[selchie]

I agree with your assessment of LOTR not being about New Zealand, though the movie is a Kiwi cultural artifact in so many ways. The Piano was a Kiwi historical piece, wasn't it? It's been so long since I've seen it that I can't recall much. I recommend Once Were Warriors - a depressing but excellent movie about an urban Maori family.

I had heard about the museum of wearable art in Nelson, but is it really worn out and about? That would be fun, if so. We visited many wonderful art galleries and museums in NZ. We visited Aigantighe, a nice little art museum in Timaru. The art museum in downtown Christchurch is well worth a visit. The National Gallery (?) near Parliment had a wonderful retrospective of Ans Westra's photography when we were there. Te Papa in Wellington is full of Kiwi cultural exhibits. I recommend them all.

There seems to be a lot of good books, art, music, movies, etc. in NZ. Wonderful stuff for such a small population. Too bad so little of it is noticed out in the wide world.