Whakamaua! | Wear It! Browse adornments from Te Papa collections – art, history, taonga Māori, and Pacific cultures.
He Kapuka Oneone – A Handful of SoilExploring the relationship between tākata and whenua – people and land – through Aotearoa New Zealand’s art history.
This expansive and unmissable exhibition explores the fundamental role whenua plays in the visual language and identity of Aotearoa. Acknowledging Māori as takata whenua, the first peoples to call this land home, themes of kaitiakitaka, colonisation, environmentalism, land use, migration, identity and belonging are considered through collection works, new acquisitions and exciting commissions.
Huikaau | where currents meetHuikaau – where currents meet celebrates the past, present, and future of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery collection – Aotearoa’s first civic collection of art, which was established in Ōtepoti Dunedin in 1884. This exhibition upholds the stories and ideas carried within the collection, welcomes new arrivals, and continues to work in partnership to bring Māori and indigenous perspectives to the fore.
Taku HoeThe Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture (FestPAC) is the premier Indigenous arts and culture event in Te Moana Nui a Kiwa. The festival brings together over 2,500 artists and practitioners, representing 28 countries and territories from the Pacific.
In June 2024, a delegation from Aotearoa New Zealand participated in the 13th FestPAC in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. Together, the artists presented the exhibition Taku Hoe, using the theme of voyaging to celebrate connections between people across Te Moana Nui a Kiwa (the Pacific Ocean). Pātaka is pleased to re-present a selection of work from Taku Hoe back in Aotearoa, where the ongoing connections between Aotearoa and our region are reaffirmed and celebrated.
Nō Konei | From HereThis generous opening programme features over 200 artworks, spanning four centuries of European and New Zealand art history. Displayed across the breadth of the gallery’s newly expanded exhibition spaces, works will range from traditional gilt-framed paintings to contemporary practice in a variety of media.
Nō Konei | From Here includes pieces that reflect the breadth of the diverse and nationally significant Collection of Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery, alongside newly commissioned works by artists with a strong connection to the region. 105 years since the gallery first opened and, after a ten year hiatus from operation at Pukenamu Queen’s Park.
The 11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary ArtSeventy artists, collectives and projects from more than 30 countries will feature in the eleventh chapter of the flagship Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) exhibition series, the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art.
Bringing compelling new art to Brisbane, the Triennial is a gateway to the rapidly evolving artistic expression of Australia, Asia and the Pacific. Alongside artists and makers whose work has not been previously seen in Australia are a raft of new co-curated projects investigating artforms and cultural contexts rarely encountered outside their home localities.
Wharenui Harikoa Made from 5000 balls of brightly-coloured yarn and crotcheted by hand, this full size wharenui (Māori meeting house) has been wowing audiences across Aotearoa. Now Christchurch audiences can experience this unique fusion of traditional whakairo (carving) patterns and neon wool.
Artists Lissy and Rudi Robinson-Cole spent three years making Wharenui Harikoa, which translates to ‘House of Joy’. The monumental task of creating this neon-coloured wharenui began with a simple crochet hook and a clutch of eye-catching yarn.
For Lissy and Rudi it is more than just an art installation – it's a manifestation of their dreams, identity, and the love they have for each other and their people.
“This project is a tribute to our tūpuna (ancestors), a celebration of our culture, and a testament to the healing power of art.
“The wharenui embodies our vision of manifesting intergenerational healing and deeply felt joy.
“We aim to connect cultures, heal hearts, and spread joy – one loop, one stitch, one community at a time.”
Robyn Kahukiwa - Tohunga Mahi ToiCome and explore Tohunga Mahi Toi, an exhibition by one of Aotearoa’s most celebrated artists, Robyn Kahukiwa.
Robyn Kahukiwa’s artworks have made a difference to Māori. They have provided not only beauty and strength but inroads into our mātauranga, and the multi-layered, inter-generational and ever-evolving stories that are part of our cultural landscape. That landscape is the mainstream of Aotearoa New Zealand. Robyn’s work takes us on circular routes through time, with Māori accounts given proper currency and weight.
He Aa I Uta, He Aa I Tai: Weaving the ElementsBe immersed in new creations by members of Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa, the national collective of Maaori weavers, supported by the master weavers group, Te Kāhui Whiritoi.
Drawing inspiration from our relationship with air, earth, fire, water and spirit, this large-scale exhibition celebrates the legacy of weaving through traditional and contemporary handcrafted works.
📸 Kahu Piu - Paula-Rigby
Mataaho Collective Hautāmiro (2025) is an installation by Mataaho Collective, which is led by the ancestral narratives of Tokohurunuku, Tokohururangi, Tokohurumawake and Tokohuruatea, the four winds, or the pillars of the sky. The four were children of Huruteaarangi, an atua of the winds who sent her offspring to the edges of the sky to stand as pou that separated Ranginui and Papatūānuku. Inspired by the dynamic visual language of hukahuka whakarākei, the adornments of customary kākahu, Hautāmiro weaves together materials and techniques in an installation that celebrates adaptation, experimentation and mātauranga Māori across generations.
Tōiri. Vibe with your TribeA Māori artist collective re-indigenises the customary artform of taonga puoro (Māori musical instruments) through the contemporary lens of their respective art practices—whakairo (carving), uku (clay), print media, and videography.
He Momo, nā te whānau—it’s a family traitMost of us own a piece of heirloom jewellery that lives tucked away in a box or folded into a delicate piece of cloth. But what happens when we consider jewellery as a symbol for intangible inheritance? In He Momo, nā te whānau artists from across Aotearoa respond to this question with works made over a 20-year period. Cumulatively, they explore the qualities we receive from our parents, grandparents and our ancestors; while considering the cultural rituals, celebrations and baggage that bond the human race. Passing this provocation onto gallery visitors, they ask us what we are leaving behind for our children to inherit
Toi Koru: Sandy AdsettToi Koru presents the first major survey exhibition of paintings by the Māori master of colour and kōwhaiwhai, Dr Sandy Adsett.Featuring paintings created over six decades, Toi Koru tracks the trajectory of Adsett’s painting practice from the late 1960s to today. The exhibition features artworks from major public collections, including the National Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, as well as a new series of paintings created especially for the exhibition.
Developed and toured by Pātaka Art + Museum.
KotahitangaLonnie Hutchinson (b. 1963 Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Ngāti Kurī ki Ngāi Tahu, Samoan, Celtic) delves into her own whakapapa and heritage to offer astute commentary on aspects of indigeneity, colonisation, and identity in a contemporary context.
Widely recognised for her distinctive cut-outs, Hutchinson’s multidisciplinary practice encompasses materials such as black builders’ paper, vintage wallpapers, acrylic, steel, and aluminium, while employing various personal motifs to address ancient traditions and the ongoing impacts of colonisation.
TaniwhaIf the stars make dragons fantastical, taniwha make them real.
~ Reuben Paterson, March 2025
Reuben Paterson's (b. 1973 Auckland Tāmaki Makaurau, Ngati Rangitihi, Ngāi Tūhoe, Tūhourangi) latest suite of paintings—transported from his new home in New York across Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa to the shores of Aotearoa—takes the constellation of Draco or The Dragon as a leaping off point for circumnavigating whānau mārama, or the family of light, and a contemplation of celestial bodies.
Draco snakes its way through the northern sky as a circumpolar constellation only visible in northern latitudes. For this exhibition, Paterson transposes the constellation southward to Aotearoa, and in the process the mythical creature of the dragon undergoes a metamorphosis to living, breathing, taniwha.
Te Kōripo o te Marama
WaioraHemi Macgregor draws on geometric structures, patterns and processes in the natural world to explore our relationship with sky, water, earth and seasons.
Image: Mataura 44 photographed by Cheska Brown
Pōhatu Roa: Stories in StoneShaped by weather and other natural forces over millennia, pōhatu (stone) shows the mark of time on its surface and through its composition. It is the physical memory of our planet and the billions of people who have inhabited it. Each pōhatu silently holds its countless histories within, unable to share what it has experienced.
As a counterpoint to this, Pōhatu Roa: Stories in Stone offers a series of alternative histories told through the skilled hands of artists who have sculpted, carved, drilled and cut this tough and sometimes inflexible material. It features works by Chris Charteris, Craig McIntosh, Neke Moa, Renée Pearson, Fayne Robinson, Joe Sheehan and Tim Steel, who each tell their own stories through this evocative substance.
This exhibition gives a unique insight into diverse narratives that range from the deeply personal to more collective notions. The works in Pōhatu Roa, which loosely translates to the long or enduring stone, cover a surprising range of topics that include the touching story of whānau memories lost to time told through a series of bread plates carved from slate repurposed from a disused pool table; a 3 metre tall ‘necklace’ that acts as a literal and metaphorical anchor point for cultural histories; and the delicately carved objects of the everyday such as usb cords, clothes pegs and tiny birds eggs frozen forever in time.
Toka TūToka Tū, a person of strength in times of adversity. The artists whose works adorn the walls of Wairau Māori Art Gallery have been at the forefront of moulding a new aesthetic that integrates the deep visual traditions of Te Ao Māori with a colour palette of mediums and current issues and narratives that are descriptive of our contemporary world.
They have pushed boundaries and navigated challenges from the mainstream artworld and traversed new ground from traditionalist Māori artforms that bind their mahi to the whenua to illustrate a rich cultural landscape that is Aotearoa.Ngā iwi o te Taitokerau are transient navigators, descended from explorers and fierce home people who extend manaakitanga with open arms to those who enter our spaces.
Image : Alex Nathan, 2000, Silver
E hoki mai nei ki te ūkaipō | reA place of Nourishment
Printopia FestivalAotearoa’s annual three-day celebration of contemporary print culture and community.
Toi Whakaata / ReflectionsToi Whakaata / Reflections brings together a focused selection of works by esteemed Māori sculptor Fred Graham (Ngāti Korokī Kahukura, Tainui b.1928). Reflecting on Graham’s art practice of over 70 years, this exhibition includes significant works made between 1965 and 2013, with an emphasis on the artist’s small-scale freestanding sculptures and relief works. The exhibited pieces demonstrate the development of Graham’s distinctive visual language, which intersects Māori and European art traditions and combines wood, stone and stainless steel.
📸 Washbowl of Sorrow, 2004,, Courtesy of Waikato Raupatu Lands Trust/Visual Arts, Waikato Museum
Papatūānuku - Te Whanganui-a-TaraAccording to Māori tradition, Papatūānuku is the Earth Mother, from which all living things are created. In this concert we celebrate nature with Papatūānuku, a work co-created by Kiwi composer Salina Fisher and Grammy Award-winning taonga puoro artist Jerome Kavanagh.
Papatūānuku - Tāmaki MakarauAccording to Māori tradition, Papatūānuku is the Earth Mother, from which all living things are created. In this concert we celebrate nature with Papatūānuku, a work co-created by Kiwi composer Salina Fisher and Grammy Award-winning taonga puoro artist Jerome Kavanagh.
Whakamaua! | Wear It! Browse adornments from Te Papa collections – art, history, taonga Māori, and Pacific cultures.
He Kapuka Oneone – A Handful of SoilExploring the relationship between tākata and whenua – people and land – through Aotearoa New Zealand’s art history.
This expansive and unmissable exhibition explores the fundamental role whenua plays in the visual language and identity of Aotearoa. Acknowledging Māori as takata whenua, the first peoples to call this land home, themes of kaitiakitaka, colonisation, environmentalism, land use, migration, identity and belonging are considered through collection works, new acquisitions and exciting commissions.
Huikaau | where currents meetHuikaau – where currents meet celebrates the past, present, and future of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery collection – Aotearoa’s first civic collection of art, which was established in Ōtepoti Dunedin in 1884. This exhibition upholds the stories and ideas carried within the collection, welcomes new arrivals, and continues to work in partnership to bring Māori and indigenous perspectives to the fore.
Taku HoeThe Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture (FestPAC) is the premier Indigenous arts and culture event in Te Moana Nui a Kiwa. The festival brings together over 2,500 artists and practitioners, representing 28 countries and territories from the Pacific.
In June 2024, a delegation from Aotearoa New Zealand participated in the 13th FestPAC in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. Together, the artists presented the exhibition Taku Hoe, using the theme of voyaging to celebrate connections between people across Te Moana Nui a Kiwa (the Pacific Ocean). Pātaka is pleased to re-present a selection of work from Taku Hoe back in Aotearoa, where the ongoing connections between Aotearoa and our region are reaffirmed and celebrated.
Nō Konei | From HereThis generous opening programme features over 200 artworks, spanning four centuries of European and New Zealand art history. Displayed across the breadth of the gallery’s newly expanded exhibition spaces, works will range from traditional gilt-framed paintings to contemporary practice in a variety of media.
Nō Konei | From Here includes pieces that reflect the breadth of the diverse and nationally significant Collection of Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery, alongside newly commissioned works by artists with a strong connection to the region. 105 years since the gallery first opened and, after a ten year hiatus from operation at Pukenamu Queen’s Park.
The 11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary ArtSeventy artists, collectives and projects from more than 30 countries will feature in the eleventh chapter of the flagship Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) exhibition series, the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art.
Bringing compelling new art to Brisbane, the Triennial is a gateway to the rapidly evolving artistic expression of Australia, Asia and the Pacific. Alongside artists and makers whose work has not been previously seen in Australia are a raft of new co-curated projects investigating artforms and cultural contexts rarely encountered outside their home localities.
Wharenui Harikoa Made from 5000 balls of brightly-coloured yarn and crotcheted by hand, this full size wharenui (Māori meeting house) has been wowing audiences across Aotearoa. Now Christchurch audiences can experience this unique fusion of traditional whakairo (carving) patterns and neon wool.
Artists Lissy and Rudi Robinson-Cole spent three years making Wharenui Harikoa, which translates to ‘House of Joy’. The monumental task of creating this neon-coloured wharenui began with a simple crochet hook and a clutch of eye-catching yarn.
For Lissy and Rudi it is more than just an art installation – it's a manifestation of their dreams, identity, and the love they have for each other and their people.
“This project is a tribute to our tūpuna (ancestors), a celebration of our culture, and a testament to the healing power of art.
“The wharenui embodies our vision of manifesting intergenerational healing and deeply felt joy.
“We aim to connect cultures, heal hearts, and spread joy – one loop, one stitch, one community at a time.”
Robyn Kahukiwa - Tohunga Mahi ToiCome and explore Tohunga Mahi Toi, an exhibition by one of Aotearoa’s most celebrated artists, Robyn Kahukiwa.
Robyn Kahukiwa’s artworks have made a difference to Māori. They have provided not only beauty and strength but inroads into our mātauranga, and the multi-layered, inter-generational and ever-evolving stories that are part of our cultural landscape. That landscape is the mainstream of Aotearoa New Zealand. Robyn’s work takes us on circular routes through time, with Māori accounts given proper currency and weight.
He Aa I Uta, He Aa I Tai: Weaving the ElementsBe immersed in new creations by members of Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa, the national collective of Maaori weavers, supported by the master weavers group, Te Kāhui Whiritoi.
Drawing inspiration from our relationship with air, earth, fire, water and spirit, this large-scale exhibition celebrates the legacy of weaving through traditional and contemporary handcrafted works.
📸 Kahu Piu - Paula-Rigby
Mataaho Collective Hautāmiro (2025) is an installation by Mataaho Collective, which is led by the ancestral narratives of Tokohurunuku, Tokohururangi, Tokohurumawake and Tokohuruatea, the four winds, or the pillars of the sky. The four were children of Huruteaarangi, an atua of the winds who sent her offspring to the edges of the sky to stand as pou that separated Ranginui and Papatūānuku. Inspired by the dynamic visual language of hukahuka whakarākei, the adornments of customary kākahu, Hautāmiro weaves together materials and techniques in an installation that celebrates adaptation, experimentation and mātauranga Māori across generations.
Tōiri. Vibe with your TribeA Māori artist collective re-indigenises the customary artform of taonga puoro (Māori musical instruments) through the contemporary lens of their respective art practices—whakairo (carving), uku (clay), print media, and videography.
He Momo, nā te whānau—it’s a family traitMost of us own a piece of heirloom jewellery that lives tucked away in a box or folded into a delicate piece of cloth. But what happens when we consider jewellery as a symbol for intangible inheritance? In He Momo, nā te whānau artists from across Aotearoa respond to this question with works made over a 20-year period. Cumulatively, they explore the qualities we receive from our parents, grandparents and our ancestors; while considering the cultural rituals, celebrations and baggage that bond the human race. Passing this provocation onto gallery visitors, they ask us what we are leaving behind for our children to inherit
Toi Koru: Sandy AdsettToi Koru presents the first major survey exhibition of paintings by the Māori master of colour and kōwhaiwhai, Dr Sandy Adsett.Featuring paintings created over six decades, Toi Koru tracks the trajectory of Adsett’s painting practice from the late 1960s to today. The exhibition features artworks from major public collections, including the National Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, as well as a new series of paintings created especially for the exhibition.
Developed and toured by Pātaka Art + Museum.
KotahitangaLonnie Hutchinson (b. 1963 Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Ngāti Kurī ki Ngāi Tahu, Samoan, Celtic) delves into her own whakapapa and heritage to offer astute commentary on aspects of indigeneity, colonisation, and identity in a contemporary context.
Widely recognised for her distinctive cut-outs, Hutchinson’s multidisciplinary practice encompasses materials such as black builders’ paper, vintage wallpapers, acrylic, steel, and aluminium, while employing various personal motifs to address ancient traditions and the ongoing impacts of colonisation.
TaniwhaIf the stars make dragons fantastical, taniwha make them real.
~ Reuben Paterson, March 2025
Reuben Paterson's (b. 1973 Auckland Tāmaki Makaurau, Ngati Rangitihi, Ngāi Tūhoe, Tūhourangi) latest suite of paintings—transported from his new home in New York across Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa to the shores of Aotearoa—takes the constellation of Draco or The Dragon as a leaping off point for circumnavigating whānau mārama, or the family of light, and a contemplation of celestial bodies.
Draco snakes its way through the northern sky as a circumpolar constellation only visible in northern latitudes. For this exhibition, Paterson transposes the constellation southward to Aotearoa, and in the process the mythical creature of the dragon undergoes a metamorphosis to living, breathing, taniwha.
Te Kōripo o te MaramaWaioraHemi Macgregor draws on geometric structures, patterns and processes in the natural world to explore our relationship with sky, water, earth and seasons.
Image: Mataura 44 photographed by Cheska Brown
Pōhatu Roa: Stories in StoneShaped by weather and other natural forces over millennia, pōhatu (stone) shows the mark of time on its surface and through its composition. It is the physical memory of our planet and the billions of people who have inhabited it. Each pōhatu silently holds its countless histories within, unable to share what it has experienced.
As a counterpoint to this, Pōhatu Roa: Stories in Stone offers a series of alternative histories told through the skilled hands of artists who have sculpted, carved, drilled and cut this tough and sometimes inflexible material. It features works by Chris Charteris, Craig McIntosh, Neke Moa, Renée Pearson, Fayne Robinson, Joe Sheehan and Tim Steel, who each tell their own stories through this evocative substance.
This exhibition gives a unique insight into diverse narratives that range from the deeply personal to more collective notions. The works in Pōhatu Roa, which loosely translates to the long or enduring stone, cover a surprising range of topics that include the touching story of whānau memories lost to time told through a series of bread plates carved from slate repurposed from a disused pool table; a 3 metre tall ‘necklace’ that acts as a literal and metaphorical anchor point for cultural histories; and the delicately carved objects of the everyday such as usb cords, clothes pegs and tiny birds eggs frozen forever in time.
Toka TūToka Tū, a person of strength in times of adversity. The artists whose works adorn the walls of Wairau Māori Art Gallery have been at the forefront of moulding a new aesthetic that integrates the deep visual traditions of Te Ao Māori with a colour palette of mediums and current issues and narratives that are descriptive of our contemporary world.
They have pushed boundaries and navigated challenges from the mainstream artworld and traversed new ground from traditionalist Māori artforms that bind their mahi to the whenua to illustrate a rich cultural landscape that is Aotearoa.Ngā iwi o te Taitokerau are transient navigators, descended from explorers and fierce home people who extend manaakitanga with open arms to those who enter our spaces.
Image : Alex Nathan, 2000, Silver
E hoki mai nei ki te ūkaipō | reA place of NourishmentPrintopia FestivalAotearoa’s annual three-day celebration of contemporary print culture and community.
Toi Whakaata / ReflectionsToi Whakaata / Reflections brings together a focused selection of works by esteemed Māori sculptor Fred Graham (Ngāti Korokī Kahukura, Tainui b.1928). Reflecting on Graham’s art practice of over 70 years, this exhibition includes significant works made between 1965 and 2013, with an emphasis on the artist’s small-scale freestanding sculptures and relief works. The exhibited pieces demonstrate the development of Graham’s distinctive visual language, which intersects Māori and European art traditions and combines wood, stone and stainless steel.
📸 Washbowl of Sorrow, 2004,, Courtesy of Waikato Raupatu Lands Trust/Visual Arts, Waikato Museum
Papatūānuku - Te Whanganui-a-TaraAccording to Māori tradition, Papatūānuku is the Earth Mother, from which all living things are created. In this concert we celebrate nature with Papatūānuku, a work co-created by Kiwi composer Salina Fisher and Grammy Award-winning taonga puoro artist Jerome Kavanagh.
Papatūānuku - Tāmaki MakarauAccording to Māori tradition, Papatūānuku is the Earth Mother, from which all living things are created. In this concert we celebrate nature with Papatūānuku, a work co-created by Kiwi composer Salina Fisher and Grammy Award-winning taonga puoro artist Jerome Kavanagh.
Whakamaua! | Wear It! Browse adornments from Te Papa collections – art, history, taonga Māori, and Pacific cultures.
He Kapuka Oneone – A Handful of SoilExploring the relationship between tākata and whenua – people and land – through Aotearoa New Zealand’s art history.
This expansive and unmissable exhibition explores the fundamental role whenua plays in the visual language and identity of Aotearoa. Acknowledging Māori as takata whenua, the first peoples to call this land home, themes of kaitiakitaka, colonisation, environmentalism, land use, migration, identity and belonging are considered through collection works, new acquisitions and exciting commissions.
Huikaau | where currents meetHuikaau – where currents meet celebrates the past, present, and future of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery collection – Aotearoa’s first civic collection of art, which was established in Ōtepoti Dunedin in 1884. This exhibition upholds the stories and ideas carried within the collection, welcomes new arrivals, and continues to work in partnership to bring Māori and indigenous perspectives to the fore.
Taku HoeThe Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture (FestPAC) is the premier Indigenous arts and culture event in Te Moana Nui a Kiwa. The festival brings together over 2,500 artists and practitioners, representing 28 countries and territories from the Pacific.
In June 2024, a delegation from Aotearoa New Zealand participated in the 13th FestPAC in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. Together, the artists presented the exhibition Taku Hoe, using the theme of voyaging to celebrate connections between people across Te Moana Nui a Kiwa (the Pacific Ocean). Pātaka is pleased to re-present a selection of work from Taku Hoe back in Aotearoa, where the ongoing connections between Aotearoa and our region are reaffirmed and celebrated.
Nō Konei | From HereThis generous opening programme features over 200 artworks, spanning four centuries of European and New Zealand art history. Displayed across the breadth of the gallery’s newly expanded exhibition spaces, works will range from traditional gilt-framed paintings to contemporary practice in a variety of media.
Nō Konei | From Here includes pieces that reflect the breadth of the diverse and nationally significant Collection of Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery, alongside newly commissioned works by artists with a strong connection to the region. 105 years since the gallery first opened and, after a ten year hiatus from operation at Pukenamu Queen’s Park.
The 11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary ArtSeventy artists, collectives and projects from more than 30 countries will feature in the eleventh chapter of the flagship Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) exhibition series, the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art.
Bringing compelling new art to Brisbane, the Triennial is a gateway to the rapidly evolving artistic expression of Australia, Asia and the Pacific. Alongside artists and makers whose work has not been previously seen in Australia are a raft of new co-curated projects investigating artforms and cultural contexts rarely encountered outside their home localities.
Wharenui Harikoa Made from 5000 balls of brightly-coloured yarn and crotcheted by hand, this full size wharenui (Māori meeting house) has been wowing audiences across Aotearoa. Now Christchurch audiences can experience this unique fusion of traditional whakairo (carving) patterns and neon wool.
Artists Lissy and Rudi Robinson-Cole spent three years making Wharenui Harikoa, which translates to ‘House of Joy’. The monumental task of creating this neon-coloured wharenui began with a simple crochet hook and a clutch of eye-catching yarn.
For Lissy and Rudi it is more than just an art installation – it's a manifestation of their dreams, identity, and the love they have for each other and their people.
“This project is a tribute to our tūpuna (ancestors), a celebration of our culture, and a testament to the healing power of art.
“The wharenui embodies our vision of manifesting intergenerational healing and deeply felt joy.
“We aim to connect cultures, heal hearts, and spread joy – one loop, one stitch, one community at a time.”
Robyn Kahukiwa - Tohunga Mahi ToiCome and explore Tohunga Mahi Toi, an exhibition by one of Aotearoa’s most celebrated artists, Robyn Kahukiwa.
Robyn Kahukiwa’s artworks have made a difference to Māori. They have provided not only beauty and strength but inroads into our mātauranga, and the multi-layered, inter-generational and ever-evolving stories that are part of our cultural landscape. That landscape is the mainstream of Aotearoa New Zealand. Robyn’s work takes us on circular routes through time, with Māori accounts given proper currency and weight.
He Aa I Uta, He Aa I Tai: Weaving the ElementsBe immersed in new creations by members of Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa, the national collective of Maaori weavers, supported by the master weavers group, Te Kāhui Whiritoi.
Drawing inspiration from our relationship with air, earth, fire, water and spirit, this large-scale exhibition celebrates the legacy of weaving through traditional and contemporary handcrafted works.
📸 Kahu Piu - Paula-Rigby
Mataaho Collective Hautāmiro (2025) is an installation by Mataaho Collective, which is led by the ancestral narratives of Tokohurunuku, Tokohururangi, Tokohurumawake and Tokohuruatea, the four winds, or the pillars of the sky. The four were children of Huruteaarangi, an atua of the winds who sent her offspring to the edges of the sky to stand as pou that separated Ranginui and Papatūānuku. Inspired by the dynamic visual language of hukahuka whakarākei, the adornments of customary kākahu, Hautāmiro weaves together materials and techniques in an installation that celebrates adaptation, experimentation and mātauranga Māori across generations.
Tōiri. Vibe with your TribeA Māori artist collective re-indigenises the customary artform of taonga puoro (Māori musical instruments) through the contemporary lens of their respective art practices—whakairo (carving), uku (clay), print media, and videography.
He Momo, nā te whānau—it’s a family traitMost of us own a piece of heirloom jewellery that lives tucked away in a box or folded into a delicate piece of cloth. But what happens when we consider jewellery as a symbol for intangible inheritance? In He Momo, nā te whānau artists from across Aotearoa respond to this question with works made over a 20-year period. Cumulatively, they explore the qualities we receive from our parents, grandparents and our ancestors; while considering the cultural rituals, celebrations and baggage that bond the human race. Passing this provocation onto gallery visitors, they ask us what we are leaving behind for our children to inherit
Toi Koru: Sandy AdsettToi Koru presents the first major survey exhibition of paintings by the Māori master of colour and kōwhaiwhai, Dr Sandy Adsett.Featuring paintings created over six decades, Toi Koru tracks the trajectory of Adsett’s painting practice from the late 1960s to today. The exhibition features artworks from major public collections, including the National Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, as well as a new series of paintings created especially for the exhibition.
Developed and toured by Pātaka Art + Museum.
KotahitangaLonnie Hutchinson (b. 1963 Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Ngāti Kurī ki Ngāi Tahu, Samoan, Celtic) delves into her own whakapapa and heritage to offer astute commentary on aspects of indigeneity, colonisation, and identity in a contemporary context.
Widely recognised for her distinctive cut-outs, Hutchinson’s multidisciplinary practice encompasses materials such as black builders’ paper, vintage wallpapers, acrylic, steel, and aluminium, while employing various personal motifs to address ancient traditions and the ongoing impacts of colonisation.
TaniwhaIf the stars make dragons fantastical, taniwha make them real.
~ Reuben Paterson, March 2025
Reuben Paterson's (b. 1973 Auckland Tāmaki Makaurau, Ngati Rangitihi, Ngāi Tūhoe, Tūhourangi) latest suite of paintings—transported from his new home in New York across Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa to the shores of Aotearoa—takes the constellation of Draco or The Dragon as a leaping off point for circumnavigating whānau mārama, or the family of light, and a contemplation of celestial bodies.
Draco snakes its way through the northern sky as a circumpolar constellation only visible in northern latitudes. For this exhibition, Paterson transposes the constellation southward to Aotearoa, and in the process the mythical creature of the dragon undergoes a metamorphosis to living, breathing, taniwha.
Te Kōripo o te MaramaWaioraHemi Macgregor draws on geometric structures, patterns and processes in the natural world to explore our relationship with sky, water, earth and seasons.
Image: Mataura 44 photographed by Cheska Brown
Pōhatu Roa: Stories in StoneShaped by weather and other natural forces over millennia, pōhatu (stone) shows the mark of time on its surface and through its composition. It is the physical memory of our planet and the billions of people who have inhabited it. Each pōhatu silently holds its countless histories within, unable to share what it has experienced.
As a counterpoint to this, Pōhatu Roa: Stories in Stone offers a series of alternative histories told through the skilled hands of artists who have sculpted, carved, drilled and cut this tough and sometimes inflexible material. It features works by Chris Charteris, Craig McIntosh, Neke Moa, Renée Pearson, Fayne Robinson, Joe Sheehan and Tim Steel, who each tell their own stories through this evocative substance.
This exhibition gives a unique insight into diverse narratives that range from the deeply personal to more collective notions. The works in Pōhatu Roa, which loosely translates to the long or enduring stone, cover a surprising range of topics that include the touching story of whānau memories lost to time told through a series of bread plates carved from slate repurposed from a disused pool table; a 3 metre tall ‘necklace’ that acts as a literal and metaphorical anchor point for cultural histories; and the delicately carved objects of the everyday such as usb cords, clothes pegs and tiny birds eggs frozen forever in time.
Toka TūToka Tū, a person of strength in times of adversity. The artists whose works adorn the walls of Wairau Māori Art Gallery have been at the forefront of moulding a new aesthetic that integrates the deep visual traditions of Te Ao Māori with a colour palette of mediums and current issues and narratives that are descriptive of our contemporary world.
They have pushed boundaries and navigated challenges from the mainstream artworld and traversed new ground from traditionalist Māori artforms that bind their mahi to the whenua to illustrate a rich cultural landscape that is Aotearoa.Ngā iwi o te Taitokerau are transient navigators, descended from explorers and fierce home people who extend manaakitanga with open arms to those who enter our spaces.
Image : Alex Nathan, 2000, Silver
E hoki mai nei ki te ūkaipō | reA place of NourishmentPrintopia FestivalAotearoa’s annual three-day celebration of contemporary print culture and community.
Toi Whakaata / ReflectionsToi Whakaata / Reflections brings together a focused selection of works by esteemed Māori sculptor Fred Graham (Ngāti Korokī Kahukura, Tainui b.1928). Reflecting on Graham’s art practice of over 70 years, this exhibition includes significant works made between 1965 and 2013, with an emphasis on the artist’s small-scale freestanding sculptures and relief works. The exhibited pieces demonstrate the development of Graham’s distinctive visual language, which intersects Māori and European art traditions and combines wood, stone and stainless steel.
📸 Washbowl of Sorrow, 2004,, Courtesy of Waikato Raupatu Lands Trust/Visual Arts, Waikato Museum
Papatūānuku - Te Whanganui-a-TaraAccording to Māori tradition, Papatūānuku is the Earth Mother, from which all living things are created. In this concert we celebrate nature with Papatūānuku, a work co-created by Kiwi composer Salina Fisher and Grammy Award-winning taonga puoro artist Jerome Kavanagh.
Papatūānuku - Tāmaki MakarauAccording to Māori tradition, Papatūānuku is the Earth Mother, from which all living things are created. In this concert we celebrate nature with Papatūānuku, a work co-created by Kiwi composer Salina Fisher and Grammy Award-winning taonga puoro artist Jerome Kavanagh.
Join Toi Iho, empowering creative Māori expression and fostering cultural resurgence.
TOI IHO and the TOI IHO logo are taonga and trade marks of Toi Iho Charitable Trust. Toi Iho Charitable Trust is the kaitiaki of the taonga and owner of the trade marks. All use of these taonga and trade marks must be consistent with rules, policies, and tikanga set by Toi Iho Charitable Trust.
