Category: Music

  • Outlaws: Fashion Renegades of 80s London

    A new exhibition is about to open in London’s Fashion and Textiles Museum, celebrating the fashion of the 1980s alternative scene. In 1985, Leigh Bowery, designer and performance artist, opened Taboo, a nightclub that became part of legend. This show is centred on the club, and showcases the film, photography, costume and accessories that made…

  • Sound engineering – bower bird style

    The great bower bird is known for its mating rituals that take place in tall arched structures made with gatherings from their native bush in New Guinea and Australia. The male bower bird loves to show-off. He performs in the court of his edifice to prospective females, picking up bits of food and decoration and…

  • The Australian autograph textile with a South African link

    In 1894, as was a custom in those days, a quilt was created to raise funds for a new Anglican church in Sunbury, Australia. People were able to subscribe to the undertaking by having their names, signatures, motifs or initials embroidered onto squares that were then stitched together to form the completed quilt. This particular…

  • Spotify this week

    Each week a playlist is curated to reflect the blog articles. The whole playlist is available on the Spotify platform and can be heard by clicking on the player above or by searching for “Music to read a blog by” on Spotify.

  • This week’s Spotify playlist

    Each week the blog is accompanied by a Spotify playlist of pieces that are somehow connected to the entries. To listen to the playlist you can click on the player above or search for “Music to read a blog by” on the Spotify platform. If you have a paid subscription you will hear all the…

  • The identity of language

    It is the end of te wiki o te reo Māori – Māori language week. Language is the key to identity and so it has often been subject to the politics of the day. There is debate about how natural the death of a language is, and research on the topic, but what is undeniable…

  • This week’s Spotify playlist

    Each blog is accompanied by a Spotify playlist, a curated list that refers to articles on the blog. Sometimes the audio has an obvious connection, sometimes it is more oblique. To listen click on the player above. Paying subscribers will be able to hear all the audio uninterrupted. Those with a free subscription will hear…

  • The joyful art of Maungarongo Te Kawa

    The Māori artist, Maungarongo Te Kawa, uses an array of techniques and materials to create fabulous, marvellous and wonder-filled quilts. “Ron” Te Kawa uses fabrics to convey messages to uplift, explore and explain his world. He recently undertook a residency in Norway; his words speak for themselves. Maungarongo Te Kawa was a keynote speaker at…

  • Cicadas – music to the ears?

    Each year cicadas emerge from their underground nurseries to fill the air with their chirping and buzzing. To some they are a nuisance but to this entomologist they are a sign of hope… The delightfully-named “periodical cicadas” come out of their burrows, as the name suggest, at regular intervals. This year the emergence of two…

  • Sheep sleep

    The new studio in Māwhera Greymouth has plenty of wall space for art, and what could be more appropriate than Storm Thorgerson’s “Sheep sleep”? The image, printed onto metal, greets visitors as they walk through the front entrance to the studio. The picture is of a sheep lying abed, while, seen through a window, men…