Episodes

  • Sculptor Candice Lin looks at the history of plague

    Sculptor Candice Lin looks at the history of plague
    Aug 2 2020
    A catapult that fires projectiles made out of oil, lard, wax and a pigment made from burnt bones is part of an exhibition by Los Angeles based artist Candice Lin, that's about to open in New Plymouth. Pigs and Poison is a collection of work that looks at plagues and viruses, and how countries over centuries have both been blamed for them or spread them.It sounds eerily prescient, since Candice, who's Chinese American, made them before Covid-19. Pigs and Poison opens at the Govett-Brewster without her planned visit because of the pandemic, she had to rely on gallery staff to install the show.
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    13 mins
  • Diane Brown: Every now and then I have another child

    Diane Brown: Every now and then I have another child
    Aug 2 2020
    After a short break under lockdown, local publishing is forging ahead. Dunedin poet, novelist and writing teacher Diane Brown has fused prose and verse to tell a new story in free narrative verse. The collection of poetry is titled Every now and then I have another child. In it she imagines a newborn baby who might or might not be hers but she takes responsibility for the little girl. Sometimes the baby speaks directly to us in an unnervingly knowing way. Amidst the other characters in this world is a doppelganger. Every now and then I have another child is published by Otago University Press.
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    11 mins
  • Choreographer Eddie Elliot on dancing through a pandemic

    Choreographer Eddie Elliot on dancing through a pandemic
    Aug 2 2020
    If it weren't for the Covid-19 pandemic, Maori dancer and choreographer Eddie Elliot would be about to leave for Canada where he regularly performs with an indigenous dance company. But instead, he is about to premiere his first full length commissioned work for the New Zealand Dance company. Uku - Behind the Canvas sees the dancers cover themselves in, and make small objects out of clay on stage. The work also incorporates New Zealand Sign Language and references the distorted paintings of Swiss artist Andy Denzler. It's part of the New Zealand Dance Company's new show, Night Light.
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    13 mins
  • Colin Mcoll brings Ibsen to stage and screen

    Colin Mcoll brings Ibsen to stage and screen
    Aug 2 2020
    Theatres are learning to adapt to a world where rehearsals and productions cannot be carried out the way they once were. The Auckland Theatre Company have adapted by staging productions to stream online. After a sensational online season of Chekhov's The Seagull they are turning their eye to Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen's The Master Builder. The production will premiere on Saturday the 8th of August and will be available for streaming from then until the 30th of August. Colin McColl is the director of the production and he joins Lynn to discuss staging and dramaturgy in the age of lockdown.
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    8 mins
  • Capes and confidence: House of Cardin

    Capes and confidence: House of Cardin
    Aug 2 2020
    For decades he refused to allow documentary makers or biographers to tell his story, but Fashion legend Pierre Cardin has finally entrusted his personal and professional story to an American couple of devoted fans. Directors and partners P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes enlisted a translator and managed to get behind the curtain to tell the story of an extraordinary fashion pioneer. The tell Lynn how exciting it was to be able to tell the tale.
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    16 mins
  • Tongan web series looks at the world of prize fighting

    Tongan web series looks at the world of prize fighting
    Aug 2 2020
    A new bilingual Tongan drama called Mo'ui Faingata'a (Brutal Lives) about a former prize fighter is about to be unveiled, after getting New Zealand On Air funding from the organisation's Pasifika and Asian Storytellers initiative. The series follows Soane 'The Shark' Valu who had the world at his feet until he lost it all. After Soane's father dies, he reluctantly returns to South Auckland from America to face his estranged sister, the three kids he left behind and break the curse of his ancestor's shame. Lynn speaks to the writers of the series Vela Manusaute and Sandra Kailahi.
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    12 mins
  • Daniel Roher and Once were brothers - the story of The Band

    Daniel Roher and Once were brothers - the story of The Band
    Aug 2 2020
    One of the givens of the annual New Zealand International Film Festival is a strong music section. One highlight is a documentary about Seventies legends The Band called Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band. Simon Morris talks with the director of Once were brothers, Daniel Roher.
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    19 mins
  • World Science Fiction Convention hosted by NZ

    World Science Fiction Convention hosted by NZ
    Jul 26 2020
    It reads like a classic sci-fi scenario. A deadly pandemic strikes just as an massive international convention is about to open, throwing everything into chaos. Ten years of planning have gone into New Zealand's first time hosting the World Science Fiction Convention. Several thousand ardent fans, guests and speakers were due to come to Wellington - about now, as it happens. The show must go on - and now it will, with more than 750 events planned, including the presentation of the Julius Vogel Awards for best New Zealand sci fi.. The talks, sessions and workshops will now be beamed out around the world virtually, including planned sessions for the 78th WorldCon's guest of honour - Game of Thrones author, George R R Martin. Lynelle Howells is Vice-Chair Experience for ConZealand, which is what we're calling the event. She tells Lynn Freeman what to expect.
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    15 mins