Writers
11 May 2003
CBC critic, Eleanor Watchel, travelled through NZ to interview some of NZ’s literary animals in their natural habitats. The Writers & Company radio special celebrated a literary landscape that included authors Patricia Grace, Bill…
Theatre | Victoria Times
9 May 2003
NZ ballet export Bebe Eversfield profiled in the Victoria Times. Now 78, Eversfield won a government scholarship to study at London’s prestigious Sadler’s Wells Company (now the Royal Ballet) and made her Albert Hall…
Visual Arts | The Edmonton Journal
8 May 2003
Works by Wellington based artist Pippa Sanderson are currently on show at Edmonton’s Harcourt House Gallery. Her exhibition, The (Un)heimlich Manoeuvre, references Victorian Spiritualism, haunted houses, and Gothic cinematic aesthetics. Shot on film well…
Film & TV | Age (The)
8 May 2003
Whale Rider director Niki Caro speaks to The Age about the intricate cultural process involved in a “white woman” making a Maori film. Despite early resistance to her involvement, and her subsequent self-doubt, Caro…
Film & TV | Hoovers
8 May 2003
Actor Tom Cruise has bid farewell to Taranaki, the place he called home for the past 4 months. The Hollywood A-lister was on location filming The Last Samurai; an epic-scale production which has proved…
Nature | Sydney Morning Herald (The)
7 May 2003
Native rats (kiore) on Little Barrier Island were saved from a scheduled DOC extermination by local tribe Ngatiwai, who claimed them as taonga. The rats, now almost extinct on mainland NZ, pose a threat to tuatara…
Fashion | Sydney Morning Herald (The)
7 May 2003
Touted as “the black sheep of the fashion flock,” designer Kate Sylvester impressed at Sydney Fashion Week without sacrificing her individual edge. SMH: “Citing New York-based installation artist Vanessa Beecroft as an inspiration, Sylvester…
Film & TV | Age (The) | Sydney Morning Herald (The)
7 May 2003
Whale Rider‘s Australian release has unleashed a second wave of glowing tributes. The Age: ” sharply observed, warm portrayal of a community … of an indigenous people moving between certainties and uncertainties.” Sydney…
Fashion | Canberra Times (The)
6 May 2003
Kiwi designers are ahead of the pack in prefiguring the global “mood of softness and warmth” hitting catwalks around the globe. According to the Canberra Times, the “feast of beautiful, well-crafted and intellectual winter…
Te Ao Maori | Star Bulletin
6 May 2003
Ta moko features in a Pacific Islanders in Communications documentary for PBS currently screening around the world. Skin Stories explores the art of tattooing, and its cultural significance, in Samoan, Hawaiian and Maori tradition.
Writers | Age (The)
6 May 2003
Former NZ university lecturer and academic, Jody Hanson, interviewed in The Age on her newfound role as a dominatrix and writer in Melbourne. Known on the dungeon circuit as Mistress J, Hanson conducts seminars,…
General | Belfast Telegraph
5 May 2003
Ex-pat Kiwi Richard Stevens likes to do more than his bit for charity. The Belfast resident hopes to raise £2,000 for the Save the Rhinos fund by running both the Belfast and London marathons…
Sport General | Age (The)
4 May 2003
NZ trainer Katrina Alexander shocked bookmakers and delighted racing fans when her “lightly raced” mare Honor Babe won the $800,000 Sydney Cup. The Matamata-based mother of two – who describes herself as “falling into racing by accident”…
Politics and Economics | Guardian (The)
3 May 2003
Drawing on NZ’s historical role in the setting up of the UN charter and as an advocate of multilateralism, Helen Clark (described as “one of Tony Blair’s closest foreign political allies”) told the Guardian that the…
Wine | Scotsman (The)
3 May 2003
Winemaker Kim Crawford’s “Pansy” has been released in the UK following its overwhelming success on the NZ gay market. The cabernet blend was commissioned by the owner of Auckland gay bar, SPQR, who had witnessed the popularity…
Science/Tech | Guardian (The)
3 May 2003
New Zealander Tim Radford (the “doyen” of UK science editors) is the Guardian‘s science editor and recently introduced their new weekly science supplement, Life. Radford has been the paper’s general science editor since 1988, as well as…
Film & TV | New York Times (The)
2 May 2003
NYTimes’ critic Elvis Mitchell praises Niki Caro’s Whale Rider as having the “inspired resonance of found art wickedly absorbing”, and the quiet charisma of actress Keisha Castle-Hughes.The film along with fellow NZ…
Film & TV | Age (The)
2 May 2003
Countless international critics have praised the universal themes explored in Niki Caro’s Whale Rider; what a reviewer for the Age finds most impressive is its quintessential Kiwi-ness. “Whale Rider sounds like it could be…
Theatre | Sydney Morning Herald (The)
2 May 2003
Kiwi comedian Tarun Mohanbhai has taken his acclaimed one-man show – D’Arranged Marriage – across the Tasman, with high-profile stints at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and Sydney Opera House. Mohanbhai made his name…
Sport General | Australian (The)
2 May 2003
The Auckland-based team set to compete in Australia’s National Basketball League has been christened the New Zealand Breakers, after consultations with players and public. According to Tall Blacks star Pero Cameron – who has been lured…
Fashion | Model Watch
1 May 2003
Following Hunter and Bax Henry Hargreaves is the latest Kiwi clothes hanger to attract the lens’ attention on the international fashion circuit. The New York based model has campaigns for Lacoste, Prada, Kenzo and…
Music | Philippine Star
1 May 2003
NZ born popster Daniel Bedingfield profiled in the Philippine Star. “You know how an artist will go to great lengths to maintain his style and keep some elements of his first hit in all…
Wine | Hoovers
1 May 2003
Christchurch brewer Dux de Lux was awarded the grand champion trophy at this year’s Australian international beer awards. The brand’s Nor’wester Pale Ale was judged best brew out of a record field of 590 beers from 22…
Visual Arts | ArtForum
1 May 2003
Artist Peter Robinson, exhibiting in Berlin, described in ArtForum as ” the profile of the artist as a global player … a migrateur in the emphatic sense.” Aware of his edge exoticism but fused…
Taste | Coast Magazine
1 May 2003
Turner NZ restaurant – serving up an all-Kiwi array of food and wine – stands out in the sea of Italian, Asian and American cuisines on offer in Southern California. Says an enthusiastic reviewer…
Politics and Economics | Foreign Policy
1 May 2003
New Zealand ranks near the top in an international index ‘Ranking the Rich’, published by Foreign Policy and the Centre for Global Development, gauging how rich nations help out poorer nations. NZ toppped the list with The…
Politics and Economics | Foreign Affairs
1 May 2003
Mike Moore’s A World Without Walls hailed as a fascinating, candid and paradoxical account of ideals versus bureaucracies in Foreign Affairs magazine. “When all is said and done, believes democratically elected governments and markets will respond…
Obituaries | Age (The)
30 April 2003
Rally champion Peter “Possum” Bourne, who died April 30th (aged 47), has been praised as “a humble man with rare ability, a relentless competitor who inspired a new generation of drivers.” “The most successful rally driver in…
Music | Ferrier Awards
30 April 2003
Victoria University graduate Wendy Dawn Thompson has won the prestigious Kathleen Ferrier Competition for singing, earning nearly $30,000, a website and a recital at London’s Wigmore Hall. She is currently studying at the Royal…
Music | Boston Globe | Houston Chronicle | Indy Star
29 April 2003
The Datsuns continue their successful courtship of the US music scene, earning rave reviews across the country. Boston Globe: “It’s a high-energy assault with mammoth guitar riffs, strutting bass and raw vocals that cartwheel…
Fashion | Sydney Morning Herald (The)
29 April 2003
Pavement regular, fashion and portrait photographer Derek Henderson, is showing at Sydney’s 2010 gallery. The images in the collection, entitled with sweet melancholy, I Don’t Feel Alone, are described as, “contemporary landscapes and cultural…
Film & TV | Guardian (The)
29 April 2003
The Guardian art critic admits defeat in his attempts to explain Boyd Webb’s short film – Horse and Dog – currently on show at London’s Estorick Collection. Adrian Searle: “Immune to Webb’s enigmas and…
Film & TV | Scotsman (The)
29 April 2003
NZer Simon Jansen profiled as online icon of the week in The Scotsman‘s “lazy guide to net culture.” Jansen is a master of asciimation; making moving pictures out of letters, numerals and punctuation marks….
Te Ao Maori | Sydney Morning Herald (The)
28 April 2003
In an interview with SMH, Whale Rider star Rawiri Paratene discusses patriarchy – both within and outside of Maoridom – and the universal appeal behind the heart and award-winning film. “I think Maori stories well told can…
Film & TV | New York Daily News
27 April 2003
Anna Paquin featured in New York Daily News, one of numerous high-profile interviews given during her hectic promotional tour for X-Men 2. Currently finishing an English major at Columbia between films, Paquin’s next plan…
New Zealand | Times of India
27 April 2003
Times of India lists NZ as its readers’ third most popular summer holiday destination. “The ice age carved the exquisite fretwork of Fiordland and the Marlborough Sounds, huge tectonic forces pushed up the Southern Alps and volcanism…
New Zealand | Lonely Planet | Observer (The)
27 April 2003
Lonely Planet experts offer Brits-in-need a two week itinerary of NZ. Reader response: “A two week(!) trip to NZ? We’re UK bird-watchers who have just spent three months there. It’s far too short a time…”
General | Guardian (The) | Observer (The)
27 April 2003
Observer offers a how-to guide to buying property in NZ in its assessment of the global property market’s latest hot spot. According to their sources, “screen gods and goddesses are buying up idyllic island…
Fashion | MTV
26 April 2003
Work by leading NZ fashion designer Karen Walker is currently on show at Seattle’s Bellevue Art Museum. Walker is featured alongside fellow rule-breakers John Galliano, Issey Miyake and Alexander McQueen in Fashion: The Greatest…
Cricket | Star (The)
26 April 2003
A testament to leading by example, Black Caps captain Stephen Fleming hit a career-best 274 not out in the first Test against Sri Lanka. Fleming’s total is the second highest test score ever made by a…
Film & TV | National Geographic | Straits Times
26 April 2003
Peter Hillary interviewed about his own Everest experience and his part in the filming of National Geographic‘s documentary, Surviving Everest. “Our challenge was not just to climb, but to make the film about the…
Medicine/Health | Times of India
26 April 2003
Auckland University is at the forefront of new medical research linking malnutrition at the time of conception to instances of premature birth. Pediatrician Dr. Frank Bloomfield has conducted a study using sheep which ” suggest that…
Fashion | Sydney Morning Herald (The)
26 April 2003
NZ fashion house Zambesi lived up to its reputation for thoughtful sewing of the seams with an inspiring show at Sydney Fashion Week, netting a lucrative distribution deal with Canada’s largest department store chain…
Taste | Australian (The)
26 April 2003
“This dark, brooding, Kiwi ale with its deep nutty, malty flavours is the perfect thing – served just chilled, of course, rather than cold – for old fashioned roast…
Music | Sydney Morning Herald (The)
24 April 2003
Aussie indie music treasure, ex-punk and co-founder of the Saints, Ed Kuepper, has written music for six short films made by legendary NZ conceptual artist Len Lye over 50 years ago. Lye was setting…
Music | Boston Globe | Star Bulletin
24 April 2003
They say the essence of rock and roll is live performance. It’s a mantra for kiwi rockers D4, who are currently touring the US. Boston Daily Globe: “A knockout band from New Zealand, much…
Politics and Economics | Sydney Morning Herald (The)
22 April 2003
Gerard Henderson makes a pre-ANZAC Day assessment of current Aussie-Kiwi relations. “The Australia-NZ commercial relationship has never been healthier … However, the trans-Tasman economic co-operation has been accompanied by an increasing disagreement on security issues. The NZ…
New Zealand | Observer (The)
20 April 2003
Observer recommends Paua Cottage in Russell to Britons seeking a seaside escape. “Wake up in wondrous solitude to the sun rising from the Pacific Ocean at Paua Cottage … At the foot of a cliff sits…
Watersports | Foster's World Masters Surf Titles
20 April 2003
The inaugural Foster’s World Masters Surf Titles were held in Taranaki over Easter weekend, attracting over 450 local and international competitors. The International Surfing Association-sanctioned event was open to any rider over 35. Says organiser Wayne Arthur; “What’s…
Obituaries | Daily Mail | Guardian (The) | Sun (The) | Times (The)
19 April 2003
John Kent, well-known political cartoonist, lecturer and illustrator, died on April 13 aged 65. Born in Oamaru, Kent’s work was a familiar feature in Private Eye, Guardian, Daily Mail, The Sun and, finally, The…
Theatre | Age (The)
19 April 2003
Kiwi act Flight of the Conchords was voted Best Newcomer at the 17th Annual Melbourne International Comedy Festival, following on from similar accolades at Edinburgh last year. The two-man performance – made up of…
Writers | Australian (The)
19 April 2003
Chad Taylor’s growing international reputation continues to buzz, this time in The Australian. In Electric drug-addled number crunchers negotiate the power cuts of Auckland’s sweltering summer of 1998, “This is a rare and…
Nature | Sydney Morning Herald (The)
18 April 2003
Ron Massey, of Napier Council, thinks the city’s onto an export winner after its successful growing of high-grade gingko trees. The Chinese herb is currently the trendiest pill to pop, supposedly offering dramatically increased energy and cognitive…
Nature | Seattle Times
18 April 2003
Soil-analysis undertaken in a NZ cave has uncovered a rich and previously unknown evolutionary heritage. A team of scientists have found DNA traces of an extinct animal and from plants alive 3,000 years before the first human…
War & Peace | Age (The) | CNN News
18 April 2003
Due to the current world climate, ANZAC services in Australian and NZ this year carried particular emotional resonance CNN remembers an event “marked by both countries as a tragic turning point in their national development.” The Age: “In…
Science/Tech | Hoovers
18 April 2003
The GE debate steps up a notch as the government prepares to lift its current moratorium on modified organisms. A commissioned financial projection of the pros and cons of going GE (by Business and Economic Research Ltd)…