Category: Uncategorized

  • Design Lessons from Nature

    The library in the studio in Māwhera Greymouth has as section of books about design, amongst them some that relate to nature. A 1974 edition of Design Lessons from Nature has just been added to that collection. Written by Benjamin deBrie Taylor and published in the United States, the book contains the “substance of talks…

  • Basotho blankets

    The textile collection continues to grow and so does the cataloguing. The most recent addition to the catalogue, thanks to our Canadian friend, Karen, who volunteers time to do this research and to write up the texts for the website, are the Basotho blankets. These particular examples are common across South Africa. Locally produced, they…

  • What’s on the playlist

    This week the playlist features Sámi by Black Magdalene ​Based in Eugene, Oregon, this darkwave ensemble was formed in 2011. Darkwave is a music genre that evolved from post-punk and New Wave movements in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Dakota by The Stereophonics This Welsh band had their first number one on the UK singles…

  • This week’s blog

    Dear readers, This week the enormous crates and boxes arrived from the UK in Greymouth. The task ahead is mammoth – how to pack the Shetland studio into a much smaller space in New Zealand – but already most of the boxes are unwrapped and the contents stored. It feels very good to have everything…

  • Waitangi Day

    This coming week is the occasion of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi/ Te Tiriti o Waitangi. New Zealand Aotearoa marks the signing of this historic documentation on Thursday 6th January: Waitangi Day. Māwhera Greymouth will be holding its Waitangi Day Celebration in Dixon Park from 11am with kai and food, waiata and singing,…

  • Creativity wins out

    The experience of writing the blog this week has been… well… interesting. Each week I work on the blog for four or five hours. I select the stories that I want to tell, many from conversations that have occurred throughout the week or from events in the news. Sometimes I approach the blog with nothing…

  • Tracks from the Spotify playlist

    This week the playlist features these tracks. Kara Toprak (Black Earth) by Fazil Say and Hunter Noak Fazil Say, the Turkish composer and pianist, meets Hunter Noak, a classical pianist, in this opening piece on the playlist. Australian Aboriginal Music by Didgeridoo Aboriginal Dreamtime. The didgeridoo (officially spelt as “Didjeridu”) of Australia is ancient, at…

  • Rare breeds of New Zealand

    The native flora and fauna of Aotearoa New Zealand is often newsworthy but what of its introduced species? From the earliest days of human habitation the islands have been home to life brought in from elsewhere. Polynesian rats (kiore) and dogs (kurī) came to Aotearoa with Māori sailors, introductions that were followed by others in…

  • Tracks from the Spotify playlist

    Indonesian Gendhing Gamelan The gamelan music of Indonesia is on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list. Made up mainly of percussive instruments, gamelan orchestras may include xylophones, gongs, metalophones, voices and flutes. This piece has been included because of the article about the Cia-Cia language from Indonesia. Hangul – Orchestra Fratiler Advahov Although this piece relates…

  • White Cranes and Snowfall

    In 2023, UK-based artist, Young In Hong, visited the demilitarised zone that divides the Korean Peninsula. The area, once the site of war, is now a haven, a place where nature has reclaimed the land. Rare cranes now inhabit the zone along with many other endangered creatures and plants. In an artwork inspired by the…