There was a sense of celebration, marred only by the thudding beats of revivalist worship downstairs. A well-filled Town Hall Concert Chamber hosted an audience keen to welcome home some distinguished young Auckland musicians.

Simon Allan Kerr, 54, has been in and out of prison since he was 15 and is serving time at the Northland Region Corrections Facility, Ngawha.

Hundreds of artworks adorn Auckland, highlighting our culture and diversity, finds Sarah Ell.

Some of us have become cynical about the lure of the exotic, thanks to the loose and fatuous language of the advertising industry.

Critics have hailed Benedict Cumberbatch's portrayal of Hamlet as "victorious" whilst branding the show an "anti-climax".

British researchers believe they have unlocked the mystery of the Mona Lisa's enigmatic smile - by analysing another, recently discovered masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci.

A seaside "bemusement park" unveiled by Banksy has sparked controversy by featuring a Cinderella pumpkin crash sculpture which echos Princess Diana's death.

The three choreographers contributing state of the art pieces for this ground-breaking season with the New Zealand Dance Company were given the brief of "light, illumination, space, image and movement" by the company's artistic director Shona McCullagh.

South African scientists have discovered that 400-year-old tobacco pipes excavated from the garden of William Shakespeare contained cannabis, suggesting the playwright might have written some of his....

Portraits of Audrey Hepburn and Charlie Chaplin, views of Venetian canals or a growling lion, these artworks all have something in common outside hefty price tags - they're edible.

For more than 50 years Yoko Ono has been campaigning - for peace, for feminism, and gun control. This tireless activism, she tells Alex Needham, is at the heart of her work as an artist.

Britain was accused yesterday of playing into the hands of China after it refused the political dissident Ai Weiwei a six-month business visa and claimed he lied on his application form.

The Magna Carta was a series of written promises between the king and people that they would be governed under the customs of feudal law.

A Finland artist has reimagined what he thinks well-known Disney princes would look like if they were real humans. Swoon.

Struggling artists and authors with writer's block may soon be offered help from an imagination app.

On stage, she's the leader of a sex strike, aimed at ending a 20-year-old war. Off stage, Amanda Billing can't fathom such a drastic move.

Australian highway dominated by nine-metre-tall metallic gnome from the same Kiwi sculptor behind the Auckland art work that many thought looked like a penis.

One of the most anticipated books in the past decade will be released in New Zealand and around the world today.

Shock for fans of beloved classic as author Harper Lee turns Atticus Finch, the champion of racial justice, into a bigot for sequel.

No need for shivering at home in the mid-winter blast, you can find some seasonal sparkle in our top five list this weekend.

After a 12-month hiatus, the country's premier book awards will return in 2016 with a new structure and an annual fiction prize of $50,000. Do you have a favourite novel by a New Zealand writer?

Rain is predicted, so we can legitimately head indoors for some winter treats.

A meandering, ever-changing river is the analogy Rangihiroa Panoho uses for his overview of Maori art

Public galleries are often in close touch with their immediate communities. The festival of Matariki is supported by exhibitions at three galleries.

This Canterbury artist and designer keeps a close eye on the images beamed in from the far reaches of our galaxy and beyond.

In a carpark next to the SuperValue in Hall Ave, under a sturdy marquee, locals line up to puff and blow under the instructions of master glassmakers.

Sean Plunket's comments describing Eleanor Catton as an "ungrateful hua" and a "traitor" were not in breach of broadcasting standards.