Kā Kaupapa o te Wā
What’s On
Raymond McIntyre: A Modernist View
Dynamic and progressive paintings and woodcuts from one of Aotearoa’s New Zealand foremost modernist artists.
Living Archives
Archives that tell stories about artists and history in Aotearoa
Whāia te Taniwha
Māori artists consider the enduring relevance of taniwha in Aotearoa.
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
William Huggins South Sea Whale Fishery
There once was a ship that put to sea
The name of the ship was the Billy O’ Tea
The winds blew up, her bow dipped down
Oh blow, my bully boys, blow
Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguing is done
We'll take our leave and go
She’d not been two weeks from shore
When down on her a right whale bore
The captain called all hands and swore
He’d take that whale in tow
Refrain
Before the boat had hit the water
The whale’s tail came up and caught her
All hands to the side, harpooned and fought her
When she dived down low
Refrain
No line was cut, no whale was freed
The captain’s mind was not of greed
And he belonged to the Whaleman’s creed
She took that ship in tow
Soon May the Wellerman Come is a sea shanty first published in Aotearoa New Zealand in the 1970s and probably written between 1890 and 1910.
(Ship Nails and Tail Feathers, 10 June – 22 October 2023)
