Getting older warrants an automatic pass to maturity, its emblems recognized in wisdom lines arounds the eyes and hair laced with hints of grey. But this mindset overlooks the person that is young but grew up quickly; who tackled the world head-on and at breakneck speed. The sixteen-year-old in Johannesburg forced to abandon their childhood from the age of, say, ten, is light years ahead of the fifty-year-old who lived a life unscathed somewhere in the West. The latter has no real grasp of hard struggle. Experience is everything. And as the late R&B crooner Aaliyah concluded, sans the romantic leanings, age is just a number. Over time, though, the young adult label has morphed into an assemblage of categorical sects that have come to wield influence over an entire culture. Welcome to the world of intergenerational cohorts.

The mining town of Røros is situated over 600 metres above sea level, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Copper discovered in the 17th century provided wealth to some, but the vast majority of the people of Røros remained poor. When the director of the mine Peder Hiort died in 1789, he left his fortune to a foundation set up to provide the community with an education in textile production. The foundation purchased the goods from the textile workers to sell, and at the end of the season any excess stock was given back to the community, very often, to the makers themselves. Peder Hiort’s will created a tradition for handicraft and textile production that sustained itself through the years and created the grounds upon which Røros Tweed was founded. In 1940, Røros Tweed was established as a sales outlet for handmade textiles.

Inside the walls of this small house, surrounded by towering kauri and native bush, artist Colin McCahon painted some of his best-known works. Everyday Needs visited the house of Colin McCahon on our most recent shoot. The House Museum presents a rare and unique insight into a vital and vibrant period in New Zealand’s artistic history and an opportunity to appreciate the power of McCahon's vision.