Culture

It's not just about rugby... New Zealand art is multifarious, valuing innovation, integrity and craftsmanship that reflects Pakeha, Maori and Melanesian heritage.The music scene is vigorous and has spawned a pool of talent, from Split Enz and Crowded House to the thrashing guitar pyrotechnics of Dunedin's 3Ds and Straitjacket Fits.

New Zealand art is multifarious, valuing innovation, integrity and craftsmanship that reflects Pakeha, Maori and Melanesian heritage. Wood, stone, shell and bone carvings are readily available while larger works such as tukutuku (wood panelling) can be seen in most maraes (meeting houses). Paua shell, greenstone, greywacke and greenwacke pebbles are often fashioned into jewellery that takes its inspiration from the landscape: earrings shaped like the leaves of a gingko tree; sunglasses modelled on native fern tendrils; and necklaces in frangipani-flower designs. There is a lively theatre scene in the country, especially in Wellington, and a number of galleries, including the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, which is the oldest viewing room in New Zealand and one of its best.

The music scene is vigorous and has spawned a pool of talent, from Split Enz and Crowded House to the thrashing guitar pyrotechnics of Dunedin's 3Ds and Straitjacket Fits, lauded locally and overseas.