News of New Zealanders via Global Media

You Make Me Feel I’m [Not] Really There

You Make Me Feel I’m [Not] Really There

NZ’s Jacqueline Fraser has made the shortlist for the inaugural Artes Mundi (the Wales International Visual Art Prize), which at £40,000, is the largest award made to an individual artist in the…

Desaru Medal Haul

Desaru Medal Haul

NZ athletes dominated the field at this year’s Desaru Long Distance International Triathlon in Malaysia. Lynley Allison and Stephen Farrell won the women’s senior and men’s veteran events, respectively, and Brent Sheldrake won the men’s junior event…

All Roads Lead to ROAM:

All Roads Lead to ROAM:

Edited by edge architect Anthony Hoete, ROAM: Reader on Aesthetics of Mobility receives raps in the UK’s key weekly architectural read, Building Design. Hoete’s wide-ranging reader for the global soul takes in work from artists, architects, cultural theorists,…

Face Maker Brought to Screen

Face Maker Brought to Screen

The pioneering methods used by NZ facial surgeon, Sir Archibald McIndoe, and his Canadian partner, Dr Ross Tilley, during WW2 are the inspiration behind a new Canadian documentary, The Guinea Pig Club. McIndoe and Tilley used radical…

Big Ups for “Small but Perfectly Formed” NZ Fashion Week

Big Ups for “Small but Perfectly Formed” NZ Fashion Week

The Age calls L’Oreal NZ Fashion Week a thorn in the side of its Australian counterparts, warning that its “peculiarly talented protagonists” are in danger of showing up bigger fish across the Tasman. “Fashion…

These Wings are Made for Walking …

These Wings are Made for Walking …

A team of NZ researchers – led by David Lambert of Auckland’s Massey University – has broken new ground in the field of genetics to reveal previously unknown details about the moa. In a world first,…

He is: Looking Edge-ward for Inspiration

He is: Looking Edge-ward for Inspiration

This year’s recipient of Australia’s $20,000 Dobell Prize for drawing, Aida Tomescu cites a work by Colin McCahon as the inspiration behind her winning piece, Negru III and Negru IV. “It triggered a series…

Te Reo XP

Te Reo XP

A Maori language version of Microsoft XP and Office 2003 should be on the market by next year, according to Microsoft’s Asia Pacific headquarters. The company has decided to release the two programmes in a range of…

Multi-layered myth-making

Multi-layered myth-making

Japan Times review places Niki Caro’s Whale Rider alongside Once Were Warriors and The Piano as one of the pivotal moments in NZ cinema. “…Caro presents myth both as a connection with a…

A New Kind of Filmmaking: Blockbuster with Brains

A New Kind of Filmmaking: Blockbuster with Brains

Anticipating the release of Return of the King, NYT film critic Elvis Mitchell singles out the breezy braininess of Peter Jackson’s craft for exemplary praise: “Mr. Jackson has been carefully applying layers of emotional…

Twisted sister

Twisted sister

NZ artist, Anne Shelton, featured in Vancouver’s annual gallery-crawl, Swarm  described as “for many … the only gallery-going to be accomplished all year.” Shelton’s eerie photographic diptychs portray the scenes of actual murders:…

Mecca Found in  Martinborough

Mecca Found in  Martinborough

“New Zealand, known for its crisp sauvignon blancs, may well become a mecca for pinot noir aficionados.” Boston Herald identifies Martinborough as the prime source for pinot production, in particular the dry river bed called the Martinborough…

Illness in body, not in mind

Illness in body, not in mind

In reviewing The Selected Letters of D.H Lawrence, Straits Times writer Richard Lim refers to Katherine Mansfield who, like Lawrence, suffered and eventually died from tuberculosis. Said Mansfield of her illness, “…even my present…

Natural High

Natural High

Sydney Morning Herald journo-cum-adventurer recommends NZ as the perfect training ground for would-be mountaineers: “It’s close, cheap, the inhabitants speak English, and the mountains are world-class.” Particularly highly regarded is the NZ Mountain Safety Council’s 2-day advanced…

Crimewatch goes global

Crimewatch goes global

NZ tourists Olive and Graeme Reed have provided Scottish police with crucial evidence in one of the world’s biggest ever art thefts. The couple used their digital camera to snap shots of the robbers…

An Ill Wind That Blows Some Good?

An Ill Wind That Blows Some Good?

“Wise environmental husbandry or flatulent political correctness? An ill wind or a fair wind?” Financial Times takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the proposed ‘fart tax’ to be levied on NZ dairy and sheep farmers. Methane produced by…

Eco-friendlier Fuel

Eco-friendlier Fuel

NZ cars may soon be running on a petrol blend containing 10% ethanol – a by-product of the country’s dairy industry. The move is being welcomed in both environmental and agricultural sectors, and has already gained the…

Pacific Powerhouse

Pacific Powerhouse

NZ’s Pacific Retail Group has purchased PowerHouse, the third largest electrical retailer in Britain. PRG is NZ’s major player in electrical appliances, with Noel Leeming, Big Byte and Bond & Bond all operating under its umbrella….

Turning it up

Turning it up

Californian A-listers dined on the very best of NZ produce at UNICEF’s Gala Awards Banquet and Fundraiser, where ex-Bond, Roger Moore, was named Humanitarian of the Year. Entrepreneurial restaurateur, Noel Turner (Turner New Zealand…

Brian Bows Out

Brian Bows Out

BBC stalwart, Brian Perkins, has resigned from his post at Radio 4, ending a news-reading career spanning 4 decades. The Guardian describes the resignation of NZ-born broadcaster as a loss: “Perkins’ voice has come…

Aquada, Bond Aquada, 0064

Aquada, Bond Aquada, 0064

International media attention was lavished on The Thames, London, for the launch of NZ-entrepreneur Alan Gibb’s revolutionary Aquada (inspired by inventor Terry Roycroft’s design innovations). The James Bond-style sports vehicle with the amphibian edge can reach up to…

International Man of History

International Man of History

C.K Stead is one of the “international sensations” lined up for the Banff-Calgary International Writers Festival in Canada. The Secret History of Modernism author will join E. Annie Proulx, Jasper Fforde, Joan London, and…

Move over Norah

Move over Norah

Guardian critic has an “utterly magical” experience watching Bic Runga perform live in London. ” she is desperately beautiful and has a…

Social Climbing at Wellington’s Matterhorn

Social Climbing at Wellington’s Matterhorn

Wallpaper features newly refurbished Wellington bar The Matterhorn in its global navigator. In a piece entitled ‘The heart of the matter’ the bar is the hub of a cosmopolitan revivified Wellington. Surveying the…

Teen Queens Fly High

Teen Queens Fly High

The latest designs by Deborah Sweeney and Karen Walker feature in Oyster magazine’s August/September issue. Sweeney’s aviatrix-inspired ‘Fli-Girl’ collection – a salute to original fly-girls Amelia Earhart and Jean Batten – teams mini parachute…

“Kiwi Babe-magnet” Gets Top Billing

“Kiwi Babe-magnet” Gets Top Billing

New Zealander Zane Lowe is to host one of Britain’s highest rating shows – the evening slot on BBC‘s Radio One. Radio One controller Andy Parfitt: “Zane is one of the most exciting presenters…

Big McCahon: harbinger of art globalisation

Big McCahon: harbinger of art globalisation

In a substantial feature, ‘Spreading the word’, in international art world standard, ArtForum, Thomas Crow talks to Stedelijk Museum curator Marja Bloem about the growing international reputation of Colin McCahon. Crow urges globalisation in…

Art-attack

Art-attack

September’s Art Monthly Australia includes celebratory reviews of Michael Stevenson’s This is the Trekka exhibit at the Venice Biennale, and the Stedelijk Museum’s Colin McCahon retrospective, currently showing in Melbourne. Louise Tegart on Stevenson:…

Glass Master #1

Glass Master #1

Wanganui artist David Murray has won Australia’s prestigious Runamok Prize for Contemporary Glass Art for 2003 for his work entitled ‘Gatherer’.  

Double Success for Twins

Double Success for Twins

At the World Rowing Championships in Milan the Evers-Swindell (Caroline and Georgina) sisters repeated their winning performance of 2002 in the double sculls and are firm favourites for gold at Athens in 2004. Caroline: “To go out there…

ANZACs Legend Lives On

ANZACs Legend Lives On

BBC series on the National Health Service profiles Harefield Hospital and its enduring ties with NZ and Australia. Now home to one of Britain’s leading heart surgery units, Harefield was initially established as a medical centre…

Zambesi: the Story of a New Zealand River

Zambesi: the Story of a New Zealand River

Australian Financial Review Magazine devotes 5 pages to edge fashion label Zambesi. “They have been called the Belgians of the Asia-Pacific region . Over a quarter of a century, cult fashion…

Being Beryl Fletcher: the life of a “feminist firebrand.”

Being Beryl Fletcher: the life of a “feminist firebrand.”

NZ author, Beryl Fletcher, was a guest speaker at the Melboune Writers Festival in August.  Fletcher’s latest work – The House at Karamu – is a personal memoir, which “attempts to map the identity…

Bottoms Up

Bottoms Up

CNN feature reveals a hemisphere-reversal in wine appreciation and availability in America. New World wines are doing a roaring trade in the US, in many cases outstripping their European counterparts in sales. “One of the…

Kiwi Juice Goes Global

Kiwi Juice Goes Global

Auckland-based kiwifruit juice manufacturers – Nekta International Limited – have made a successful entry into the US market. Sales have “exceeded expectations” since the product was lauched there in June. Nekta is already sold in Australia, Asia,…

Kiwi Car Culture Laps Venice

Kiwi Car Culture Laps Venice

NZ’s representative at the Venice Biennale – Michael Stevenson – praised in Time Pacific for his “finely calibrated sense of irony.” Stevenson’s main installation – ‘This is the Trekka’ – places NZ’s Cold War…

Australia Looks to the Near East

Australia Looks to the Near East

The Australian features a 20 page special report on The Pacific. Strongly focused on NZ, the supplement includes a regional overview (“Australia is said to be the superpower of the South Pacific. If so then New…

World-first opera band

World-first opera band

NZEdged tenor Geoff Sewell (2nd from L, above) and his London-based opera band Amici Forever have signed a record-breaking six million pound recording deal. Their first album is to be released in the UK…

Wahine Takes Manhattan

Wahine Takes Manhattan

Pania Rose, Australia’s latest supermodel has an Aotearoa genetic advantage: “After securing local campaigns for Country Road and the all-Aussie undies label , the 19-year-old has hit the big time in the US, scoring…

Umpiring as an Art Form

Umpiring as an Art Form

BBC feature on NZ cricket umpire, Billy Bowden, tracks his unlikely rise to the top of the white-coated ranks. Bowden fell into umpiring after rheumatoid arthritis halted his own career as a player….

Scoop: the hard news

Scoop: the hard news

Wellington independent new-media news agency Scoop again makes international headlines for its principled media coverage. The Guardian applauds the “fiercely independent news agency’s” boldness during the recent Iraq war: “For several months, Scoop…

Gene-injected Performance

Gene-injected Performance

Dr Matthew During of Auckland University is part of a US medical team promoting the groundbreaking use of gene therapy in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Speaking in New York, During emphasised that the procedure was…

Iron Will

Iron Will

Golfer Phil Tataurangi has returned from injury in time to defend his Las Vegas Invitational title in October. Tataurangi was forced to drop out of the professional circuit in May in order to have corrective surgery on…

Cool Kiwis: Why It’s Suddenly Not on the Edge of the World

Cool Kiwis: Why It’s Suddenly Not on the Edge of the World

The Edge metaphor permeates Timemagazine’s 50-page rave on NZ. ‘NZ Journeys’ takes an in-depth look at our designers, scientists, exporters, film industry, Maori language revival, musicians, and winemakers, in a bid to discover “what makes…

Lawson’s Joins Mile High Club

Lawson’s Joins Mile High Club

Lawson’s Dry Hills Sauvignon Blanc scored the highest overall marks for a white wine in the Scotsman‘s high-altitude taste test. In conjunction with 6 international airlines, the Scotsman and a panel of expert judges sought out…

Clarke serves up a winner

Clarke serves up a winner

Kiwi comedian and trans-Tasman icon, John Clarke, talks about his latest book, The Tournament. Clarke admits that his satirical account of a tennis tournament played by artistic and academic legends of the 20th century…

Brake Continues to be Benchmark

Brake Continues to be Benchmark

Australian photojournalist Paul Blackmore is compared to late great NZ photographer, Brian Brake, in a review by the Herald. Blackmore’s Waters images are reminiscent of Brake’s Monsoon series – “one of the most successful…

Legendary Lance Hangs up the Saddle

Legendary Lance Hangs up the Saddle

Champion NZ jockey, Lance O’Sullivan, has announced his retirement from racing at age 39. O’Sullivan has ridden over 2,470 winners and has been crowned NZ champion rider a record 12 times. His international achievements include…

Like Father, Like Son

Like Father, Like Son

NZer Steve Richards – the younger half of the “most successful father-son duo in Australian motor sport” – interviewed in the Age about his new three-year contract with Castrol Perkins. At 31, Steve has 25 years to…

EasyNZ

EasyNZ

Air NZ has responded to increased and heavily discounted competition by introducing a no-frills Tasman Express service. So far, the cheap fares are proving to be a lucrative addition; by mid-August, Air NZ had tripled its average…

Pooling Resources

Pooling Resources

NZ’s Fisher & Paykel Appliances has formed a technology-sharing alliance with US white-ware company, Whirlpool Corporation. Fisher & Paykel managing director, John Bongard, predicts greater access to global markets to result from the union: “Whirlpool offers us…

It’s a Black-out

It’s a Black-out

SMH: “they simply cannot beat the All Blacks”. The All Blacks join England as World Cup favourites after winning both the Tri-Nations’ Trophy and and Bledisloe Cup, making it two out of three thus…

Boy Racer

Boy Racer

NZ racing star, Scott Dixon, achieved three consecutive pole positions in the Indy Racing League last month, and broke the track record at Nashville in the process. His winning streak was cut short by gearbox problems…

Behind Every Great Woman…

Behind Every Great Woman…

NZ-born producer, Linda McDougall, interviewed in the Sunday Times about her Channel 4 documentary, Married to Maggie: Denis Thatcher’s Story. McDougall collated interviews with the former British PM and her late husband – many…

Jobs for (Almost) All

Jobs for (Almost) All

Unemployment in NZ is at a 16-year low of 4.7% thanks largely to net gains in permanent and long-term migration. Employment Minister, Steve Maharey: “We are now experiencing lower unemployment than all our major trading partners, including…

Here’s to you Ms Hunter

Here’s to you Ms Hunter

Rachel Hunter subject of a Sky One documentary and two-part interview with The Sun in early August. She describes the documentary as an attempt to “draw a line under the whole Rod thing” and…