Dunedin Public Art Gallery houses New Zealand’s oldest public art collection. Light and airy and situated in The Octagon, the gallery is itself a work of art. Old masters feature in its permanent collection, which also contains significant works by local artists including Ralph Hotere and Frances Hodgkins. The gallery has a programme of residencies and exhibitions showcasing contemporary artists.

Gallery De Novo is situated on lower Stuart Street; Goldsmith Tony Williams, Temple Gallery, Quadrant Gallery and Whiteroom design shop are on Moray Place – as is the avant-garde Blue Oyster space – while The Artist’s Room, Milford Galleries and Brett McDowell Gallery are nearby on Dowling Street.

The Hocken Library, now on Anzac Avenue, has a stellar collection of New Zealand art. It also has a growing pile of photographs, manuscripts and books.

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Otago Museum is one of the nations finest, housing a stupendous collection of treasures from around the world.

For an insight into Dunedin’s past, visit Toitu Otago Settlers Museum, situated in the historic Queens Gardens precinct. The focus here is on people and technology.

New Zealand’s proud sporting achievements are celebrated at the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame, just along the road in Dunedin Railway Station.

Steam buffs should visit Dunedin’s unique Gasworks Museum.

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The city has one professional theatre – the Fortune – and two first-class auditoriums:  Dunedin Town Hall and the atmospheric Regent.

Amateur theatre thrives at The Globe and Allen Hall.

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The heyday of Dunedin’s music scene was the 1980s - early 1990s, when the so-called ‘Dunedin Sound’ bands and closely related Flying Nun record label rocked local and indie airwaves.

The Clean, The Chills, The Verlaine's, Straitjacket Fits, Sneaky Feelings and 3Ds were actually quite different, but all relied to some extent on the use of reverb and ‘jangle’.

The Southern Sinfonia caters to more classical tastes.

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