Culture 101

Performing arts quadruple threat: Petmal Petelo

08 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

You may have heard the phrase ‘triple threat’ in the arts, but Petmal Petelo is perhaps a quadruple threat. A dancer, actor, stage manager and ass...

Giving the Dunedin Sound a shakeup: The future of the indie Ōtepoti scene 

08 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Ōtepoti arts scene has long had a gloriously independent fertile, multi-generational, cross art form approach. But is that culture - once famousl...

Regional Wrap: Feilding with Mayor Helen Worboys

08 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Each week, Culture 101 puts the spotlight on a different part of Aotearoa. This week, we’re in Feilding in Manawatū as the town celebrates 150 year...

Celebrating 10 years of Kōanga Festival

08 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kōanga Festival in Tāmaki Makaurau is celebrating 10 years with a packed three-and-a-half week programme and more than 12 events.

 The ‘what ifs’ of dazzling New Zealand modernist painter Edith Collier

08 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The paintings that Whanganui painter Edith Collier created in England 100 years ago remain to this day, utterly fresh. At that time, there was no one ...

The Killing: Plushies, red velvet and the modern day circus

08 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s a striking and brutal name for an art collective. The Killing is made up of six friends and former Elam School of Fine Arts students in Tāmaki...

Tawata turns 20: Mīria George and Hone Kouka 

08 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Mīria George (Te Arawa, Ngāti Awa, Tumutevarovaro, Enuamanu) and Hone Kouka (Ngāti Porou, Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Kahungunu) are both acclaimed, expe...

Arts News - Sunday 1 September

01 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Arts News - Sunday 1 September

Innovative Waikato scheme pays artists basic income

01 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What happens when you fund 10 artists a part time wage - a universal basic income - for an entire year, to help facilitate change within their communi...

Best of the Fest: Word Christchurch with Tina Makereti and Pip Adam

01 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Writers, poets, musicians, artists and storytellers have descended on Otautahi Christchurch this week for the Word Festival. More than 100 guests have...

Regional Wrap: Tākaka in Mohua Golden Bay

01 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Every week on RNZ’s Culture 101 we explore the cultural richness of this country by catching up with a local in a place, big or small.   There’...

A world of handcut wonder: Matchbox and shoebox diorama with Antje Damm

01 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Remember making dioramas with pen and card in shoeboxes as a child?  As a quick survey of German artist and writer Antje Damm’s instagram will att...

Electric Avenue doubles in size for 2025 as other festivals fold

01 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

While festivals around the world have been either cancelled or scaled back, Electric Avenue in Ōtautahi Christchurch is doing the opposite.

‘Messy-ass b*tches, doing messy-ass things!' Kiwi TV comedy Not Even

01 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It may be true that the most exciting place at a flat party is the bathroom. Private, yet not so private.  In a queasy bravado move for local televi...

Fast Favourites with Boh Runga

01 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This year marks 25 years since the Aotearoa band Stellar exploded onto the music charts in 1999 with multi-platinum album Mix.

Arts News for 25 August 2024

25 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Arts News for 25 August 2024.

'I want to be that bird': The magic dance of pīwakawaka with Shannon Te Ao 

25 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

They flit around you in the back garden at the compost, or dive at your feet in the bush. The pīwakawaka or fantail is a special bird: so common, yet...

Conducting live film orchestras with David Kay

25 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra is bringing the epic scores of The Lion King and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to the stage alongside the films t...

Regional Wrap: Palmerston North with Sian Van Dyk

25 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Palmerston North or ‘Palmy’ as it’s known brims with energy, culture and heritage. Overlooking the Manawatū river, the region boomed with a pas...

Why are artists paid so badly?

25 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Last year the Ministry of Culture and Heritage Manatu Taonga reported New Zealand's arts and creative sector contributed $16.3 billion to New Zealand'...

Soaking up the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with Sam Brooks

25 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For three weeks in August every year, thousands of artists descend on Edinburgh for the largest performing arts festival in the world.

Poppys: South Auckland family garage hottest new comedy club

25 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For many stand-up comedians, performing in a garage could seem like a career low-point. But in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, comedian Heta Dawson has tu...

 From Colin in Accounts to Bollywood: Jacob Rajan’s Fast Favourites

25 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Indian Ink Theatre Company has built up a remarkable reputation for developing and touring original work over 27 years.  Founded by Justin Lewis and...

“I was so hungry for anything other than the way I grew up” - writer and poet Sasha LaPointe

18 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

At the age of three, writer Sasha LaPointe was given her Skagit name in a ceremony - taqʷšəblu. In the Pacific Northwest, it’s a big deal to be g...

The internet is dead! Long live the book: Underground publishing house 5ever 

18 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This weekend in Ōtepoti Dunedin small presses and independent publishers from around Aotearoa gather to share and exchange at Small Press Fest.  The...

Arts News for 18 August 2024

18 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Arts News: Injury at the Museum of Ice Cream, a #1 Netflix hit for NZ, Artbeat closes & kids books winner Stacey Gregg

Regional Wrap: West Murihiku Southland with Pauline Vaeluaga Smith 

18 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

30 kilometres west of Waihōpai Invercargill, is the town of Aparima or Riverton. It’s the gateway to spectacular and remote West Southland, an a...

“I could see myself and my friends in them” - Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu on her debut feature We Were Dangerous

18 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s a story about sisterhood and survival against a dark backdrop but Josephine Stewart Tewhiu never set out to make a film about abuse in state ca...

Fake marble and landscapes: The remarkable painting of Walters Prize nominee Owen Connors

18 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Artist Owen Connors is on a roll. They are one of four nominees for Aotearoa's most prestigious art prize, The Walters. Last year they won the $25,0...

Takeout Kids: Venturing beyond the takeaway in new season

18 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Bouncing off the success from the first season, documentary Takeout Kids is back for a second season and this time, it’s venturing beyond the takeaw...

Fast Favourites with comedian and writer Eli Matthewson

18 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Growing up as the only boy in a family of five children, Eli Matthewson was well prepared for a career in comedy. 

‘The punk rock Len Lye’ - the legacy of confrontational artist Peter Roche

11 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dropping a sheep’s carcass from an aeroplane into the Waitemata harbour; sewing a sheep’s kidney onto your own back; yelling “get the f**k out”...

There is no one art history: Kirsty Baker's Women and Art in Aotearoa 

11 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Public galleries have been demonstrating our view of art history has been changing radically for years. It just hasn’t been published for a wider pu...

Arts news: Arts as a 'nice to do', Parkin prize and Electric Avenue

11 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Arts news: Arts as a 'nice to do', Parkin prize and Electric Avenue

Regional Wrap: Whakatāne with Sarah Hudson of winning Mataaho Collective

11 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Each week Culture 101 puts the spotlight on a different region in Aotearoa and this week we’re in the Bay of Plenty town of Whakatāne.

The Bitches’ Box: From woolsheds to the silver screen

11 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Bitches’ Box is back, and for the first time the show will be venturing to urban centres. 

Did Titanic Sink? Podcast director Abby Howells on conspiracies and her obsession

11 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Comedy podcast Did Titanic Sink? is back baby! Winner of the Comedy Podcast of the Year at the 2023 NZ Podcast Awards, comedians Tim Batt and Carlo Ri...

‘Every day is a work of art’ - Queen of vintage, avant-garde style icon Chrissy O

11 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Almost 40 years on, Hunters and Collectors in Pōneke remains. The first vintage clothing store in the Capital, it’s a truly iconic creative Cuba St...

Jennifer Ward-Lealand and Michael Hurst: on stage alone together for the first time 

11 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Married couple Michael Hurst and Jennifer Ward-Lealand have theatre and film careers that span 40 years. Indeed, they met in the theatre - at Tāmaki ...

Writer and cultural thinker Ian Wedde on staying ‘Open’

04 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

That role of the museum is just one of the ways poet, novelist and essayist Ian Wedde explores opening out space through culture in his third volume o...

Queen’s Rolls-Royce goes to auction - who's going to buy it?

04 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The 1960s Rolls-Royce which served as the limousine for Queen Elizabeth II’s royal tours in New Zealand is being auctioned.

Regional Wrap: Akaroa with Lesley Burkes-Harding

04 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Nestled in the impressive harbour of Canterbury’s Banks Peninsula, is picturesque town Akaroa.  

Can you stage Hamlet in the ultraviolent world of Grand Theft Auto? 

04 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In the genre-busting documentary Grand Theft Hamlet, two out-of-work UK actors in lockdown attempt the seemingly impossible. They seek to mount a full...

Lexus Song Quest crowns winner Katie Trigg

04 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Mezzo-soprano Katie Trigg has been crowned the 2024 Lexus Song Quest winner. The prestigious opera singing competition took place on Saturday night at...

Solo dance show explores trying to be a ‘cool mum’ and having it all

04 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Multi-disciplinary artist Liv Tennet is trying to be a cool mum - without losing her cool. Her new solo dance show For You To Know and Me To Find Out ...

Fast Favourites with Jess Hong

04 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s difficult not to use the cliché description of ‘whirlwind’ but the past few years have been life changing for New Zealand Chinese actor J...

Housing as a human right: artist and advocate Dieneke Jansen 

28 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We’re in a housing crisis, most people agree. With strong awareness of the inequalities that it brings.  Yet, when it comes to talking about solut...

Christchurch goes post-punk: Jonathan Ogilvie's Head South

28 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s 1979 in Ōtautahi Christchurch and an energetic underground punk scene is spewing up. It’s decades before the internet, with the very latest ...

Arts news for 28 July 2024

28 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Arts News for 28 July 2024

Regional Wrap: New Plymouth with Simon Gennard

28 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Culture 101 puts the spotlight on a different region in Aotearoa every Sunday and this week we’re in New Plymouth, Taranaki.

Opening the door on the history of lesbian fashion

28 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

From Sappho, to Sweden’s Queen and the Suffragettes, Unsuitable is the first book of its kind, spanning centuries and continents, uncovering the oft...

Don’t you forget about me: The art of Gen X with Megan Dunn

28 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

They’ve been dubbed ‘the MTV generation’ and the ‘Forgotten generation’ (though now they’re in power: ‘forgotten no more’ we say). The...

The magic and mystery of the human experience in genre-bending show

28 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s described as genre-bending, bespoke and immersive - a show you can’t fit into one category.

Fast Favourites: Drag king superstar Hugo Grrrl 

28 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Hugo Grrrl keeps rather busy. He’s a fulltime drag artist - not just performing, but MCing, producing, writing and providing opportunities for the n...

Dream Chambers: Contemporary music as a spiritual practice

21 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dream Chambers is the moniker of the multifaceted artist Jess Chambers, a composer, performer, and cofounder of the Pōneke electronic music collectiv...

Author Talia Marshall’s stunning debut - Whaea Blue

21 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Talia Marshall (Ngāti Kuia, Rangitāne o Wairau, Ngāti Rārua, Ngāti Takihiku) is a gifted writer but a reluctant one. While most debut authors ref...

Immersive digital artwork brings Wellington weather to life

21 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s an intersection of technology, art, science and music in a new digital immersive installation at The Grid Artspace in Wellington. Rivers of Win...

New musical draws on temptation of a past love

21 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s the torturous question of “what if?” - that sliding doors moment which can haunt people. It’s the premise of a new New Zealand musical Wh...

Dame Lynley Dodd: 'I didn’t really have courage about writing'

21 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Legendary and beloved author, Dame Lynley Dodd, is hoping a new award will give a fellow writer a boost of confidence - similar to a gift she received...

Fast Favourites with stage and screen actor Bronwyn Turei

21 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Stage and screen actor Bronwyn Turei has been appearing on stage at Circa Theatre this month playing not one, but five different character’s in a re...

Author and poet Warwick Stubbs on why he chooses to live in his car 

14 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Author and poet Warwick Stubbs wrote his new book, Two Left Feet  in public libraries, park benches and in his vehicle and in local writing workshop...

Making of Madam: Sex work on the small screen

14 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

NZ’s latest comedy offering, Madam, is putting the spotlight on sex work. Based on the soon-to-be published memoir by Antonia Murphy, who ran an eth...

Regional Wrap: Kerikeri’s Gerry Paul

14 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Each week, Culture 101 puts the spotlight on a different part of Aotearoa and this week, we’re in Northland visiting KeriKeri. 

Drag superstar Anita Wigl’it celebrates lust and gluttony for K’ Road restaurant month

14 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Nick Hall is the co-owner of Caluzzi Cabaret Auckland’s original Drag Queen cabaret show and one of New Zealand's most recognisable Queens, Drag Sup...

Badjelly the Witch takes to the stage with Aotearoa’s Glow Show 

14 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This School Holidays Spike Milligan's classic tale Badjelly the Witch takes the stage. Creative Director of The Glow Show, Sarah Burren handmade all t...

PickPath - Immersive digital platform empowering creators

14 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

PickPath has been working with Te Papa, Taranaki Winter Festival and Barbarian Productions in the past few years and are now taking the platform to th...

Fast Favourites with broadcaster Kanoa Lloyd

14 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

TV presenter Kanoa Lloyd is preparing to immerse herself in the world of yoga training.

Lisa Warrington: Supporting Aotearoa theatre past, present and future

07 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dunedin teacher, academic, director, producer, actor and author, Lisa Warrington reflects on her longstanding advocacy for Aotearoa New Zealand drama...

Dame Fiona Kidman: Live Letters at Randell Cottage

07 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dame Fiona Kidman is borrowing the words of other writers to Raise the roof for Randell Cottage: Live Letters. While not associated with the British ...

Regional Wrap: Waiheke Island’s Fiona Blanchard

07 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Each week, Culture 101 puts the spotlight on a different part of Aotearoa and this week, we’re on the island of Waiheke. 

Archeologist pinpoints the start of fashion

07 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Researchers at the University of Sydney are suggesting eyed needles were used to adorn clothing for social and cultural purposes, marking the shift fr...

Flash Fiction: Storytelling for the short attention spans of our time?

07 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Some say attention spans are not what they were. We scroll images and film and shuffle songs. Even cricket games can be over in 40 overs.  So, could ...

Sense and Sensibility on stage in raucous spin

07 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sisters, suitors and swooning - the Dashwood family is getting a raucous spin in this latest iteration of Sense and Sensibility at Circa Theatre. 

Fast Favourites with chemist and comedian Dr Joel Rindelaub

07 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A chemist and now a comedian (naturally), Dr Joel Rindelaub has been swapping the classroom for comedy clubs with his show Science Is No Joke. He firs...

Remembering the first times: Harry Rickett's memoir

30 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Harry Ricketts joins RNZ’s Culture 101 to discuss First Things, a memoir of this much loved writer and teacher’s childhood and early adulthood. Hi...

Weaving culture together in Ōtepoti Dunedin: Margery Blackman

30 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s not possible to consider modern textiles in Aotearoa New Zealand without encountering the advocacy, research, curation and art of weaver Marger...

Arts news: Drag king storytime cancelled and 2025 touring artists

30 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Arts news for Sunday June 30

Regional Wrap: Trains and pots in Coromandel Town with Pete Sephton

30 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Pete Sephton was a friend of Barry Brickell's and is a trustee of Driving Creek. He's a screen print artist, very involved in the annual Coromandel Ar...

Mixed heritage creatives collaborate in landmark anthology

30 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A landmark anthology Everything That Moves, Moves Through Another brings together the experiences of 27 mixed heritage creatives across Aotearoa.

Thelma & Louise Don’t Die: Epic road trip hits the Civic

30 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The famous buddy road trip film Thelma and Louise is taking on a different life at the Civic Theatre in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland this month. Best fri...

John Baxter: Rua Pōtae - he who wears two hats 

23 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As the son of two of our most lauded writers, the late JC Sturm and James K Baxter, John Baxter (Taranaki, Te Whakatōhea) has long had hats to wear ...

To deal with body shame, Mandi Lynn turned 300 women gold and photographed them nude 

23 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A conversation with her five-year-old niece prompted Mandi Lynn to explore body shaming in a photo exhibition and short documentary.

Arts News: Education ministry shares cryptic Sam Hunt, landmark Māori film premieres and Centrepoint is 50

23 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Arts news for 23 June 2024

Regional Wrap: Napier's Lizzie Russell

23 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Lizzie Russell is the Owner/Operator of Tennyson Gallery in Ahuriri Napier. A beautiful spot in an art deco building on the corner of an iconic street...

Listening to the world in and around you: Laurence Fearnley at the Grand Glacier Hotel 

23 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ōtepoti Dunedin author Laurence Fearnley’s absorbing new novel At the Grand Glacier Hotel is, impressively, her thirteenth. In its pages Fearnley ...

Arts news: 114,000 Singaporean shimmer discs, NZ at the film fest and our new governors

16 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Arts news for 16 June 2024

Was the vinyl record the most significant artwork of the 20th century?

16 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Dead C guitarist Bruce Russell along with graphic designer and pedal steel guitar player, Luke Wood, has released a rich book of essays called A R...

Emele Ugavule: Storytelling and the vitality of contemporary Melanesian culture

16 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Melanesia is a rich cultural region. It holds the largest Indigenous population in the Pacific, and has more languages than all of Europe. Vanuatu has...

Regional Wrap: Kawatiri Westport with The Nomad

16 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For Daimon Schwalger aka artist and celebrated electronic artist The Nomad, moving to Kawatiri Westport on Te Wai Pounamu South Island’s West Coast ...

Compelling documentary reveals lives of Chinese dissidents in US

16 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Doc Edge Festival is kicking off in Aotearoa from 19 June starting in Ōtautahi Christchurch. It’ll make its way to Auckland and Wellington befo...

Arts study in Australian farming town leads to lower depression rates and blood pressure

16 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A small farming town in South Australia has been on a mission to show art can improve health and well-being.

Pianette Automatique: Minipiano given new life in Wellington winter garden   

16 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Back in the early 1930s, the pianette was briefly an Art Deco home sensation. Now a band of enthusiasts have revived the instrument by converting i...

Fast Favourites: Comedian Courtney Dawson’s rise to the top

16 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Courtney Dawson (Ngāti Kurī/ Ngāti Amaru) broke into the comedy world just five years ago but has steadily been working her way to the top. 

Arts news: A double whammy, Kings arts honours and Pito One

09 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Arts news for Sunday 9 June.

Legendary advocate for Māori art Elizabeth Ellis

09 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The late art historian Jonathan Mane Wheoki has referred to Te Tai Tokerau in the North as the crucible of Māori art. Such were the number of ground...

A View From A Bridge: Strangers reveal all on old telephone

09 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If you were to speak into an old telephone - what would you say? London-based artist, Joe Bloom has been finding out. A View From A Bridge offers str...

Regional Wrap: Russell with Sue Fitzmaurice

09 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Each week, Culture 101 puts the spotlight on a different region in Aotearoa for the weekly Regional Wrap. This week we’re in Russell - Kororāreka. ...

Derek Jarman's cottage as his final work of art

09 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As painter Claude Monet's garden and house in Giverny is to France, beloved artist and filmmaker Derek Jarman's garden and house is, in a more contemp...

Australian sculptor reclaiming the female form

09 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

An Australian sculptor is reclaiming the female form through her woodwork. 

First Wave: Celebrating surfing in Kaikōura

09 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kaikōura is celebrating 60 years of surfing in a new long-term exhibition at their museum Wharenga - First Wave. Known for whale watching, wildlife a...