Tag: music

  • Conversation and Cloth

    This coming Friday is the next instalment of our monthly series of textile talks. Conversation and Cloth is a series that explores the textile collection that is housed upstairs at the Regent Theatre in Māwhera Greymouth. This time we are going to be looking at how art and artists are represented in the collection. It…

  • Murals at Pompeii

    Nearly 2000 years ago, the Italian city of Pompeii was obliterated by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The blast covered the settlement with ash and pumice that preserved, sometimes in remarkable detail, the details of everyday life in this Roman city. Over decades the site has been the focus of archaeology with astonishing finds showing…

  • This week’s Spotify playlist

    Each blog is accompanied by a Spotify playlist, a curated selection of audio that relates in some way to the blog and, occasionally, to current events, such as this week’s eclipse. Paid subscribers to Spotify will hear all the songs in the playlist on the player above or in your own app while free subscriptions…

  • This week’s Spotify playlist

    Each week the blog is accompanied by a playlist on Spotify. You can hear the playlist on the player above or search for any of them within the app by the title “Music to read a blog by”. Paying subscribers to Spotify will hear an uninterrupted playlist, those with a free subscription will have advertising…

  • The blog this week

    Hello dear readers, We have had a family bereavement and a funeral this week so I have decided not to write a blog. I am sorry because I love writing the entries and sending it out to you all but the blog will be back next week. This Spotify playlist is for peaceful contemporary music.…

  • Puhihuia

    Puhihuia

    The story of Puhihuia and Te Ponga is a 17th Century Māori love story. Mt. Eden, in days long gone by, was called Maungawhau and was the fortified stronghold of a very large tribe. Te Ponga came from Awhitu to visit the Maungawhau Chieftain. Te Ponga was a handsome young warrior and while we was…

  • This week’s Spotify playlist

    Each week the blog is accompanied by a Spotify playlist, a curation of music and sound that reflects the articles in the newsletter. To preview the playlist, click on the play button on the player above. For those with a subscription you can click on the Spotify logo in the top right-hand corner of the…

  • This week’s Spotify playlist

    Each week a playlist of curated music and sound goes along with the blog. The playlist references articles in the blog and includes pieces from across the globe. Those who have a paid subscription to Spotify will hear all the playlist uninterrupted. Those with a free subscription will have advertising interspersed and everyone else will…

  • Papua New Guinea

    Papua New Guinea

    Papua New Guinea, the most populous of the Pacific islands, the world’s third largest island country and the most linguistically diverse with 839 known languages, boasts rich cultures, some of which include the making of tapa (barkcloth). Tapa is made by pounding and crushing plant material, drying the resulting layer, and then using it for…

  • How glass beads are changing Australian history

    How glass beads are changing Australian history

    In 2013 a news report alerted archaeologists, researchers and scientists to an unusual find: glass beads of European origin excavated in the Arnhem Land region of Australia. These beads appear to predate European contact with Aboriginal peoples of the country and point to a trade that existed long before colonisation. These small items were, it…