International music menu

New In Town

This light, forgettable rom-com blends the ''stranger in a strange land'' scenario with the ''outsider locals win over'' story.

Bruno

Gay Austrian fashionista Bruno is Sacha Baron Cohen's second outrageous movie character, skewering prejudices and ignorance, but suffering by following Borat.

Night at the Museum 2 (PG)

Elegy (M)

Kiss

Kiss are back with their first album in 11 years a throwback to the sound of their heyday, and another perfect demonstration of why they polarise rock fans.

John Mayer

From acoustic rock heartthrob to young blues guitar god to well, I'm not sure. Mayer warned that he was going to experiment a bit on this album, and the results are a mixed bag.

Departure Lounge

The Proclaimers

Behind the balaclava

Nelson Mail TV reviewer Victoria Guild catches a glimpse of the men and women who regularly put their lives on the line for others.

Should Jaquie jack it in?

The second helping of The Jaquie Brown Diaries continues to spoof the world of TV and shallow celebrity as its protagonist lurches from one embarrassment to another – but for how much longer?

Inner beauty is easier to maintain

Hotfooting it in Africa

Capable and fast paced

Foreskin's Lament, by Greg McGee, Nelson Combined Colleges, The Suter Theatre, Thursday October 29.

Finding the meaning of love

Between Love and Dreaming, Monday October 26, at The Granary Café, Founders.

Literary musings of Te Radar

No airs - plenty of grace

Treasures and textures for all

Klustre, a group exhibition of jewellery, Reflections Gallery at World of Wearable Art.

Talking about scupture

Manifest Sculpture, Nelson Arts Festival
What a  success, especially  measured against the  sculpture format of last year's arts festival.  A  clever combination of forum, lecture series, sculpture tour and sculpture in the park tempted the art- lover, whose dilemma was how to accommodate these with everything else.  Many missed the NMIT lectures - a  pity as the calibre of the artists was excellent.
The  sculptors at Founders felt  it was worthwhile and  had a stream of interested visitors.  Fiona Sutherland commented that ''what she loved the most was working with the others, that it was inspiring".
Andy Waugh uses argillite from the Whangamoas and Motueka River harzburgite.   His finished work is polished to a fine gleam.   Tim Royall was working with black granite, a reliable material, unlike Takaka marble which he prefers but finds tricky to cut without cracking. 
Originally a panel-beater, Ken Laws loves the softness of stainless steel and how it reflects  light and colour.  He has been a full-time artist for seven years. 
Wittily chaired by Te Radar, who suggested  Aucklanders would think  a pottery dream-catcher sculpture suitable for Nelson, the forum, Public art in troubled times, was well-attended by a mix of ages.  There was a lively discussion between panellists Councillor Ali Boswijk, sculptors Phil Price and Andrew Drummond and marketing expert Brian Richards.    What should we do to avoid bad public art and who makes the decisions about taste anyway?    One suggestion was that every time a big retail square box  goes up a punishment fee should be paid to fund public art! 
Drummond praised the Wellington Sculpture Trust and said  that without a long-term plan and funding, ideally from sponsorship, there would always be a problem.   There was panel consensus that, ideally, councils would only provide the sites for sculpture, with commissions and artist contact through  a sculpture trust or similar.   This needs courage said Price, but is the only practical way. 
Enjoyed by a large  group, it was a beautiful sunny Sunday for the Vineyard Sculpture Tour at Woollaston  Estates.   We went up close to Marte Szirmay's Yantra, looked through it and walked around the wonderful angles, noticing how light made stripes of shadow on the stones beneath. Entering  the private Wine Library and seeing the  lovely  inverted sculpture with its delicate ornamentation was unforgettable.  With this piece, sculptor Neil Dawson, known for his iconic  Ferns in Wellington's Civic Square and  Chalice in Christchurch's Cathedral Square, gives  a quiet  space magical quality.  
 Standing in front of her large black clay egg sculpture, Christine Bosjwik talked poetically about her work, the way she does it "mainly with her own hands" and how, when she first saw the fallen gum trees she used for the support poles, they "were lying on the ground like beasts."  
Tim Wraight explained the symbolism carved  on his The Lie of the Land  poles, positioned perfectly on the lake island and Andrew Drummond introduced his Vertical Spinning Form with its ochre patina and 24ct gold overlay that shines as it spins with the wind.  It "tells the weather" he said.
It was an extra treat to be shown through the  private  collection of both New Zealand and American art  by  Glenn Schaeffer.  A wonderful way to finish a wonderful day.
Should we consider a Sculpture Symposium, separate from the Arts Festival, perhaps before or after, or at some other time of the year?   A similar format with the addition of more working sculptors on site, would not only bring in and involve Nelsonians and visitors but also offer an ideal sponsorship opportunity.

Art to last a year

An outpouring of jugs

Press Pass

I met Geoff Dale in 1988 in Auckland while attending the Qantas Media Awards to pick up my 1987 Qantas Junior Press Photographer of the Year Award.

Her Life's Work: Conversations with New Zealand Women

I was recently privileged to hear New Zealand art and film historian Deborah Shepard talk in Auckland at The Ladies' Litera-Tea. This is now a huge annual occasion where a number of New Zealand women writers talk to an audience of 300 to 400 women, then indulge in a decadent afternoon tea.

The Hotel Albatross

Painting the Frontier – The Art of New Zealand's Pioneers

Classic Kiwi gig

It was classically Kiwi a wood pigeon sat in a plum tree while Dave Dobbyn's distinctive voice rang out across the night.