Tongan New Zealand performance artist Kaisolaite Uhila is the current visiting artist in residence at Dunedin Public Art Gallery. Whether he’s living homeless around the boundary of Auckland Art Gallery for the Walters Prize, or sleeping with pigs in Aotea Square, Uhila uses his body and its labour to start uneasy conversations that break down … Read more
In our latest local elections 2019 race briefing (read the rest here), Josie Adams assesses the bastion of progressive virtue that is Dunedin/Ōtepoti. The Spinoff local election coverage is made possible thanks to The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member and supporting The Spinoff’s journalism click here. Where? Dunedin, or Ōtepoti, is also known as “the Edinburgh of … Read more
This week’s issue of Otago University student magazine Critic features a story on a landlord who gave tenants illegal fixed-term contracts for what was legally a boarding house. It’s just the latest in a string of shocking stories of exploitative Dunedin landlords and property managers, writes editor Charlie O’Mannin. Over the past few years Critic … Read more
Over the course of the local elections period, The Spinoff will be publishing primers on some of the most interesting races around the country. Today, Alex Braae casts his eyes over the Otago Regional Council contest. The Spinoff local election coverage is made possible thanks to The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member and supporting The Spinoff’s … Read more
Caroline Moratti goes all the way undercover to discover the truth about nude modelling for artists and photographers, in this story first published in Critic Te Arohi, the University of Otago student magazine. Like any woman, it’s fair to say I have a complicated relationship with my body. By complicated, I mean a lifelong obsession … Read more
When the University of Otago was founded 150 years ago the interests of local Māori were disregarded. But now, in the last 50 years, engagement with tangata whenua has become an essential part of the university’s identity. New Zealand’s first university was co-founded by a controversial Scottish politician determined to make something of himself in … Read more
In a world of racist tweeting presidents, climate crisis and cricketing travesty, what you need in your life is this palliative conversation about Dunedin’s Baldwin Street losing its crown as world’s steepest street to Ffordd Pen Llech in Wales The slope of Baldwin Street, Dunedin, curled into a melancholy frown this week with the announcement … Read more
The chance discovery of an 18-year-old book of spells (for men) leads Critic‘s Charlie O’Mannin on a journey to the dark side. In the depths of time before the world came into being (2001), in a dark and distant land (the American Midwest), a book was made. This book was called Wicca Spellcraft for Men … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Auckland Council the latest to declare a climate emergency, money runs out on Fox River cleanup, and taking of children into state care in focus. If you live in Auckland, you now live in a city where a ‘climate emergency’ has been declared. The motion was passed … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Fears for cities with loss of trees, competitive battle looms for Dunedin mayoralty, and teacher strike talks to take place amid new secondary strike action. New Zealand’s urban environments are losing worryingly high numbers of irreplaceable mature trees, reports Charlie Mitchell at Stuff. It comes a decade after … Read more
Every morning, so far, I’m alive: a memoir is the story of how Wendy Parkins unravelled and put herself back together, sort of. A professor of Victorian literature, Wendy Parkins whips us from Dunedin to Dover to Matakana, through three breakdowns, some extremely sub-par therapy, and a strange experience at an Auckland retreat. Tying the whole … Read more
Students and police who were present at the three most famous Dunedin riots of the last 30 years share what they remember about how it all went down. This piece was originally published in Critic Te Arohi, the University of Otago student magazine. 1990: Saturday 22 April – Easter Tourney “Easter Tourney” saw students from … Read more
Flatting comes with a lot of headaches, but none more stressful than a flatmate who owes you rent money. Erin Gourley talked to some students whose flatmates bailed, and found out what your rights are if the same thing happens to you. This story originally appeared in Critic Te Arohi, the Otago University student magazine. … Read more
The editor of Critic Te Arohi backgrounds the magazine’s major investigation into sexual harassment and troubling culture at Knox, one of the University of Otago’s oldest residential colleges. Over the past month Critic Te Arohi, the University of Otago student magazine, has been investigating how Knox college deals with sexual assault and harassment, and how … Read more
It might seem unbelievable to today’s students, but it’s true: once upon a time students regularly drank in bars, lured there by cheap drinks and a crude culture of excess. Chelle Fitzgerald looks back on the student pubs Dunedin has loved and lost, and talks to Marc Ellis, the celebrity sportsman who tried to resuscitate … Read more
It’s remembered as one of New Zealand’s best comic thrillers, but how did it happen? Joel McManus talks to director Robert Sarkies about his 1999 film Scarfies. This piece was originally published on April 15, 2018 An empty flat. A quarter of a million dollars worth of weed. A drug dealer that wants to kill you. … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Cleanup looms after Southern flooding, National party maintains volume of written questions barrage, and Fletcher shares take a hammering. What the flood is going on in Dunedin? The city and surrounding region is facing a cleanup today, reports the ODT, after heavy rain caused flooding in parts of … Read more
When musician Anthonie Tonnon started to research the history of Dunedin’s railway system for his new music video, it grew into a consuming, Aotearoa-wide investigation – and the inspiration for the tour that kicks off this week. If you live in a large city with a passenger rail network, a railway underpass will not be … Read more
Were a group of Māori men from Parihaka in Taranaki really held in a Dunedin cave in the late 1800s? New research by museum curator Seán Brosnahan seems to have finally revealed the truth. Shore Street, on the Dunedin harbour, marks the turning point of two different worlds. On one side, the busy machinations of … Read more
Social scientist Lucy Carter says people’s resilience and generosity during the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes spurred her to look at how Māori and indigenous communities respond to disaster. When I tell people I’m a disaster researcher, I tend to get a range of reactions. Some take the opportunity to share with me their personal … Read more
In one of her first interviews since she walked away from politics, Metiria Turei talks to Waveney Russ about her new life as an artist studying at the Dunedin School of Art. Metiria Turei and I sit across the table from one another in front of her most recent piece of art at Blue … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: NZ MPs have ringside seats to Australian chaos, Catholic Bishop of Dunedin apologises to city, and red zone ‘quake outcasts’ to be paid out. It’s all going off in Australian politics right now, and in a weird coincidence, some New Zealand MPs have had ringside seats. Deputy … Read more
Last Friday, Auckland-based, Dunedin-formed band Ha the Unclear released their new album Invisible Lines. To celebrate, singer/guitarist/songwriter Michael Cathro sat down to write a track-by-track guide. ‘WWYWI’ ‘Where Were You When I Was All You Needed?’ was the last song written for this album. It’s one person realising the fondness that developed through absence, only … Read more
Sex is a struggle for most people, but it can be doubly difficult for those living with a disability, writes Caroline Moratti for the Otago University student magazine Critic. Is sex a basic human right? Not for your parents hopefully, don’t picture that. To access sex remains a struggle that plagues most of our lives. … Read more
Dudley Benson premieres his new video ‘Zealandia’ and speaks to Hussein Moses about his high concept political album of the same name that’s been eight years and $90,000 in the making. The day after Dudley Benson sent off his new album Zealandia to be mastered, he was back singing again, only this time it was … Read more
It might seem unbelievable to today’s students, but it’s true: once upon a time students regularly drank in bars, lured there by cheap drinks and a crude culture of excess. Chelle Fitzgerald looks back on the student pubs Dunedin has loved and lost, and talks to Marc Ellis, the celebrity sportsman who tried to resuscitate … Read more
Yesterday came the shock news that Dunedin’s Fortune Theatre had closed after 44 years and more than 400 productions. Playwright Roger Hall, who lived in Dunedin for 20 years and had close ties with the Fortune, looks back at the theatre’s decades-long struggle to stay afloat. Ah the Fortune. The tantrums, the dramas, the jealousies, … Read more
It’s not just a challenge on Fear Factor anymore. Charlie O’Mannin talks to locust farmer Malcolm Diack about farming locusts for human consumption, doing it within city limits and doing it ethically. Malcolm Diack loves animals. As we enter his suburban house in Caversham we’re greeted by a beautiful deaf Samoyed, two cats, and a tank of … Read more
It’s remembered as one of New Zealand’s best comic thrillers, but how did it happen? Joel McManus talks to director Robert Sarkies about his 1999 film Scarfies. An empty flat. A quarter of a million dollars worth of weed. A drug dealer that wants to kill you. And you’ve taken him hostage in your basement. What … Read more