One thing I’m really looking forward to when life returns to a new sense of normality in a post-Covid19 world is visiting a movie theatre – a treat I’ve taken for granted until a couple of weeks ago. In Theatre Beautiful, Dunedin artist Harry Vye Miller captures the bustling busy interior of Dunedin’s Regent Theatre which opened in the city’s Octagon in 1928. Miller enjoyed this theatre and is known to have attended the opening night. The building thankfully remains fully intact and is one of the gems of Dunedin’s architectural heritage.

Cosmo looks a lot like the Easter Bunny to me – and luckily for us Jacinda Ardern has confirmed that the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy are considered essential workers while we're in lockdown!

This painting was made around 300 years ago, so it’s quite old. The man in the picture was called Nathaniel Webb. In his portrait Nathaniel wears very fine clothes and a wig. It seems strange to us now but at that time it was a popular fashion for rich men to cut their own hair short and wear a wig.

You are invited to take part in Blue Globe: Stories from Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū. It’s a chance to feed your curiosity, feel inspired and challenge your creative side. And it’s easy. All you have to do is choose any artwork from the Gallery’s collection online and create a short piece of writing inspired by it. 

Artists from Aotearoa New Zealand are often well-travelled. Feeling the distance of Aotearoa from the world’s centres of art, they have often been drawn overseas to study and work, contributing to the art history of their adopted countries as well as this one.