New Zealand music is a vibrant expression of the culture of New Zealand. As the largest nation in Polynesia, New Zealand's music is influenced by the indigenous Maori and immigrants from the Pacific region. The origins of New Zealand's musical culture lie in its British colonial history, with contributions from Europe and America. As the nation has grown and established its own culture, local artists have mixed these styles with local influences to create music that is uniquely New Zealand in style.

Check out these great Kiwi bands while in New Zealand or click on the name to see their MySpace page and hear their music:

Scribe - hip hop

Salmonella Dub - reggae/electronica

Katchafire - reggae

Bic Runga - light rock

Pacifier/Shihad - hard rock

Fat Freddy's Drop - raggae/dub

When it comes to film, New Zealand isn't just a a beautiful scenic backdrop. many New Zealand-born actors, directors, and writers have helped put the tiny country on the map in the entertainment world.
 

Whale Rider
 

Produced by South Pacific Pictures, on the East Coast of New Zealand's North Island, the movie has received highly favorable praise from international critics and audiences.

The movie has won a number of international film-festival awards, including:

• the Toronto International Film Festival's AGF Peoples Choice award in September 2002
• the World Cinema Audience award at the January 2003 Sundance Film Festival in the United States
• the Canal Plus Award at the January 2003 Rotterdam Film Festival.
• Keisha Castle-Hughes was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance, becoming the youngest actress ever nominated for the award.

Peter Jackson was born in Pukerua Bay, New Zealand, an only child to Bill and Joan Jackson, both of whom were immigrants from England. As a child, Jackson was a film fan, growing up on Ray Harryhausen films as well as Thunderbirds and using his parent's Super 8 cine-camera. Citing King Kong as his favorite film at age 9, he attempted to remake it with his own stop-motion models.

Jackson is a three-time Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA winning New Zealand filmmaker best known as the director of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which he, along with his long time partner, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens adapted from the novels by J.R.R. Tolkien. He is also known for his remake of King Kong.

With his successes and innovative film-making, Jackson is now considered to be an important force in the new generation of motion picture directors. Peter Jackson has even been described as the new Steven Spielberg of the present generation, and the combination of his unmatched commercial successes, along with the critical acclaim he has garnered, have made Jackson one of the most powerful film directors of the present era.

 

The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is the national museum of New Zealand. It is branded and commonly known as Te Papa and Our Place; "Te Papa Tongarewa" is broadly translatable as "the place of treasures of this land".

The main Te Papa building is on the waterfront in Wellington, on Cable Street. Inside the building are six storeys of exhibitions, cafés and gift shops dedicated to New Zealand's culture and environment. The museum also incorporates outdoor areas with artificial caves, native bushes and wetlands. The 36,000 square metre building had cost NZ$300 million by its opening in 1998.