Articles written by Brenda Ann Burke
Showing 1-100 of 114 Articles
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Senior Citizens Going Home
The life transition into the golden years does not mean slowing down for Kiwis living overseas who decide to resettle in their childhood communities.
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Naming Places
Across cultures people have given names to mountains, rivers, rock formations, clearings and settlements. What are the reasons for this human instinct to identify?
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Kapa Haka Takes Indigenous Culture to the World
Maori music and movement has always been a way to honour ancestors and keep history alive. Now these indigenous art forms are meeting the challenge of a global reality.
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Digital Technology Tackles Climate Change
The information technology industry is not known as environmentally friendly. But computer scientists are looking at ways to reduce harm and contribute to sustainability.
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Five Arguments for Complementary Currencies
Local voucher or money schemes play a valuable role in supporting sustainable lifestyles, and are especially popular in times of recession. Here's why.
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Tuning into the Rhythm of the Earth
There is a time for every season under heaven, according to the Bible. A New Zealand Maori festival pays tribute to nature's bounty and cycles of darkness and light.
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Green Business Grows Jobs and Communities
A local effort to provide environment-focused employment in the Far North has grown into a diversified, innovative business.
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Community Biobus Tackles Climate Change
People in sparsely populated areas often don't have the choice to reduce their carbon footprints by using public transport. A Far North business has plans to change this.
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Moving House and Positive Life Change
Moving is considered one of the most stressful of human experiences, but it can provide opportunities for development if you are open to the possibilities.
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Painters and Poets - Creative Union
Abstract expressionist, symbolist, Hotere crosses boundaries to express his vision through the writer's tools of allusion and metaphor.
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Painting, Landscape and Community
Colin McCahon was struck by the sheer beauty of the region. Far North artists live close to land and sea, and this influences both their work and how they display it.
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Gum Digging: Romantic History or Living Hell?
Like gold miners in Alaska, the men who harvested kauri gum were renowned for their ruggedness. But their independent life was a hard one.
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Lessons in Surviving Recession
In economic downturn, history shows that government intervention may not be as important as personal initiative and the help of others in the community.
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Celebrating Easter in a Recession
Creating meaning in the season of bunnies and eggs doesn't take money. Here are some hard-time tips for personal growth and family fun.
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Transition Towns Thrive Down Under
As the impact of climate change is felt in the South Pacific, local initiatives are underway to reduce carbon emissions and promote lifestyle change.
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Growing Vegetables for Beginners
So the recession, health concerns or a desire to be self-sufficient has made you think about growing your own food. Here are some strategies for success.
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South Pacific Travel: Holiday in Endless Summer
A wild-sea beach stretching to the horizon. Rich Maori history and stories of pioneers. Surf-breaks and horse treks. Quiet, starry nights. This is Ahipara in Aotearoa.
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The Importance of Word Choice
Language selection makes the difference between someone who plays with writing, and a writer. Here is an illustration.
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Poetry and Democracy
The study of poetry improves critical thinking, ecological and community awareness and connection, and provides people with spiritual resources to live their lives.
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Poetry of the Commonplace
Themes of power, conflict, personal fulfilment in the workplace and everyday life--these provide inspiration for writers who focus on people's daily realities.
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Poetry and Identity in New Zealand and Palestine
Creative writers in different cultures have been the voice of their people in times of war and hardship, showing surprising parallels across language and distance.
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Poetry, Politics and Hard Times
Are war, recession and climate change more likely to nurture left- or right-wing writers and spoken word artists?
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Exercise, Women and Society
Women and men have different objectives and need different workouts to achieve optimal physical and mental health, researchers say.
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The Ethics of Land for Food and Fuel
Fearing high prices for grain and biofuels, rich countries are leasing farmland in poorer nations. Is this exploitation, or a win-win strategy?
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International Shows for Kiwi Visionary Art
Afficionados and collectors of self-taught art will have an unusual opportunity to view the work of Kiwi and Australian artists, some little-known, early in 2009.
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Goal-Setting to Change Your Behaviours
Every year the well-intentioned--or just desperate--set January 1 as the start date for a new life. Experts say that the key to change is making goals, not resolutions.
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Programming the Perfect Soldier
A current project sponsored by the US military is the design for the battlefield of decision-making killer machines with moral "judgement". Is this a good thing?
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In Praise of Small Public Galleries
They may not appear in tourist brochures, but studio-sized exhibition places provide unique opportunities for both artist and audience.
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Materialism and Mental Health
Money can't buy love, as the song says. Worse, the evidence seems to be clear that people driven by possessions and appearances are more likely to suffer from depression.
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Fighting Anxiety, Stress and Depression
Family doctors often can't offer much help to people who are not diagnosed as mentally ill, but are not really well, experts say. Researchers are aiming to change that.
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Cartooning and World Peace
They may provide a chuckle, but how important are "political" cartoons, and the artists' freedom of expression on social subjects?
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How to Holiday-Proof Your Fitness
Many people lose touch with their training programmes over the festive season, making a fresh start in the New Year much more difficult. It doesn't have to happen.
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How to Write a Prose Poem
Yes, it's a legitimate poetry form. And this lyric, shaped by the power of the sentence, may be the best way for a writer to express the ideas of a quirky imagination.
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The Body in the World
Could it be that dancing and painting reveal more than rational thought does about life? Philosophers consider the links between culture and living.
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Dance and the Meaning of Life
Expressing the mind-body connection physically may get spiritual seekers closer to the truth. How are dancing and living the same?
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Voting and the Politics of Fear
Party political campaigns savvy about the workings of the brain are more likely to win elections. Voters need to be aware of non-rational influences on their decisions.
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Can Your Tattoo Help Save the Earth?
As artists around the world tackle environmental issues, tattoo art is uniquely placed to convey the interdependence message.
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Spiritual Seeking and the World Wide Web
People can transcend "machine tendencies" by using computers for contemplation and connection, according to writers on religion and society.
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Technology and Spirit
The line between "human being" and "cyborg" may be fading, culture writers say. Spiritual seekers need to be wary.
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Trungpa Rinpoche and Social Activism
Could the teachings of the Tibetan Buddhist master, founder of Shambhala, promote societal healing and world peace?
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Chogyam Trungpa and the Hard Road
Almost 40 years ago, the revered Buddhist master presented a tough, uncompromising path to enlightenment. Is his approach still relevant?
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Planning for a Green Christmas
By preparing ahead of time, your Christmas celebrations can help save the world, rather than adding to environmental problems.
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Preparing an Ethical Christmas
Would you like this Christmas to be more meaningful and memorable? It means making some decisions in advance and sticking to them.
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Twelve Steps Towards Happiness
Happiness research has shown what governments and communities can do to improve the well-being of citizens. It all has to do with stability and relationships.
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Public Economics and Social Harmony
Achieving healthy communities may require a radical re-think of how governments measure well-being and tax citizens.
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The Pursuit of Happiness
If the secret of happiness is inner harmony, why should safer communities and "feeding the world" matter?
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Promoting Dialogue Against Violence
How you seek to achieve order in communities depends on what you see as the root of conflict, a lack of empathy or more "political" causes.
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Artscience Problem Solvers Take On World Issues
It takes determination, but innovative thinkers show how crossing disciplinary boundaries can produce real contributions even in areas such as supporting torture victims.
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Creative Answers to Global Issues
Solving the big problems--climate change, world hunger, civil war--may require approaches that cross the boundaries between art and science.
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Sound Poetry and the Migrant Story
New Zealand-based Teresia Teaiwa's first CD, I Can See Fiji (Wellington: A Fiery Canoe Production, 2008), provides fresh insights to issues of identity and environment.
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How Art Communicates
Can painters and sculptors make a difference to society? The work of many artists, such as Fiona Hall and Michel Tuffery, suggests that they can.
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Body Image Obsession
The developed world's focus on physical appearance and body shape is hurting people and wasting energy, experts say.
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Spoken Word as Revolution
Beat, Hip Hop and modern day spoken word poetry all seek to interpret times of social upheaval and to encourage ordinary people to tell their stories.
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Politics and Performance Poetry
From Homer to Saul Williams, poets have sought to engage the "common" people, and to give them voice.
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Modern Art, Environment and Heritage
Kinetic art has a long tradition in New Zealand, where it may challenge the observer to connect with history or the natural environment.
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What is Kinetic Art?
Leonardo da Vinci, Marcel Duchamp and Martin Creed all had different ways of literally bringing art to life.
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Politics and Sport in New Zealand
Can the outcome of a game have an impact on who governs a country? In Aotearoa, yes, quite possibly.
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Rugby and the New Zealand Identity
Rugby is more than just a game in New Zealand. For many people, it's an indicator of the health of the nation.
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The Goddess and Rita Angus
Rita Angus was ahead of her time in exploring feminist, anti-war and environmentalist themes in her work.
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Who Was Rita Angus?
An art exhibition, a biography and a documentary movie reveal a strong but isolated artistic talent.
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How to Write an Ode
Accomplished writers such as Pablo Neruda and Ian Wedde have used the ode to praise aspects of everyday life. By respecting the spirit of the form, you can do the same.
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Poetry for Praise
Do you have something to say to someone in particular? Great poets from Pindar to Keats conveyed their inspiration in the ode form.
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Gym Rowing as Exercise and Sport
Indoor rowing is a full-body workout that allows you to compete against the best in the world.
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NZ Art Exhibit About Environment and Society
An art exhibit premiering in New Zealand raises important questions about the role of the artist in fighting climate change.
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Freeing Artistic Genius
William Hazlitt was considered in his time an ordinary teacher and journalist, but his writings may have unlocked the lyrical power of a legend of Romantic poetry.
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Words from William Hazlitt the Romantic
Why should anyone in the 21st century be interested in a 19th-century English journalist and thinker who was dismissed as by T.S. Eliot as tasteless?
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Freerunning, Art and Social Ethics
What appears to be urban acrobatics has links to mindfulness practices such as yoga and to efforts through fitness to develop strong, useful people.
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Post-Marathon Sports Psychology
You've achieved your endurance training or fitness goal. So why do you feel so flat? The key to recovery is to have a plan.
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The Artist as Critic of Society
How can an artist "grow" in a culture he may despise, or at least feel at odds with? Two poets and a painter from different worlds had similar answers.
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Prophetic Art
A British poet, American writer and New Zealand painter had a lot in common: deeply felt concerns about society, and a similar sense of how people might seek fulfilment.
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Marking the Maori New Year
As earth-conscious people celebrate the winter or summer solstice, it may be an opportunity for a reminder of environmental challenges.
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Why Symbolic Acts Matter
To express grief, declare hope or celebrate the seasons in traditional ways, you may wish to create a ritual. Here is how you might go about it.
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Tips for the Taper
Whether your target is a road marathon or a triathlon, your physical and mental strategy in the few days before the big one can make all the difference.
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Exploring Spirit and Experience
It may be that inspiration and innovation happen only with a coming together of the mind or spirit and the environment, or lived-in world.
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Seeking Innovation From Tradition
Many theorists believe that inspiration in the arts and sciences is the product of creative learning and the environment.
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Searching for Inspiration
In answering the question, "where does creative imagination come from?", many would answer: "from within".
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Fair Trade and Ethical Shopping
Given the environmental impact of shipping products around the world, is the most ethical choice always to buy locally?
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Green or Hungry?
Is it true that ethical shoppers have to choose between action to reduce global warming and steps to end world hunger?
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Ginsberg and Dylan, Seekers
In Bob Dylan's 1978 film "Renaldo and Clara", Allen Ginsberg portrays a religious father figure. The real-life links between the two were more intriguing.
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Flash Art or Mind-Body Connection?
In Polynesian cultures, the experience of giving and receiving body art can be as important as the final result.
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Legends of Sports Motivation
Running a marathon or competing in a triathlon, even where there are risks, is a goal many athletes with medical issues are willing to take on.
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Why Poets Read Gertrude Stein
Soul-mate of Picasso, Cubist word-painter, American poet Gertrude Stein is hard to read. But you can learn a lot as a developing writer from making the effort.
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Costing the Quality of Life
Work over the past twenty years to develop ways to measure and cost human and environmental wellbeing is beginning to bear fruit, with implications for policy-makers.
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The Word and Religious Art
Painters such as Colin McCahon, outsider artists and preacher artists have all turned to word symbols to address religious questions.
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Five Rules for Performing Poetry
To read poetry in public effectively, you need to practice the basics of speech and drama.
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The "Why" of Modern Religious Art
From little-known "outsider artists" to Colin McCahon and Frieda Kahlo, painters and sculptors in the 20th and 21st century have redefined religious art.
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How Dada is Digital Poetry?
Did fewer than a hundred renegade artists in the First World War period determine the shape of modern electronic poetry?
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Can Digital Literature Be Poetry?
We've come a long way from the days when a "real poet" wrote only long-hand, perhaps transcribing a precious finished piece by typewriter.
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Why Does Yoga Work?
Skeptics wonder how a bit of stretching can make a difference. It's what actually happens in body and mind during yoga postures that yields the benefits.
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Yoga for "the Boys"
Yoga classes may provide the competitive edge in traditionally "male" sports such as American football, rugby, martial arts and boxing.
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Introduction to Visual Poetry
Concrete poetry is only one way to convey the word through the eye. Here's a survey of visual traditions that can enhance your creativity as a poet.
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Searching for the Third Voice
"Persona poems," where the poet becomes someone or something else, are not just for children. Careful creation of a character can add colour and power to your poem.
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New Zealand Visionary Art Grows
The contribution of outsider and folk artists to Aotearoa's visual heritage, and their diversity, is being increasingly recognised as exhibitions attract media interest.
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Checking Your Exercise Sanity
You may be fit but are you well? Athletes and fitness devotees need to make sure their dedication doesn't "tip over" into an unhealthy attitude towards training.
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New Zealand's Long Pathway
Te Araroa is a walking path that will provide access to Aotearoa's history and natural heritage from the top of the North to the bottom of the South Island.
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Poetry Criticism Untangled
Whether you favour a "new critical" or a "textual" approach to reading poetry makes a real difference to what you get out of it.
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How to Write a Sonnet
Writing a sonnet-even an Italian or Shakespearean sonnet-- is achievable if you have a draft poem most suitably expressed that way.
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Three Reasons to Write a Sonnet
You may be daunted by the prospect of writing a traditional Shakespearean or Italian sonnet, but sonnet-writing rules can be flexible and the outcome satisfying.
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Kiwi Samoan Art Comes of Age
Vibrant contemporary art with traditional influences by Samoan artists living in New Zealand may soon exhibit at an art gallery near you.
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Poetry Performance Anxiety
Speaking your art in public can be scary. But good psychological preparation and effective organisation can turn butterflies into power.
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