Arts & Culture

The Eastern Southland Gallery has lost one of its most devoted friends. Sir Sam Neill, who died on July 13 aged 78, spent more than 25 years quietly shaping the Gore gallery's collection and championing the idea that provincial New Zealand deserves serious contemporary art. Gallery curator Jim

Invercargill's most-visited gallery exhibition is back — and this time it's asking you to show up in your pyjamas. Play, now in its fifth year, opens at the transitional public art gallery on Friday July 3 with a free family night running from 5pm to 7pm. Balloon

Southland's arts scene is bigger than anyone expected. More than 90 nominations flooded in for this year's regional arts awards — a number that surprised even the organisers. Arts Murihiku now faces the pleasant problem of choosing between four to six finalists in each of nine categories.

Simon Thompson has won the top prize at the country music awards that matter. The Senior MLT NZ Gold Guitar Award went to Thompson over King's Birthday Weekend, along with $5,000 cash, a fully produced single, and a trip to the 2027 Tamworth Country Music Festival in

Repertory Invercargill is turning 90 with a love story about parallel universes. Constellations, running June 10-13, follows a physicist and a beekeeper through the many possible paths their relationship could take. The play blends science, humour, heartbreak and the theory that every small choice changes everything. Director Aimee Marshall, whose