Culture 101

Lily Catastrophe: using cabaret and comedy to talk about Bottom Surgery

11 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Shiyi Redpath is better known as Lily Catastrophe, a burlesque performer whose debut solo theatre show, Bottom Surgery was a critical hit at this year...

Norwegian culture, heritage and woodstacking with bestselling author Lars Mytting

11 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the 1860s and 70s two Norwegian settlements were established in the lower North Island. As the name of one of those today suggests - Norsewood - No...

From TV to the smartphone - our addiction to ads: artist Alex Scott

11 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Artist and illustrator Alex Scott's debut graphic novel Episodes has a dedication: "For anyone who's ever fallen for the commercial." Yes, whether it'...

Has theatre for young people reached crisis point in Aotearoa?

04 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Dr Kerryn Palmer is a senior lecturer at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University. A seasoned theatre practitioner and teacher, with a PhD in devising thea...

Clowning Doctors: Bringing theatre to the world of medicine

04 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The phrase 'clown doctor' may lead to memories of Robin Williams' character in the 1998 film Patch Adams. It was a character who was based on a real p...

Kiwi artist exhibits at Setouchi Triennale for Naoshima Island residency

04 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Whakatane-based artist Sarah Hudson is this year's Naoshima Artist in Residence. Sarah has now opened her work - Reconciliation at the Setouchi Trienn...

Dad (and Daughter) Jokes: Irish comedians Pat and Faye Shortt

04 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Pat Shortt first made it in comedy in Ireland young, back in the late 1980s before there was even a comedy scene, He was one half of a beloved comedy ...

Jackie Clarke taps into her prima diva

04 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Known for her gregarious nature, powerful vocals and wicked sense of humour - Jackie Clarke is one of the country's favourite entertainers. With four ...

Book awards and fast favourites with David Eggleton

04 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to May and a bumper crop of cultural events -  which makes this week's Culture 101 Fast Favourite guest an easy pick, given he embraces all f...

Arts News for 27 April 2025

27 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Arts News for Sunday 27th April 2025

Two decades on from bro'Town: Oscar Kightley with new gen comedians Joe Daymond and Bubbah

27 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

 At the NZ International Comedy Festival in May the Naked Samoans will reunite for the first time in seven years. They join a new generation of maker...

Frank Malley is putting Kaitaia on the Heavy Metal Map

27 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

 Metalfest4 is at the Collards Tavern on Friday May 3, and alongside headliners from around the country it features a number of heavy locals. Joining...

Sir Ian Mune in End of the Golden Weather at new Court Theatre

27 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The brand new long awaited home for The Court Theatre officially opens Saturday May 3 in Otautahi Christchurch. It is an impressive $61.4 million purp...

The first NZ Contemporary Japanese Art show in 20 years

27 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Whether it's a brand like 100% Pure or paintings and film of a rural idyll, we've become familiar in Aotearoa New Zealand with the tension between our...

Renowned lighting designer launches immersive experience

27 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Renowned lighting designer Angus Muir is launching a new immersive experience in the heart of Tamaki Makaurau next week. He's worked locally and inter...

Fast Favourites: North of North star Bailey Poaching

27 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Kiwi actor and comedian Bailey Poaching is one of the stars in the new Netflix comedy series North of North. Set in the small village of Ice Cove in t...

How to thrive: the role of art in mental health

20 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the bringing together of art and mental health, Kim Morton is a champion. Following the Christchurch earthquakes, Kim founded Otautahi Creative Spa...

Art and interior design - how to make that collection look good or hide the embarrassing!

20 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Well known interior designer Sonja Hawkins joined Culture 101 to talk about her passion for art, and to share some tips for displaying art in the hom...

Regional Wrap: Castle Hill Village

20 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ildica Boyd joins Culture 101 from the 9th biennial Easter Art exhibition hosted by Castle Hill Village Creative. 

Artist Michele Bryant on connection and belonging

20 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Wellington based artist Michele Bryant joins Culture 101.

Recreating pre quake Christchurch in miniature

20 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Mike Beer aka Ghostcat joins Culture 101 to discuss his The Ghosts on Every Corner exhibition.

"In Glorious Smell-O-Vision": the remergence of scented cinema

20 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Screening Sunday April 27 in Poneke Wellington is FW Murnau's classic 1922 spooky silent film Nosferatu: A symphony of Horror, with a few sensory twis...

Arts News for 13 April 2025

13 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Arts News from across the country with Mark and Angie - for the second week of April 2025.

'Like the active verb to be and to do': Trailblazing artist writer Emily Cumming Harris

13 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"I am like the active verb to be and to do," wrote the determined trailblazing early New Zealand painter and writer Emily Cumming Harris. "I am," she ...

A 'Millenial Bundist': Revolutionary European Yiddish music

13 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Isabel Frey is singer and ethnomusicologist from Vienna, who is attempting to carry the musical tradition of the Jewish Labour Bund, the Yiddish-speak...

Regional Wrap: Fairlie, gateway to the Mackenzie Country

13 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On the road between Christchurch and Queenstown, the town of Fairlie often gets called gateway to the Mackenzie Country. 

Can animals create art?

13 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

 Shawn Simpson is a Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh and joined Culture 101.

A remarkable birds-eye view: photographing the Kaikōura tītī

13 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Kaikoura titi, or Hutton's shearwater is a remarkable bird. Endemic to Kaikoura and endangered, it is the only alpine-breeding seabird in the worl...

Alex Medland wins multiple national play awards for commentary on climate activism and inaction

13 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Thousands of students were outside Parliament in Wellington on Friday for the School Strike 4 Climate protest. The core team organising were aged betw...

Fast Favourites: Artist Sean Beldon

13 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Auckland-based artist shares some of his cultural recommendations.

Regional Wrap: Foxton

06 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Foxton's is a small town in the Horowhenua known for its large sandy beach, bustling holiday park, scenic cycling paths and the locally-loved soft dri...

From Munich to Nelson and back: at home with jewellery artist couple Karl Fritsch and Lisa Walker

06 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Stories about jewellery art are often susceptible to the use of bad puns. They sparkle, they're precious, they're worth their weight, and so forth. An...

Indira Stewart on growing up with Polyfest

06 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

At 15, Broadcast Journalist Indira Stewart landed her first journalism job, telling the story of Polyfest in front of the camera-a moment that surely ...

The joys of house museums and daily sea swimming: poet Kate Camp

06 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In Kate Camp's new poetry collection Makeshift Seasons she's often to be found in togs, just in or out of the sea. Or, as she writes in one poem, "alw...

From Beckett to the Quantum World at the Dunedin Arts Festival

30 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When it comes to innovative performance, designer and theatre maker Martyn Roberts is something of a quiet tour de force. This season he's been juggli...

Regional wrap

30 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For our regional wrap today we're visiting Nga Motu New Plymouth to catch up with Theresa Tongi - Pacific Program Coordinator at the Govett-Brewster G...

Poet Amy Marguerite's debut over under fed

30 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In poet Amy Marguerite's impressive debut collection over under fed she explores, "the peculiar loveliness and specific loneliness of the human condit...

X-ray glass to military tank glass: the reusing of vintage camera lens

29 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today many of us have a fancy camera built into the phones in our pockets. These digital cameras do a lot of the creative work automatically for us. W...

Fast Favourites: Writer and blogger Emily Writes

29 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Author, writer and speaker Emily Writes has amassed a huge following online and readership. She first found an audience after writing a blog post in 2...

Major changes at New Zealand International Film Festival

29 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

There have been major changes this week at Whanau Marama New Zealand International Film Festival which is set to kick off in just a few months. The bo...

Why does the world love Native American culture so much?

23 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What started as a look at the worldwide appropriation, exploitation and debasement of Native American culture, turned into a study of its rich influen...

Regional Wrap: Mercury Bay with Sally Samins

23 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Each week Culture 101 puts the spotlight on a different part of the country for our regional wrap. This week we're in the Thames-Coromandel area at Me...

This is Nom*d: Retrospective look at iconic Dunedin fashion label

22 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It's been almost 40 years of the iconic Dunedin label Nom*d. Launched in 1986, the label has proudly stayed based in Dunedin for the past four decades...

Cocktails in the new Circa bar with Ginette McDonald

22 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Every week on RNZ's Culture 101 we ask an artist to share their love of culture and the cultural heroes that inspire them. In actor Ginette McDonald's...

Arts News for 16 March 2025

16 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Arts News for 16 March 2025

Biography of a painter with no paintings - Tony Fomison: Life of the Artist

16 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

35 years on from the death of a revered and popular New Zealand painter, a biography has been published. Tony Fomison: Life of the Artist, written by ...

Animated short portrays enduring love and dementia

16 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A new moving and very personal animated short film Mirumiru looks at the love and bond between two kaumatu, an elderly Maori couple, Shorty and Lena a...

Regional Wrap: Te Puna in the Bay of Plenty

16 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Every Sunday on Culture 101 we visit a place big or small for our Regional Wrap to check its cultural pulse. And this week it's Te Puna, which is only...

A fresh start for the RNZ Ballet with artistic director Ty King-Wall

16 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This weekend in Wellington the Scottish Ballet and Royal New Zealand Ballet share the same stage with a range of short works. The Scottish Ballet go o...

Social media project reveals dating lives of Gen Z

15 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A new social media project d8talk sees a group of young Gen Z New Zealanders taking part in a frank and honest conversation dating. Over the next few ...

Mike Leigh on new film "Hard Truths"

15 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After nearly 30 years, British writer and director Mike Leigh has reunited with actor Marianne Jean-Baptiste for his new drama and comedy film Hard Tr...

Fast Favourites with Barnie Duncan

15 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Comedian, actor and theatre maker Barnie Duncan, is now in preparation mode ahead of this year's NZ International Comedy Festival.

Arts News for 9 March 2025

09 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Arts News for 9 March 2025.

Bringing precolonial history alive in the landscape

09 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Bringing precolonial history alive in the landscape with storytelling and your mobile phone When you travel around New Zealand our heritage since colo...

Between the coloniser and the colonised: Anglo-Indian culture

09 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Between the coloniser and the colonised: Anglo-Indian culture made visible A small Indian minority community with a fascinating history, Anglo-Indians...

Regional Wrap: Glenorchy with Leslie Van Gelder

09 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

About 45 minutes from Queenstown, on the northern shores of Lake Wakatipu and a gateway to hiking trails is Glenorchy. Surrounded by mountain ranges a...

Turning Te Papa activism into a stage show

09 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ration the Queen's Veges: Turning Te Papa activism into a stage show In 2023, a group spray painted over the English Treaty of Waitangi Exhibition at ...

Scarves, ferry timetables & old boot fragments on Banks Peninsula

08 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On Banks Peninsula in Canterbury fingers of lava have created a landscape of many deep bays and rugged hills. This is the distinctive setting of our n...

Creating the Tony award-winning Tudor musical Six

08 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Six is 80 minutes of high-energy, girl power pop songs and a rewriting of 500 years of history. Or herstory rather. The show title refers to the six w...

Turning the Aotearoa screen industry green

02 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever considered how green that TV show or movie you're watching is? Non-profit organisation, Greenlit is now working alongside Aotearoa produ...

Pacific Pride Christchurch hero and dancer Vui Suli Tuitaupe

02 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This weekend marks the beginning of Pride Christchurch, with events across the month. In a week's time Poneke Wellington joins in the festivities. As ...

Regional Wrap: culture and heritage in Hokianga village Kohukohu

02 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Kohukohu, a village on the Hokianga Harbour was according to Te Tai Tokerau tradition so named by legendary Polynesian explorer Kupe. Angry at food fr...

Arts and culture participation for 12-year-olds shows better wellbeing and relationships

02 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A new report by AUT's Te Ipukarea Research Institute shows 12-year-olds who participate in arts and culture through extra-curricular and free-time act...

Aotearoa arts collective FAFSWAG at Melbourne's Asia Topa

01 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Aotearoa Queer indigenous arts collective FAFSWAG is in Melbourne showcasing their latest work at the Asia Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts. The t...

Dancing with fire knives: the growth of Siva Afi in Aotearoa

01 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Next weekend is one of Aoteaora New Zealand's cornerstone summer festivals - Auckland's Pasifika, celebrated across eight Island stages at Western Spr...

Fast Favourites with broadcaster Lloyd Burr

01 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

From political reporter, Europe correspondent for Newshub, to hosting a morning and drive show, broadcaster Lloyd Burr has done it all. In what has be...

A dramatic picture of climate change impacted Sumner Christchurch 2030

23 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Picture this: it's 2030, in the seaside suburb of Sumner in Otautahi Christchurch. That's only five years' time, but the sea is already to quote novel...

Asia Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts returns

23 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Asia-Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts has kicked off in Melbourne returning after a five-year hiatus. For the next three weeks, the city will ...

Regional Wrap: Matakana with food writer Lauraine Jacobs

23 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Each week, Culture 101 puts the spotlight on a different part of Aotearoa for our Regional Week. This week, we're heading north of Auckland Tamaki Mak...

Bringing to light the culture stories of Fijian-Indians

23 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Nadia Freeman's show The Girmit takes us back to the time between 1879 and 1916 when more than 60,000 people were transferred from India to Fiji by th...

Why do we like to be frightened so? Art and the Horror Movie with Curator of Screams

22 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

David Cronenberg's 1979 body horror The Brood teases in its trailer that it's "a film so terrifying that it will devastate you totally". What possesse...

Show Do Cafe - Brazilian artist and dancer Stela Dara

22 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Hamilton Arts Festival has kicked off for another year. Music, theatre, dance, comedy and artistic experiences fill the Hamilton Gardens with more...

Pasifika women leading: Anapela Polata'ivao

22 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Tina, the debut feature film of Miki Magasiva is a love letter to both Samoan culture and how choral music, across cultures, can assist people in chan...

Living better, closer and more affordably together: Space Craft Architects

16 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How can we live better, closer and more affordably together? New Zealand young architecture studio Space Craft are one of the winners of a recent comp...

Tackling the Tāmaki Makaurau performing arts scene: Tātaki's Daniel Clarke

16 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Tackling the Tamaki Makaurau performing arts scene and keeping it alive is part of Daniel Clarke's new role as Director of Performing Arts at Tātaki ...

Regional Wrap: Ashburton

16 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The large town of Ashburton is to be found on the Canterbury Plains, halfway between Christchurch and Timaru. It is home to the increasingly celebrate...

Two Hands tattoo studio celebrates two decades with exhibition & convention

16 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A familiar fixture in Ponsonby in Tāmaki Makaurau, Two Hands tattoo studio is celebrating 20 years. Tattoo artist Stefan Sinclair founded the studio ...

How Queer really are the plays of Shakespeare? A punk pirate musical answers the question

15 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Two characters both named Antonio in two different Shakespeare plays - the Merchant of Venice and Twelfth Night - are often considered to be gay. Anto...

Bringing the organs to Silo Park

15 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A new multi-sensory sound performance is debuting at Silo Park in Tāmaki Makaurau. Artist and composer Flo Wilson is drawing inspriations from contem...

Fast Favourites with Auckland Pride's Hamiora Bailey

15 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It's Pride Month in Tamaki Makaurau where the LGBTQIA+ community comes together to celebrate diversity and resilience throughout February. The month-l...

Carving for Queen and Iwi: fourth-generation carver Renata te Wiata

09 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Young Maori artists are currently being called to enter portraits of their tupuna, their ancestors in any media for the Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Aw...

Regional Wrap: Napier gears up for famous Art Deco Festival

09 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Each week, Culture 101 puts the spotlight on a different part of Aotearoa for our regional wrap. This week, it's one of the food and wine capitals of ...

The release of much anticipated world-changing game Civilisation VII with director Ed Beach and producer Dennis Shirk

09 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

First released in 1991 and sparking a whole new genre of empire-building games, computer game Civilization has tens of millions of players, among them...

Is Barbequing a sport? Or even an art? Champion grillers Damon and Lu Holter

08 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Husband and wife duo Damon and Lu Holter from Wisconsin are champion grillers in the world of American BBQ and competitive 'foodsport'. They've compet...

Stunning sculptures showcasing at Auckland Botanic Gardens

08 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Over the summer, thousands have been flocking to the Auckland Botanic Gardens in south Tamaki Makaurau for Sculpture in the Gardens. Back after a 3-ye...

Te Papa's Courtney Johnston on Vivienne Westwood, podcasts and Stevie Wonder

08 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Courtney Johnston has been the chief executive of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa now for five years, joining Maori co-leader Arapata Haki...

Game changer or game over? The impact of AI on the architecture industry

02 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Industries around the world are grappling with what AI means and how it could be empowering, challenging and potentially threatening.

Regional Wrap: 'A big lump of country unknown' - Masterton to Waipukurau on Route 52

02 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Culture and heritage aren't just the preserve of cities and towns.

NZ dancer and choreographer named one to watch in prestigious US Dance Magazine

01 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

New Zealand dancer, choreographer and filmmaker Loughlan Prior has been named one of '25 to Watch' in 2025 in the prestigious US publication Dance Mag...

Reviving Hollywood, Oscars and LA Fires impact on industry: Hollywood wrap with Kate Rodger

01 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

President Donald Trump is back and so is Hollywood. He's appointed three ambassadors; Mel Gibson, Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone to revive the indu...

Fast Favourites with Kiwi actor Luciane Buchanan

01 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Kiwi actor Luciane Buchanan has become a familiar face to millions as one of the stars in the Netflix series The Night Agent. 

Arts News for December 22, 2024

22 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The latest arts news from around the motu.

From Bowie to Big Thief: The extraordinary life of Tucker Zimmerman

22 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

83-year-old poet and songwriter Tucker Zimmerman has had something of a cultural Forrest Gump of a career, and 2024 has found him gaining new-found fa...

From creating waterfalls to giant suns: acclaimed artist Olafur Eliasson

22 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Culture 101 speaks to the artist from Berlin about his first solo show in New Zealand and is innovative approach to art.

Regional Wrap: Bethlehem, Aotearoa with expressionist artist Nicola Welten

22 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Our Regional Wrap takes us to somewhere named after the Christmas city itself.

Anora: The movie of the year finally arrives

22 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Since winning the coveted Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, Anora has spent the past six months taking the movie world by storm. It finally arr...

2024’s Kiwi King of the Twist: Crime thriller writer JP Pomare on murder in Cambridge

21 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s a 2024 thriller concerned with race, podcast-making and the criminal justice system high on a fair few 2024 best-of lists. 17 Years Later is M...

The year that was with acclaimed writer and columnist Charlotte Grimshaw

21 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

She joins Culture 101 to talk about her time in the South of France for the 2024 Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship, her new novel and her highligh...

Painter Karl Maughan’s 2024 favourites and his Pōhutukawa fringed paintings of summer

21 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Pōhutukawa - our Christmas tree - once bountifully fringed the West Coast north of Taranaki, and the East Coast north of Tairāwhiti Gisborne. W...

Arts News for December 15, 2024

15 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Renowned Māori actor and filmmaker Cliff Curtis has been honoured with the prestigious International Federation of Film Producers Associations Award ...