekend. The biennial exhibition has been showcasing more than 120 artworks by both establishe...
Paying homage to the "big tree" of Cornwall Park
23 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Artist Josh Lancaster doesn't want you to look too closely at his paintings. Instead, he hopes his work will transport people to moments in their live...
Hanly House: Campaign to create artists' oasis residency
23 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The race is on to preserve the home of two of New Zealand's most beloved artists. For 30 years the Mt Eden home of Pat and Gil Hanly has been a creati...
Regional Wrap: Sarjeant Gallery wins major architecture prize
23 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This time last year we took Culture 101 on the road to the new, revamped Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery in Whanganui. To those unfamiliar with this...
Oscar-winning prosthetic artist on transforming "The Rock"
23 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
He's won two Oscars, worked with Hollywood A-lister actors and directors but if he's done his job well, then his work is invisible. Make-up and prosth...
Local jeweller Zoe and Morgan celebrate twenty years
22 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Local jewellers Zoe and Morgan are celebrating two decades of their family business. The two siblings along with their sister Ruth had all ventured do...
Fast Favourites: Best actress winner Antonia Prebble
22 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
She's one of the country's most beloved actors and on Friday night, took home the Best Actress in a Series Award for the second time for her role in t...
Could this be this country’s finest map?
16 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There is much joy to be had poring over a great map. And this particular map may be the finest in New Zealand to pore over of them all. It's a map of ...
Rose of Tralee Keely O’Grady dances her way to Christmas
16 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Christchurch's Keely O'Grady and Mitchell O'Hara join Culture 101 to discuss the Irish dance show A Celtic Christmas.
Niels Meyer-Westfield on painting NZ bird feathers
16 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nature artist, Niels Meyer-Westfeld joins Culture 101 to talk about his new book Feathers of Aotearoa: an illustrated journal.
Regional Wrap: Te Whare Taonga o Kawhia - Kawhia Museum
16 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Regional Wrap: Te Whare Taonga o Kāwhia - Kāwhia Museum.
In a first NZ artist Yvonne Todd turns to AI
16 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
One of New Zealand's leading photographers and artists, Yvonne Todd has announced she is now only working in AI. We believe as a professional in Aotea...
Poet Tusiata Avia on "the most challenging book I've written"
15 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A year ago, on Culture 101 we played a recording of Tusiata Avia reading a commissioned poem for the 2024 Arts Foundation's Laureate Awards. It was en...
From Nude Tuesday to Educators: Jackie Van Beek
15 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jackie van Beek joins us on Culture 101 to talk about season four of Educators and share some her cultural favourites.
From painting to performance: the remarkable story of Vietnamese artist Tran Luong
09 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Just opened at New Plymouth's Govett Brewster Gallery is a major survey exhibition of one of Vietnam's leading - but at home most controversial - arti...
Winner of Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement, poet Dinah Hawken
09 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On Thursday evening, poet Dinah Hawken was one of three recipients of a Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement. The others were, for fiction,...
Regional Wrap: Maungaturoto
09 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Local artist David Gunson joins us to talk about the arts scene there and the town's new art gallery.
A history of acting in Aotearoa
09 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Authors David O'Donnell and Hilary Halba join Culture 101 to discuss their new book.
Explosive work of one of the most significant artists of the 21st century to come to NZ
08 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
City Gallery Wellington Te Whare Toi have announced that they will return to Te Ngākau Civic Square next October 2026 with a major new exhibition fro...
Artist Dinah Priestley on her 'colourful adventurous life’
08 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A just released book, An Eccentric History in Batik shares the story of the art and love of Dinah Priestley and Tony Burton.
Lulu Sun: Our leading tennis player on the rise
08 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Born in beautiful Te Anau, since age 5 tennis star today Lulu Sun has lived around the world. Formerly representing Switzerland, since 2024 she has ag...
Arts News for 2 November 2025
02 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Arts News for 2 November 2025.
All art is politics: acclaimed Australian artist Mike Parr's controversial performance
02 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
All art is politics: Acclaimed Australian artist Mike Parr's controversial performance.
Regional Wrap: working with kelp in the Waitaki
02 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Regional Wrap: working with kelp in the Waitaki.
The Dry House: Alison Bruce in her most challenging role yet
01 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Award-winning actor Alison Bruce is one of the country’s most versatile and experienced stage and screen actors.
Tauranga Art Gallery: part of $306 million redevelopment of the city's cultural heart
01 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tauranga Art Gallery reopens in $306 million redevelopment of city's cultural heart.
Fast Favourites: TV presenter and journalist Laura Tupou
01 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Fast Favourites: TV presenter and journalist Laura Tupou.
Hamish Coney: the auction of the collection of late curator Ron Brownson
26 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 2023 Aotearoa lost one of its most beloved curators and supporters of contemporary photography, and Maori and Pacific art and artists, Ron Brownson...
Fiona Samuel awarded Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship
26 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Stage and screen veteran Fiona Samuel has been awarded this year's Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship by the Arts Foundation.
Regional Wrap: KOAST Art Trail with Joan Honeyfield
26 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Each week Culture 101 puts the spotlight on a different part of Aotearoa for our regional wrap. KOAST Arts Trail has been taking place this Labour Wee...
Century old Maori carving completed after 115 years gifted to British people
25 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Last month, a century-old Maori carving was restored and gifted to the British people. Carved originally in 1910, by master carver Tene Waitere, the p...
Designing spaces for parents and children: Raukura Turei and Elisapeta Heta
19 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For their latest installation Elisapeta Heta and Raukura Turei have designed a space inspired by the special space Kohanga Reo plays in their lives.
Arts Laureate 2025: Roseanne Liang honoured with Gaylene Preston Filmmaker Award
19 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This year's Arts Laureates have been announced with eight new artists being honoured and recognised for their exceptional work and their contribution ...
Regional Wrap goes to Analogue Aotearoa in Te Aroha
19 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Every week on our Regional Wrap we travel to a different place around the country and, today, nestled in the Waikato below the Kaimai Ranges it's the ...
20-year-old artist wins international award for stunning night sky photography
19 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Landscape astro photographer, Tom Rae, has won the Royal Museums Greenwich Skyscapes Astronomy Photographer of the Year for a second time.
Taniwha: following the tails of our popular shapeshifting creatures
18 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From the news headlines to carving, from poetry and film to waiata and whakatauki the taniwha is a pervasive yet mysterious figure in our culture.
What to do with the old family silver?
18 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Teaspoons, teapots, trophies, vases, trays and napkin rings. Silver objects have long been prized as a way of celebrating and commemorating.
Fast Favourites: Children's author Kiri Lightfoot
18 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Children's and young-adult author, Kiri Lightfoot, has long had a love of picture books. As a teenager she would only taking babysitting jobs if there...
Turning Twizel into a film set: Show Me Shorts director Arthur Gay
12 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Show Me Shorts Film Festival turns 20 this year. It's become Aotearoa's leading international short film festival and this month there will be more th...
Restoring the power of black tapa with memories of the Tongan and English Queens
12 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 1953 Queen Salote of Tonga visited England for Queen Elizabeth the Second's Coronation. At which, she is said to have won "the affection of the Bri...
Regional Wrap: Whau Arts Festival with Melissa Laing
12 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Each week Culture 101 puts the spotlight on a different part of Aotearoa. Occasionally we go into the suburbs and this week we're going inner-west in ...
Touring innovative NZ theatre everywhere successfully and sustainably
12 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Shortly opening in Wellington, Tauranga and Nelson are touring works by two of this country's most well-travelled, and most acclaimed contemporary the...
Winner of Sargeson Prize: Aotearoa's largest short story competition
11 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Author Becky Manawatu has won The Sargeson Prize, the country's biggest short story competition, taking home $15,000 for her work, The Vase.
Fast Favourites with Everyday Māori's Hemi Kelly
11 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Next Friday and Saturday, the Kupu Maori Writers Festival brings together authors from across the motu to significant locations across Rotorua.
Getting to live in your childhood dream house: Tracey Scott's remarkable colonial villa
05 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Did you ever have a dream house as a child? One you told your parents you wanted to be yours one day? Perhaps, like Tracey Scott's, it even had a turr...
Regional Wrap: Colville Creators and Makers Festival
05 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The biennial Colville Creators & Makers Festival finishes tomorrow after six days of exhibits and creative workshops. Held in Colville Hall, 30 minute...
Hawke's Bay Festival marks 10th anniversary
05 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Hawke's Bay Arts Festival kicks off next week and it's marking its 10th anniversary.
Painting star Philip Clairmont on show for the first time in 30 years
28 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The late painter blazed a brilliant, dazzling trail across the Aotearoa New Zealand art scene of the 1970s.
The influential and revealing ways video games portray culture
28 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Culture 101 speaks to three Victoria University researchers and lecturers who look at the intersection of video games, and culture.
Regional Wrap: Ōkārito's entire town in new exhibition
28 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Artery of the Wild is on now at the Leftbank Gallery in Greymouth.
87-year-old community arts legend June Renwick
27 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Director and producer June Renwick joins Culture 101 to talk about her lifelong love of drama and why she set up the Selwyn Community Arts Theatre. ...
Locals turn Cyclone Gabrielle into art installations
27 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Facilitator and curator Dayna Raroa joins Culture 101.
Fast Favourites with singer-songwriter Julia Deans
27 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
She joins Perlina Lau to share some of her cultural picks
Staging the beloved Terry Pratchett's work at Dunedin's Globe Theatre
21 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A theatre show of the beloved Sir Terry Pratchett is currently on stage at Dunedin's Globe Theatre. Lords and Ladies has one of the Globe's largest ca...
Regional Wrap: the sculpture gardens of Kaupapakapa and Kaipara
21 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Kaukapapa is a 40-minute drive North-West of Tamaki Makaurau, and a gateway to the Kaipara.
Who's in charge of telling the story of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern?
21 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
No documentary this year will likely come under as much scrutiny and discussion. Directed by Michelle Walshe and Lindsay Utz and on general release in...
Do hospitals have to be ugly? The history of our health design
21 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
They are some of the largest and most prominent buildings in our cities and towns. Places we are all are likely to spend significant time, as family a...
The problem with dropping art history from the curriculum
21 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There has been shock and concern amongst the arts and education world following the axing of Art History from the school curriculum.
Fast Favourites with actor Nicola Kāwana
21 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nicola Kāwana has been a familiar face to Kiwi audiences for decades. A graduate of Toi Whakaari, Nicola's acting career spans film, television and t...
Innovative agency tackles instability for actors and performers
14 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Job stability and sustainability within a creative industry can be a constant battle for artists.
Manahi Pakarati: Ambassador for Chile and Rapa Nui
14 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Cultural group Puku Rangi Tea from Rapa Nui Easter Island are providing a rare opportuntiy to experience their culture with performances in Blenheim, ...
Regional Wrap: The untamed and wild Hokitika
14 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The untamed and wild Hokitika is better known these days as the "Cool Little Town." Located on the West Coast of the South Island, it's about 40 minut...
Jessica Gurnsey's vibrant portrait paintings capture moments in time
14 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Art in the Park returns to the iconic Eden Park next weekend from the 18th to the 21st of September. A curated art show in a stadium setting, it'll br...
Actor Stephen Papps: playing many characters beside himself
14 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Actor and writer Stephen Papps has a remarkable ability onstage to inhabit a multitude of characters. In his latest solo work Social Animal, written w...
A new era for American Vogue
14 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It's a new era at American Vogue with a new editor announced to take over from Dame Anna Wintour.
What's changed for contemporary dance in 40 years?
07 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This year New Zealand Dance company Footnote is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Footnote bill their story as the story of contemporary dance in Aote...
Words on the Street: Inside the role of a mobile librarian
07 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Across Tamaki Makaurau, there are 56 community libraries but there are also mobile libraries reaching those who can't access the public ones. These ar...
Regional Wrap: Woodville
07 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Enroute to the Hawkes Bay, Woodville was 100 years ago the home of one of our most famous portrait painters Gottfried Lindear and is home today to cel...
Flood-damaged Ponsonby house becomes art installation
07 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If you visit 24 Tawariki Street in Ponsonby, Auckland - which you are being invited to do this month - you'll find a stream reemerging in the front ga...
We the Young: New youth performing arts festival
07 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A new performing arts festival will be taking over several venues in Auckland for two weeks this month. We The Young in Tamaki Makaurau is celebrating...
What now for public art icon Wellington's City to Sea Bridge?
07 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week a group opposing the Wellington City Council's decision to demolish the capital's city to sea bridge, The Wellington Civic Trust, lost a Jud...
Fast Favourites: Billy T comedian Hoani Hotene
07 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
With the Billy T showcase around the corner, ahead of next year's festival and competition, this year's winner is still revelling in his victory.
Keeping the art and craft of bookbinding alive
31 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I went down something of an Instagram rabbithole this week. For some people it's watching cooking or pots being made. For me it's been bookbinding. So...
Bryan Crump reports on 2025's The Big Sing
31 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nearly a thousand choir singers converged on Ōtepoti Dunedin over the last few days as the Big Sing competition finished.
Arts news for 31 August
31 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Arts news for 31 August.
The phenomenal impact of Outlander
31 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If there's any country that understands and appreciates what film or television can do for tourism, it's us, here in New Zealand. Over the past decade...
Regional wrap heads inner-city
31 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
St Heliers is celebrating its first Art Festival which started this weekend and will run until the 14th of September.
Jennifer Ludlum returns to stage as fierce matriarch
31 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jennifer Ludlum is on stage again and this time, as a ferocious, complicated and dramatic matriarch in Silo's Mother Play. Written by American Pulitze...
Government releases long-awaited creative and culture strategy
31 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The government has released a creative and culture strategy to boost the industry by 2030.
Mad Men director on coming up in the new golden age of television
24 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If you've watched any of the leading television shows in the past 25 years, it's likely Lesli Linka Glatter had a hand in directing them. Mad Men, Hom...
Regional Wrap: The Record Keeper of Geraldine
24 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In South Canterbury, Geraldine is home to a unique vinyl and coffee outlet called The Record Keeper. It's entirely powered by solar power and a bit of...
Seduction, debauchery and madness: Mary Shelley's birth of Frankenstein
24 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Following a notorious night of debauchery, English novelist Mary Shelley becomes the mother of horror. Set in Geneva in Switzerland in 1816, ATC's new...
Fast Favourites: Writer, academic and plus-size model Kaarina Parker
24 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Writer, academic and plus-size model, Kaarina Parker will be walking in this year's Fashion Week. It coincides with RNZ's new documentary series, Cutt...
The robots are everywhere but why treat them as human? Poet Jiaqiao Liu
17 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Culture 101's Mark Amery had to borrow a car this week and, while he was driving, pressed a button on the display console and a female voice startled ...
Fiume o Morte! Fascism's stranger-than-fiction poet-led first state
17 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For his latest blending of documentary and fiction, filmmaker Igor Bezinovic has turned the camera on a stranger-than-fiction story from the history o...
Mr Bean, but Sexy": Comedian George Fenn on pushing audience's boundaries
17 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Interactive Comedian George Fenn joins Culture 101 to talk about his acclaimed show, Sexy Ghost Boy
The Auckland sculptor creating giant iconic Kiwi confectionery
17 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Simon Lewis Wards plays with the idea of nostalgia through familiar, quotidian objects.