1An item on debate over controversy surrounding painting by Peter Robinson that features a reversed swastika and the words ‘Pakeha have rights too’; Robert Leonard, Artspace director; Associate Professor Jenny Harper, Art History - Victoria University; Peter McLeavey, gallery owner.

2Studio debate on Peter Robinson’s work with Tessa Laird, arts commentator and manager of ‘The Physics Room’, Christchurch, Hana O’Regan, Christchurch Polytechnic lecturer and Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence, Auckland Hebrew Congregation; work of photographer Lee Miller, on display at City Art Gallery, Wellington. Peter Robinson’s work explores his dual identity as both a Māori and Pakeha. He is interested in New Zealand’s colonial history: the process of assimilating two cultures and the difficulties that arise from this. He uses a lot of scrawled words and slogans which reference both ancient rock paintings and the handmade signs of urban street vendors, emphasising the relationship between old and new, Māori and Pakeha. His work also comments on the politics of the art world itself: the careerism involved in becoming a successful artist on an international art stage and how one maintains a sense of themselves and their cultural identity. Experiencing a sense of loneliness and cultural isolation while living in Europe, Robinson’s work became focused on existential philosophy, cosmology and the internet. While exploring his Māori identity, Robinson sets this identity against a more global cultural context than many of his predecessors.