Radio Cartolina
Category: Interview
| Title | Radio Cartolina |
|---|---|
| Interviewer | Wilma Laryn |
| Producer | Community Radio Plains FM 96.9 (now Plains Media) |
| Year | 1999-2017 |
| Language | English |
| Time reference | 1999-2017 |
| Online resource | YES |
| Topic | Italians in New Zealand, interviews, oral history, radio, Radio Cartolina, Wilma Laryn, |
You can find the interview here
Radio Cartolina was an interview-based radio program showcasing Italian culture and life in English. It aired in Christchurch, New Zealand, from February 2, 1999, to November 29, 2017, on Community Radio Plains FM 96.9 (now Plains Media). The program was produced under the patronage of the Christchurch Dante Alighieri Society and received sponsorship from the Italian Embassy to New Zealand and the Christchurch City Council. Additional support came from local businesses, donations and fundraising. The program's title, Cartolina (Italian for "postcard"), reflected the casual, friendly style of presentation used by producer Wilma Giordano Laryn.
The program covered a wide range of topics related to Italian culture and the Italian community in New Zealand. One of the most significant ones was the series of devastating earthquakes that struck Christchurch, and the subsequent rebuild of the city, and, in 2004, the 60th anniversary of the WW2 Battle of Montecassino. It also covered the two Countries’ bilateral relationships, and the Italian Research in Antarctica. The history of Italian immigration to New Zealand was explored with particular attention, highlighting the aspects in which the experiences of contemporary arrivals differed from the those of the past.
Radio Cartolina was a contact point for members of the Italian community and their organisations in New Zealand. It also organised events in Christchurch featuring Italian and local artists, open to the wider Christchurch population.
In 2025, Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision, which is part of New Zealand National Archives, accepted the deposit of 200 out of approximately 500 Cartolina episodes. The episodes were jointly selected by the producer and Collections Archivists for their documentary value in providing insight into nearly twenty years of life in Christchurch and New Zealand as experienced by the Italian community. The collection is accessible online to researchers and the general public from: Radio Cartolina New Zealand
To facilitate navigating the collection and researching items of interest, a Facebook page has been created, Radio Cartolina New Zealand, where the collection has been broken down into 9 thematic groups with detailed contents of each episode. Clicking on the title of each episode links to the actual audio file.
