Edge Message #82 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM
Kia Ora Aotearoa whanau whanui ki te Aonui
Global Community of New Zealanders
See our new ad: “There are five million New Zealanders in the world. Some of their stories are at nzedge.com.”
Manaakitanga and other matters
Nga Kupu Aroha: Words of Love,
#12 by Denis O’Reilly September 2006
A tribute to the life of Sir Norman Perry, friend of Maori and guide for our tribe Ngati Pakeha; on the street, the move from an exclusive focus on brotherhood to an inclusive focus on familyhood as an answer to the question “what does it mean to be a Maori gang member in Aotearoa today?”; the Maori youth bulge and the size of our prison population, its youthfulness, its disproportionate Maoriness and its confoundly high rate ofrecidivism; a $135M meth bust and New Zealand as a target for international criminal syndicates; Matariki; the lives and deaths of the Kahui triplets; Maori feminism, mana wahine and mana tane; the Te Puni Kokori framework for Maori potential based around Te Ao Amuri (the future) and Te Ao Whanui (the global economy); and the concepts of manaakitanga (unqualified caring) and putahi (interconnectedness).
read more
New Zealand magazine
From project partners of nzedge.com. Latest issue of print and web magazine presenting the best of Aotearoa to US audiences, featuring the inspiration of Peter Blake; a cultural tour of subtropical Northland; contemporary Maori art; purchasing property in NZ; orchids, olive oil and sauvignon blanc; a 17 page photographic feature on technology, design, fashion, architecture, superboats and supercars; great ads; and a NZ$25,000 luxury cruise drawing.
Download free digital edition.
http://www.nzmag.com/ or go directly to the drawing at www.nzmag.com/survey96 (US/Canada Only)
nzedge.com is referred to by many websites of local/global interest. Here is a current reading:
Nga Toa – “Many Warriors”
Nga Toa – meaning “Many Warriors” – is a project dedicated to preserving the oral histories of New Zealand’s last remaining World War II veterans. Includes personal stories from major theaters such as Greece, Crete, North Africa, Italy and the Pacific. To date, over 150 interviews have been compiled in the Nga Toa video archive. Continuously updated. A remarkable endeavour by the equally remarkable Patrick Bronte. This project needs a small amount of monthly funding to sustain, if you can assist, then more inspirational stories will flow. Go to the “Support Nga Toa” page.
I am starting the ball rolling.
www.kiwiveterans.co.nz; mirror site: www.ngatoa.com
Edge around the World
Message from Pietra Brettkelly, documentary film-maker, Auckland:
I am currently directing a series on New Zealanders working in far-flung places around the globe. We have already travelled to Sudan, Uganda, above Russia’s Arctic Circle, the Amazon, Kazakhstan and Afghanistan. We are looking for more of you. You don’t need to be a CEO of a company but just living somewhere that we back home will find extraordinary. Please write to me about yourself or others that you know at pietra@thetvset.co.nz
New Thinking ’07
New Zealand’s premier expo for New Zealand’s biotech, creative and technology capabilities. 12-16 March 2007, at the Sky City Convention Centre in Auckland. Led by Kea, NZ Bio andIncubators New Zealand, the focus will be global networking and partnering, encompassing issues such as: communication channels, markets, networks, venture and angel capital, commercialisation, technology transfer and innovation, and worldwide partnering opportunities. The 2007 World Class New Zealand Awards dinner will be the showcase event. Go Global 07: these are key events for NZ Export Year. See www.newthinking.co.nz for 2006 event.
Fat Freddy’s Drop at Brixton Aca, 2 June 06
From the London music site www.record-play.com, “this 33 minute mix reiterates the simple fact that Fat Freddy’s Drop are one of the best live outfits, regardless of genre, in the world at the moment. Their sound, encompassing dub, reggae, soul, electronica and funk is ever evolving and this recording just shows their dynamism on stage and their ability to produce the sweetest and most original sounds for audiences around the globe.”
www.record-play.com/recording/show/fat_freddys_drop_live_tour_06
Paying for the Past?
Historical Injustice in Australia and New Zealand
The Center for Australian and New Zealand Studies is part of the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, Washington DC. The Center was established in August 1995 with funding from the Governments of Australia and New Zealand. Dr. Giselle Byrnes, visiting Fulbright Scholar from Victoria University Wellington, considers Australian and New Zealand experiences in determining native title claims. She will discuss the revelation of forced indigenous child removal in Australia, together with the Treaty of Waitangi claims process in New Zealand; each of which can be understood more broadly as a response to the aftermath and ongoing consequences of colonisation. September 18, 2006 from 3:00pm to 4:30pm.
www14.georgetown.edu/explore/calendars/events/index.cfm?Action=View&CalendarID=86&EventID=44028
New New Zealand Parliament website
Brings together the sites of the Office of the Clerk, the Parliamentary Service and Speaker of the House into one integrated site to make it easy to find comprehensive information and track the progress of legislation, select committee activity and to find out about Parliament and its MPs.
www.parliament.nz
Westminster, by Simon Carr
News, plots and observations. Simon Carr is parliamentary sketch writer in Westminster for The Independent; formerly in NZ senior writer for Metro and NBR, a prime ministerial speechwriter and author several books. His latest, The Gripes of Wrath is “the perfect source book for the Grumpy Generation, a mind-bending collection of true stories of modern life that portray the Britain we have become, almost without realising it.”
www.sketch.sc
Sounz a great idea
SOUNZ, the Centre for New Zealand Music, is a music information centre which provides, fosters and promotes the music of New Zealand composers through a range of services, projects and activities. The site represents the largest and most accessible collection of New Zealand music in the world, with a comprehensive online store and a database of over 7,000 works, scores and recordings by more than 300 composers.
www.sounz.org.nz
NYNZ Pies
Let Them Eat Pies, the first specialty bakery to bring the authentic and culturally iconic NZ-OZ meat pie to New York City. 193 Columbia St Brooklyn, deliveries also to Manhattan and Queens; 10 varieties plus sausage rolls, lamingtons and a mean flat white.
www.dubpies.com
NZ Documentary Festival
Touring NZ main centers Sept-Oct; NZ reels include Denis Glover, Max Gimblett, David Kilgour in Nashville, Fat Freddy’s Drop in Europe, Black Grace, Khaki All Blacks and the story of one 84-year old long-finned eel from Glentanner and its epic life journey.
www.docnz.org.nz
The South Project
Art and culture gathering Santiago Chile 3-7 October tackling socio-political issues through the South; the New Zealand-Australia-Latin America axis; translation, political activism in the arts, conditions of exile, collective practices; exhibition Tranz Versa of 12 NZ-OZ artists.
www.southproject.org
Art, Berlin and New Zealand
New gallery location in Berlin for leading contemporary gallery co-directed by New Zealander Hamish Morrison opening exhibition by Berlin-based New Zealand artist Judy Millar.
www.spielhaus-morrison.com
Auckland Triennial 2007
Emotional flux in Auckland. Turbulence will be “New Zealand’s largest and most prestigious international contemporary art exhibition.” Presented March 2007 by the Auckland Art Gallery in partnership with Artspace, the Gus Fisher Gallery, University of Auckland and St Paul Street Gallery, Auckland University of Technology. The exhibition is the key visual arts event of AK07, Auckland’s biennial arts festival.
www.aucklandtriennial.com
Earth Sea and Sky
New segment to our digital encyclopedia Te Ara dealing with the awesome forces that shape the physical environment of the continent of Zealandia – climate, tides, earthquakes, hot springs, mud pools, the amazing story of the migration of New Zealand birds to distant parts of the globe, our fish and strange sea creatures. 3,000 photos, 200 maps, 1,000 videoclips.
www.teara.govt.nz
1nite
Debut feature film from director Amarbir Singh. Shot in and around Auckland’s Karangahape Road, the storyline centres around a young immigrant Sikh taxi driver who struggles to sustain his optimistic view of the opportunities New Zealand provides. Two old friends get drunk and uncover bitter feelings and rivalries. A good samaritan recovering from a recent breakup helps out a crippled ex-cop. A prostitute’s bad night is made that much more difficult by her obsessively watchful boyfriend. With Bruce Hopkins, Jon Brazier, Rajiv Varma, Karlos Drinkwater, Anna Hewlitt, Lauren Jackson, David Van Horn.
www.inzpyre.com/indipact/1nite.html
The Legend of Burt Munro
Good Run, author Tim Hanna. The life story of Invercargill’s Burt Munro is one of triumph over limitation, achievement against all odds. Brave, funny, gritty and brilliant, he was quite literally one of the original speed freaks, whose exploits have now inspired the #1 movie by Roger Donaldson The World’s Fastest Indian starring Anthony Hopkins.
www.penguin.co.nz/nf/Book/Book
Display/0,,9780143019749,00.html
Great Wall of China odyssey
Nathan Hoturoa Gray of Wellington is the first Westerner to walk the complete 4,000km journey along the Great Wall of China. His book and dvd First Pass Under Heaven (Penguin) tells of the story of the world’s largest man-made created structure; the unseen ancient; the wonders of the Gobi desert; the history and geopolitical considerations of China; and the spirit and pressures of the human journey.
www.greatwalldvd.com
Hulme Supercars
Features publicity from a UK showcase tour. The Hulme has been invited to be the major, Concept Supercar, drawcard for “Top Marques China” luxury show in Shanghai October 11-14 after the Chinese F1 Grand Prix.
www.hulmesupercars.com
Skeptics Conference
20th Annual Skeptics Conference Auckland Sept 29-Oct 1 featuring the fascinating foibles of human psychology and the paranormal; presentations on making mistakes, horoscopes, aliens, when astronomy goes bad, teenage texters and the Bent Spoon Awards for gullibility.
www.skeptics.org.nz
Shorts
www.kiwisinla.com
– network for living, visiting and doing business in LA
www.jetmag.co.nz
– leading Aotearoa youth magazine
www.grownups.co.nz
– comprehensive portal for a 50+ community
www.comic-aholic.co.nz
– getting reluctant kids to take to the printed word
www.winejobsonline.com
– NZ wine industry jobs, job seekers, networking
www.foragefood.com
– boutique producer of 100% NZ grown and made products
www.wineaspics.co.nz
– gelées that are clear, translucent, tart, velvet smooth
www.nzshop.co.uk
– comprehensive NZ shop and meeting place for Kiwis in London
– 7 Royal Opera Arcade
www.fromnz.co.nz
– online store showcasing New Zealand products
www.kiwiartz.co.nz
– high quality NZ painting, sculpture, ceramics, textiles
www.browniepoints.co.nz
– New Zealand online gift store
Why are we?
The best recent conversation I have had about national identity was this week with a visiting European, who on remarking that migration is the biggest current phenomena in Europe, said that “in order to face, adapt and manage the complexity and challenges, national identity should no longer be defined by its independence and separateness, but by its dependencies and collaborations.” Being an island nation formed by historical and contemporary migration (and emigration), our story is distinctly different from Europe’s. Since 1998 nzedge.com has been contributing to a new sense of “new zealandness.” We will continue to do this but our story, as we tell it, is largely shaped in this phase. The visiting European speculated that young, fresh and globalised Aotearoa, with egalitarian spirit and indigenous strength, might be a place the societies of Europe, which mix ancient social structures with contemporary migratory hybrids, could draw on for ideas and models as to how to live together. The New Zealand Edge meme started with the questions “Who are we? What are we? Why are we?” It’s the third question that now absorbs me the most, and I know the answer for me sits within our relationship with the local/global nexus. Our contention is that “every world needs an edge.” The anthropologist Margaret Mead said in the 1930s: “It is New Zealand’s role to send out its bright young men and women to help run the rest of the world. From [their] loving base they make their mark on the world.” I don’t know where this train is going, but I know it has left the island.
Naku noa na
Warm regards,
Brian Sweeney
Publisher, Producer
THE NEW ZEALAND EDGE
http://www.nzedge.com brian@nzedge.com
Thumbail: Burt Munro
