The Ministry of Higher and secondary education of the Republic of Uzbekistan The Uzbekistan state World Languages University

Chris Booth and Diggeress Te Kanawa: Ngā Uri o Hinetuparimaunga
Ngā Uri o Hinetuparimaunga (2005), a Māori-themed sculpture by Chris Booth and Diggeress Te Kanawa composed of stone columns, one of them covered by a protective woven pebble cloth; at Hamilton Gardens, Hamilton, New Zealand.
Courtesy, Hamilton City Council
In the 1970s and ’80s, professional theatre companies—including Downstage in Wellington and the Mercury in Auckland—rose to prominence in the major cities, and they have since been joined or succeeded by a number of small, more experimental companies. A national symphony orchestra tours within New Zealand and internationally, and most towns have musical groups or orchestras that play locally. New Zealand singers who garnered an international following include Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Inia Te Wiata, and Donald McIntyre. Popular music has a long history and was dominated in the late 20th and early 21st centuries by such artists as brothers Neil and Tim Finn and their bands Split Enz and Crowded House, Dave Dobbyn, Bic Runga, and the hip-hop rapper Scribe.

n edge of a great southern continent.

In 1769–70 the British naval officer and explorer James Cook completed Tasman’s work by circumnavigating the two major islands and charting them with a remarkable degree of accuracy. His initial contact with the Māori was violent, but harmonious relations were established later. On this and on subsequent voyages, Cook, with the explorer and naturalist Joseph Banks, made the first systematic observations of Māori life and culture. Cook’s journal, published as A Voyage Towards the South Pole, and Round the World (1777), brought the knowledge of a new land to Europeans. He stressed the intelligence of the natives and the suitability of the country for colonization, and soon colonists as well as other discoverers followed Cook to the islands he had made known.