It was an auspicious day when my parents bought our family’s first (and last) Handycam. When other kids were off filming Jackass-like stunts, their sporty adventures, or family holidays, I took to documenting my creative outlets.

What’s your favourite exhibit at Canterbury Museum? The horse in the Christchurch Street? Ed Hillary’s tractor in the Antarctic Gallery? The Huia in the Bird Hall? One of the taonga in Ngā Taonga Tuku Iho o Ngā Tūpuna?

Onstage, the magic that is created within The Court Theatre is easy to see in the talented people who create memorable characters. But creating the world that these characters inhabit are many talented artists and craftspeople working behind the scenes.

For 15 years, Felt – Aotearoa’s largest online marketplace for locally made goods and gifts – has ensured that thousands of New Zealand makers have a platform to connect with customers, and in turn, their own businesses are thriving.

Located near many natural Fiji attractions along the Coral Coast of Viti Levu, Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay offers the perfect home base for exploring Fiji. This resort hotel provides direct access to a secluded jetty, world-class dive sites, and Fiji’s vibrant coral reefs. Catch some of the world’s most challenging waves at the renowned Cloudbreak near Tavarua and Namotu Islands, just minutes away from the Fiji Marriott.

As architects, we have the easy job; we create designs and produce drawings for the real heroes – the builders – to build. I have so much respect for the ‘makers’ of architecture and am always amazed at how they put – often technically complex – buildings together

I look forward to my monthly column, and I’ve never failed to be inspired by the editor’s choice of theme. This month it’s ‘Makers and Creators’, and despite this being an enormous subject, I’ve decided to put my own slant on it and write about ‘doers’.

Created as part of Re:Activate New Brighton, a creative activation initiative between SCAPE Public Art and then Christchurch City Council entity DCL in early 2019, High Pressure / Low Pressure transformed New Brighton artist Josh O’Rourke’s process-driven studio practice into a stretching public wall painting along the Southern walk ramp entrance to the iconic New Brighton Pier.

Youngs Jewellers is a New Regent Street institution with respect for the past and a forward focus. As curators of exquisite and fine pieces of antique and contemporary jewellery, the range is characterised by a sense of flair and love of the unusual.

As a multidisciplinary team of talented people that specialise in designing, building, and maintaining landscapes, Morgan and Pollard deliver projects efficiently, communicating with clients and contractors to ensure optimum results.

With two gelato cafés in central Christchurch, Rollickin is famous for its desserts and has developed a reputation for its unique and whimsical flavours. But how do they come up with these amazing concoctions?

Brigittes is an institution with a legacy of providing exceptional coffee, food, and hospitality for almost 50 years. Building a loyal community, Brigittes is well-known in Merivale and across Ōtautahi.

Two award-winning Canterbury homes by Three Sixty Architecture artfully balance a reverence for nature and the environment with functionality goals and modern liveability.

A local business is creating some of the country’s most innovative and striking lighting products from its studio in the centre of Christchurch.

Phillipstown’s 27 Essex Street is home to three bespoke creative businesses specialising in pottery, all sharing a philosophy of respecting the materials used in the production of ceramics, treasuring materials that go into each item, and passing on this knowledge to others who want to experience clay.

Craft Without Borders is a free monthly community craft class connecting migrants and former refugees with the wider Ōtautahi community through creating, run by three talented wāhine.

Did you make it along to any of our city’s cultural treats for September? I kicked it off with WORD, and I was lucky to attend several events, with An Evening with Lianne Moriarty an absolute stand out.