Kā Kaupapa o te Wā
What’s On
Made in the Pacific: A Collection of Tāoga
A selection of Pacific tāoga from the Canterbury Museum in conversation with contemporary artworks that highlight the continued strength in culture and traditional art forms.
Mark Adams: A Survey | He Kohinga Whakaahua
A comprehensive survey spanning the artist's career.
Ana Iti: Ngahere Behind a Pile of Metal
An immersive installation considering the legacies of deforestation and significance of kauri trees.
E tuwhera ana te wharetoi i kā rā e 7 o te wiki, 10am - 5pm
Ka tuwhera ki te 9pm i kā pō Wenerei
Open 7 days, 10am - 5pm
Late night Wednesday until 9pm
Uruka utukore, ahokore utukore
Free entry, free wifi
Moonlight by Julius Olsson
This article first appeared as 'Artist left all at sea by changing tides' in The Press on 6 December 2016
Kauri Landscape by Colin McCahon
This article was first published as 'McCahon's brilliant prismatic dance' in The Press, 15 November 2016
In Memory of Avis Higgs (1918 - 2016)
With the news that ground-breaking textile designer and painter Avis Higgs (1918 – 2016) died recently, we’d like to share this watercolour of hers from our collection.
Imagined Projects II, Limeworks by Doris Lusk
This article first appeared as 'Work evolved from years of practise' [sic] in The Press on 3 November 2016.
Making Ligurian Lace by H H La Thangue
This article first appeared as 'Artist chased the sun for the right light, warmth' in The Press, 19 October 2016.
Where In The World?
We have recently been pleased to accept this work into our collection as a gift from Audrey Parker. It is a lithograph, from 1934, by J.M. Thomasson. Thomasson taught at Christchurch Technical College and in 1937 became head of art at the recently opened Papanui High School.
Head of the Waimakariri by Charles Blomfield
This article first appeared as 'Mainland inspiration for Blomfield' in The Press on 12 September 2016
Onekaka Estuary by Doris Lusk
This article first appeared as 'Lusk grabbed any chance to draw the power of places' in The Press, 20 July 2016.
The Eyes Have It
Commentaries on Doris Lusk’s work often talk about her ‘eye’; for telling details, for spatial complexities, for colour, for line. Many of those who met the painter personally remember her eyes too, but for a different reason, recalling how she would peer out inscrutably from behind thickly rimmed spectacles, with a gaze that was simultaneously intimidating and engaging. It seems appropriate then, that when Kevin Capon photographed Lusk in 1985 the result was this extreme close-up. After setting up his camera and lighting, Capon invited his subjects to approach the camera however they preferred, catching them in the act of looking back. Lusk’s face fills the frame, the black lens of her glasses creating a portal-like opening, connecting us with her in that moment and suggesting both her curiosity and her reticence.
A Bad Hair Day for All
A bad hair day is usually symbolic of a period of chaos – an evocative, dowdy omen for what will follow. It signifies the potential for a truly awful day, a day off kilter from the ordinary. Yet despite all the laborious processes and obstacles in the paths of the exhibition team while creating this exhibition, the bad day that threatened to accompany all that bad hair, was not the one that actualised. From conception to finish, Bad Hair Day has been a subversion of its theme: despite everything that could possibly go wrong, including almost literal hell and high water, the finished piece has proven the concept of the ‘bad hair day’ wrong.