When 'Kiwi' Isn't Kiwi At All

I’ve just received an American press release that highlights the Kiwi Collection – a source of luxury accommodation in “obscure places.” As a New Zealander – or a Kiwi, to use the informal terminology – my chest puffed out with pride and I decided to log on to see who was behind this brainchild. Turns out Head Office is in Vancouver, Canada and while there is an office in Sydney, Australia, any other links to New Zealand appear to be tenuous. Admittedly they have 20 or so New Zealand properties listed but that’s about it. In discussing the company on their website, the President, Philippe Kjellgren, has this to say about the use of the word ‘Kiwi’ in the company title: “Why the Kiwi in Kiwi Collection? KIWI IS A RELATIVELY NEW WORD. It is pronounced the same in almost every major language………. And like the kiwifruit, the company tries to be fresh and full of flavour in everything it does. After all, every journey in life should be a rich, rare and succulent experience, so enjoy your travels.” MMMMMmmmmmm …well, I suppose it depends by what you mean by “relatively new.” In my head ‘Kiwi’ is a Maori word, hundreds of years old. But perhaps we're supposed to be flattered (in some obscure way) that someone in big old Canada wants to use our words (in this way). www.kiwicollection.com

Art And Conservation

While I am sometimes skeptical about the way everyone is jumping on the 'green/sustainability/environmentally-aware' bandwagon, I do like the sound of this art project - in October last year ten New Zealand artists from mixed disciplines - from musical composition, poetry and film-making to jewellery and the visual arts - were packed off on the conservation yacht, Breaksea Girl to spend six days and nights in deepest, darkest, remotest western Fiordland at the bottom of the South Island. Breaksea Girl is owned by Lance and Ruth Shaw, both active conservationists, who run their eco-tourism business, Fiordland Ecology Holidays (http://www.fiordland.gen.nz/), from their Doubtful Sound base. This inspired project has borne fruit in a new exhibition by one of the participants, Dunedin-based artist-writer, Claire Beynon, whose show at The Arthouse, Christchurch, FATHOM, ( March 5-March 23) is a direct response to Fiordland's dramatic and unique environment. I'm looking forward to seeing the show, although in some ways, it's a pity it isn't a group show of all participants - seeing all ten responses to that amazing environment in one place at one time would make for something truly unique. Maybe it will happen? In the meantime, we can only hope that whoever organised this brilliant 'waterborne residency' will make a habit of thinking this creatively and this laterally. There are so many ways of getting more from both art and tourism. www.thearthouse.co.nz

Marketing Madness

Mon Dieu! Whatever next? Now we have Christchurch & Canterbury Tourism promoting Canterbury as "the new Europe!" It's bad enough that Akaroa flaunts itself so brazenly (and misguidedly in my opinion) as being French. Okay, so the French discovered it before Captain Cook but they missed out on claiming it as legitimate French territory so why why why, over 150 years later, does CCT keep making exaggerated claims that it is a French village. As the ever-witty Joe Bennett quips in today's Sunday Star Times: "Le Mini Golf is about as far as it gets......you could fire a scatter gun around Akaroa for four days and not find anyone whose French vocabulary was in double figures." I agree wholeheartedly - a French restaurant, a few cafes and a few French street names does not a French village make. And now this latest embarassing claim that Canterbury is "a little slice of Europe." CCT chief executive, Christine Prince may be right in saying that "you have to find ways to cut through and engage people and get them thinking about things differently," but let's keep it in perspective - let's keep it 'in New Zealand' in fact and let's stop making wildly fantastic claims that leave most of us cringing in embarassment.