Binge Culture takes on Lucrece

“Audience members will be seated close enough to touch the performers and viewers will be encouraged to think about the ways they look at women’s bodies – both on film and in the flesh.” No, that’s not the press release from Wellington Fashion Week. Instead, it’s Lucrece: An Adaptation of Shakespeare’s the Rape of Lucrece, […]

New Zealand International Arts Festival 2012

The New Zealand International Arts Festival opens tonight with a live event in conjuction with the launch of First Contact. It’s FREE, family friendly, and starts at 8:30pm outside Te Papa. There are visuals by Linechecker and music and dance from the Whitireia Performing Arts School, The Nomad, Horomona Horo, Rhombus in Dub and Rayjah45. First […]

NZ Fringe Festival 2012 into week two

The New Zealand Fringe Festival presents emerging artists in a festival of weird and wonderful performances around Wellington. The shows are are reasonably priced (or free) and are held in venues all over the city. The programme is full of shows, conveniently divided in the programme into genres –  Comedy, Dance, Music, Theatre, or Visual […]

Unveiling Unveiled

Better than Christmas morning was how this non fashionista* described Monday morning at Te Papa when Tom and  I witnessed Keira Miller from London’s Victoria & Albert Museum unpacking an embroidered silk satin wedding dress designed by Norman Hartnell in 1933. Keira is in Wellington to supervise the unpacking and setting up of Unveiled: 200 years […]

The other important vote

The general election is only a few weeks away, but right now there’s another important vote happening. Yes, the vote on what sign will sit atop the Miramar Cutting. There are three options: The controversial and largely disliked “Wellywood” sign “Wellington” written in a similar Hollywood sign style, but with the final letters being blow […]

Festival 2012

I’m old enough to remember when the Arts Festival was known archly as The New Zealand International Festival of the Arts. In recent years the name has been tidied up but the goal has remained the same – bring really cool, really great, international artists to Wellington and showcase their work alongside the best of […]

The glorious struggles of the people’s working-class rugby art sculpture

A year and a half ago we were offered a tantalising glimpse of the model of the Weta Workshop-designed Wellington rugby sculpture, noting its resemblance to a provincial junior rugby trophy, a knick-knack gift for a rugby-loving uncle, and a vagina. And then finally the full-size sculpture appeared, tucked away in Jack Ilott Green, that […]

Exquisite Corpse

Perched upon the top of Cuba St, Thistle Hall is known for providing Wellingtonians with short bursts of visual arts. Exhibits pack in and out again at a frenetic pace, and if planning and serendipity conspire, treasures can be easily missed. Take some time this week and get up to the current exhibit. Exquisite Corpse draws its name from […]

WOW 2011

It’s WOW time again, and this year’s show is the most amazing and extravagant yet. But was it too extravagant this year? I’ll get to that later. Please note that this post will contain spoilers about the show, so if you’re going, don’t read it until afterwards okay?  The Wellingtonista has a little pre-WOW game. […]

WOW comes early

The Wellingtonista has been going along to the World of WearableArt show for the past three years, and we’ve come to have a bit of affection for the grand celebration of the extravagant mash-up of fashion, design and costumery that is wearable art. The WOW show and awards are coming a month early this year […]