Culture 101

Tessa Mitchell never knew her grandfather but he has cast a long shadow. Her film I Am a Dark River is about Bob Lowry - that creative and some would say sometimes outrageous grandfather. It's been… Read more Video, Audio

Romance novels are having a moment. England's first ever romance-only bookshop opened this week in Notting Hill, London. Read more Audio

Gretchen La Roche is a few weeks into the role of CEO of Creative New Zealand, our national arts funding, development and advocacy organisation.  Read more Audio

Arts news for 15 June 2025. Audio

Located in the centre of the Pacific, Tahiti's closest large land mass is Aotearoa New Zealand. It is where, from Raiatea, Maori migration canoes left in what is thought to be the late 13th Century or… Read more Audio

Multi-disciplinary artist Julia Holden is better known for her live performance art, clay work and animated paintings so when she started painting pets and animals, it wasn't a turn she saw coming. Read more Audio

A gateway to Tairawhiti East Cape from the north is the town of Ōpōtiki in the Bay of Plenty. As a creative hub local organisation Ōpōtiki Arts has a new leash of life with this year 95 members in… Read more Audio

In the new feature film Koka an elder Maori woman, under the celestial guidance of Matariki, makes a long journey home in a car that's seen better days. For Koka's director, Kath Akuhata-Brown of… Read more Video, Audio

Good Bitches are still baking across the country and the collective has just released its third cookbook Familiar Foods. But it's not the classics you may be imagining but rather family recipes; some… Read more Audio

Te Ahu a Turanga is a new $824 million 11.5-kilometre four-lane highway connecting the Lower North Island East to West. It opened this week. it is, in effect an enormous sculpture park you can drive… Read more Audio

To celebrate Matariki, singer-songwriter, TV presenter and political candidate Ria Hall will be on stage with the Auckand Philharmonia to present a night of epic anthems. Her self-titled EP won Best… Read more Audio

Arts news for 8th June 2025. Audio