The Wellingtonista

Random stuff about Wellington since 2005

Art

Review: Eight Songs for a Mad King

by Sophie March 3, 2020

King George III, despite having been a learned and enthusiastic sponsor of scientific and industrial progress, a faithful husband and father, and in many ways very liberal for his time (except pro-slavery, just saying), is basically famous for having gone mad. That madness has been scrutinized, diagnosed, and mocked roundly in modern literature, film, TV, […]

Read the full article →

Books giveaway: Dreamweavers #1 and #2

by noizyboy February 18, 2020

Te Rā Aroha Press are about to launch Isa Pearl Ritchie’s Into the Labyrinth, the second of her Wellington-based YA Dreamweavers fantasy series (following on from Awa and the Dreamweavers, released last year). The series features Awa… …an intermediate student navigating changes to her family as a child of divorce, moving to a new school, […]

Read the full article →

Sex Workers of Aotearoa: A Day in the Life of

by Joanna July 2, 2019

Sex workers and artists have gone hand in hand for hundreds if not thousands of years.  Think of basically nearly every nude woman in a classic painting by a white dude, or Moulin Rouge, or ‘Victoria’ or countless other examples and you get the idea. Oh sure, they’re muses. But what if we didn’t centre […]

Read the full article →

James and Bullseye Bella

by Joanna March 1, 2019

While the Wellingtonista is what we do on the side of our day jobs, it turns out that almost all Wellingtonistas have a side hustle on the side of the side. Case in point: our fearless leader only went and wrote a bloody book didn’t he? So I had a chat to him.   Hey […]

Read the full article →

Review: NZSO Baroque Series – Water Music

by Tom Ackroyd February 5, 2019

Telemann: Water Music “Hamburger Ebb und Fluth” (TWV 55:C3) Händel: Water Music (HWV 348-350) St. Paul’s Cathedral, Wellington Friday 1 Feb 2019 Listening to the two “Water Music” suites by Telemann and Handel fill the echoing expanse of St. Paul’s, I wondered how it is we find reverberation so attractive. Is it a cultural association […]

Read the full article →

Saint Fabiola fabulousness

by Joanna June 11, 2018

Last Friday we had a lovely time at the opening of St Fabiola on Lombard Street (you may have seen us tweeting about the pies from Pickle and Pie, because, you know, priorities), so this week, we caught up with the owner Kirsten for a chat over email. What’s your background before the shop? I’m an […]

Read the full article →

NZSO Shed Series: “Juxtaposition”

by Tom Ackroyd June 4, 2018

My first trip to the new Shed 6 was a few weeks ago to see contemporary music outfit Stroma. They were playing a sampler of modern art music, stretching from Ravel and Schoenberg, through Boulez and Berio, to more recent work by Gillian Whitehead and David Lang. Music writer Alex Ross was our tour guide, […]

Read the full article →

Toi Art at Te Papa – a first floor glimpse

by Sue Tyler April 18, 2018

When you’re stepping into Te Papa’s new gallery space Toi Art, be prepared for something a little different from your standard gallery experience. Toi Art is a gallery space 20 years in the making, it takes over two floors of Te Papa and the new entrance gallery is larger than any space at Te Papa. I […]

Read the full article →

It’s Festivals time!

by librarykris February 22, 2018

It’s almost that glorious point in Wellington’s calendar when the New Zealand Festival  (23 February – 18 March), the Performance Arcade (23-25 Feb, 1-4 March) the Pride Festival (24 February – 10 March) and the NZ Fringe Festival Wellington  (2-24 March) are all on at the same time. I love it for the exciting mix […]

Read the full article →

Sacha Lees

by Martha Craig October 26, 2017

Wellington artist Sacha Lees began her career working on The Lord of the Rings trilogy as an illustrator, airbrush artist and creature designer. These days Lees, originally from the West Coast, is a leading artist. She developed her painting technique in Florence and now specialises in the “fantastic” genre – a movement specialising in mythical creatures and […]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries