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
Collection
Ivy Fife Frog Rock
The unique limestone rock formation known locally as Frog Rock, near Weka Pass, is a memorable marker on the journey inland north of Ōtautahi Christchurch. This is limestone country, and the overhanging rocks in this area were used extensively by Māori for shelter while undertaking mahika kai trips inland. Many are adorned with exceptional examples of rock art drawings by ancestors of mana whenua. Ivy Fife has simplified the features of this landscape into flat blocks of colour with an almost graphic, poster-like quality.
mahika kai ~ food gathering
mana whenua ~ Māori with authority over particular land or territory
He Kapuka Oneone – A Handful of Soil (from August 2024)
Collection
Jeffrey Harris Title unknown
Jeffrey Harris grew up on his parents’ isolated Horomaka Banks Peninsula dairy farm in the 1950s and 1960s, and developed his drawing talent early. He was determined to be an artist – a pursuit that drew little encouragement from his parents but was quietly nurtured by his maternal grandparents, whom Jeffrey described as “the gentle and secretive side of the family”. This work was made in 1969, which was an important year for Jeffrey. He formed friendships with the Dunedin painters Michael Smither and Ralph Hotere, who did much to encourage him including arranging an exhibition of his work in the foyer of Otago Museum in 1969. They, along with others from Dunedin’s art circles, motivated Jeffrey to move to Dunedin in 1970 to take up painting full-time. It was here that he met the artist Joanna Margaret Paul whom he married in 1971.
(Jeffrey Harris: The Gift, 1 October 2022 – 12 March 2023 )
