Ko Enei Tauira Ataahua / These Beautiful Patterns

Ko Enei Tauira Ataahua / These Beautiful Patterns

From a present-day perspective, the appropriation of customary Māori art forms and practice by Pākehā artists can be disconcerting, a more-than-awkward crossing of cultural lines. 

I Tawhiti Ra Ano / From Distant Shores

I Tawhiti Ra Ano / From Distant Shores

The islands of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa / the Pacific were settled by remarkable ocean voyagers over many thousands of years. Aotearoa New Zealand was peopled through major waves of migration from the 1200s and later the mid-1800s. The seas of Oceania are like vast pathways; ever-present reminders of distant shores.

Paerangi / The Fold in the Sky

Paerangi / The Fold in the Sky

The connection between land and sky is important in te ao Māori. In Māori creation, Papatūānuku (the earth mother) was separated from Ranginui (the sky father) by their children, creating Te Ao Mārama, the world of light.

He Ara / Pathways

He Ara / Pathways

Aotearoa New Zealand is part of a submerged Pacific continent, which broke away from the Gondwana supercontinent millions of years ago to create two major islands – Te Ika a Māui / the North Island and Te Waipounamu / the South Island.

Puta Noa I Te Ao / In the World

Puta Noa I Te Ao / In the World

Artists from Aotearoa New Zealand are often well-travelled. Feeling the distance of Aotearoa from the world’s centres of art, they have often been drawn overseas to study and work, contributing to the art history of their adopted countries as well as this one.

He Toka Tū Moana

He Toka Tū Moana

The Māori whakataukī or proverb “He toka tū moana” uses the image of a rock that stands firmly in the ocean to describe someone steadfast and strong in their culture or beliefs, who defies all opposition.

Blue Globe: Stories from Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū

Blue Globe: Stories from Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū

You are invited to take part in Blue Globe: Stories from Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū. It’s a chance to feed your curiosity, feel inspired and challenge your creative side. And it’s easy. All you have to do is choose any artwork from the Gallery’s collection online and create a short piece of writing inspired by it. 

Colouring in: Flowers in a Vase

Colouring in: Flowers in a Vase

This lovely painting of flowers was painted a very long time ago, about 1685. It is called a still life, which is a drawing or painting of an arrangement of everyday objects.

Colouring in: Nathaniel Webb, Esq., of Roundhill Grange, Charlton Musgrove, Somerset

Colouring in: Nathaniel Webb, Esq., of Roundhill Grange, Charlton Musgrove, Somerset

This painting was made around 300 years ago, so it’s quite old. The man in the picture was called Nathaniel Webb. In his portrait Nathaniel wears very fine clothes and a wig. It seems strange to us now but at that time it was a popular fashion for rich men to cut their own hair short and wear a wig.

Colouring in: In the Wizard's Garden

Colouring in: In the Wizard's Garden

This painting looks as if there’s a story happening in it. What do you think that story is?

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