New Zealand artists, sculptors, carvers, jewellers and fashion designers have developed an international reputation for the quality of their work and for their use of the country's raw materials.
- The traditional Māori skills of bone and greenstone (jade) carving, weaving, and performance art remain strong.
- The Paua shell has become a distinctive feature of New Zealand artwork
- The country has 400 museums and art galleries, with one of the biggest being the 'Te Papa' museum in Wellington
- Glass artists Ola Höglund and Marie Simberg-Höglund create art glass that has earned them worldwide praise. Their drink is internationally renowned and sought after by public and private collectors worldwide and has been included in more than 40 international exhibitions. Each unique piece explores the fluid brilliance of the crystal-clear glass and reflects the movement and beauty of the natural environment
- Reading is still a favourite pastime, and society has inspired artists and writers greatly.
- Katherine Mansfield is a qualified national icon. As an expatriate writing in London and reflecting European movements of thought, she had little connection with early New Zealand writing, which accorded her little recognition. Her work offers a rich account of a modern woman's engagement with love, art, solitude, impending death, and war
- Charles Frederick Goldie (1870-1947) is one of New Zealand's most controversial and best-known painters. He has been described as 'our greatest painter', an 'outdated academic racist', and no more than a 'second-rate Lindauer.'
- New Zealand has won 44 Oscars at the Academy Awards in the last six years. Some world-famous movies were filmed in New Zealand: The Piano, Whale Rider, Vertical Limit, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, King Kong, The Worlds Fastest Indian, River Queen, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, with many more projects in the pipeline.
- Bollywood has also discovered this part of the world and is now producing a large number of Indian films made on the South Island
- Karen Walker is a noted New Zealand fashion designer. Many celebrities have seen her clothes, including Björk, Sienna Miller, M.I.A., Alexa Chung, Beth Ditto, Michael Haneke, Liv Tyler, Rihanna, Claire Danes, Jennifer Lopez, and many more. Four pieces from one of Karen's original collections, "Dust", appeared on Kate Winslet in the Michel Gondry film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Theodora Richards has also modelled in Karen Walker runway shows and posed in the March 2005 issue of Evening Standard UK magazine in Karen Walker outfits. Tyra Banks also recently wore a Karen Walker dress on her talk show.
- Rebecca Taylor is a New Zealand-born fashion designer based in the United States in New York, New York. To Americans, she is probably the most famous New Zealand designer, with her label appearing at US and European department stores. Her retail outlets include boutiques in Japan. Her company was reported in 2003 as having a US$12 million turnover.
- New Zealander Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is one of the world's leading sopranos
- New Zealand has two orchestras, a national ballet company, and several professional theatres
- The music of New Zealand is an expression of the culture of New Zealand. New Zealand's music is influenced by the culture of the indigenous Māori and immigrants from the Pacific region. However, its musical origins lie predominantly in British colonial history, with contributions from Europe and America. As the nation grew and established its own culture, local artists combined these styles with local influences to create distinctly New Zealand music. One of New Zealand's most successful pop songs is 'How Bizarre by OMC. It sold between three and four million records worldwide betweebetween 1995 and 2000, making it the biggest-selling New Zealand record. New Zealand's size means that many of the country's more prominent mainstream bands find their largest audiences in Australia. Of these, perhaps the most successful has been Split Enz, founded by Tim Finn and Phil Judd in the early 1970s. The addition of Tim's younger brother Neil after Judd's departure led to a more accessible style and several big hits. After the demise of Split Enz, Neil Finn went on to found the highly successful Crowded House.
