Kā Kaupapa o te Wā
What’s On
Edith Collier: Early New Zealand Modernist
A rare opportunity to view the work of one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most adventurous and experimental modernist artists.
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.
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
Derek Henderson Settlement Road, Otira, West Coast, 6.30pm, 27th February 2004
Photographer Derek Henderson’s 2004 road trip along the West Coast of the South Island included a visit to Otira. In many ways the resulting photographic essay, titled The Terrible Boredom of Paradise, follows in the footsteps of colonial travellers and contemporary tourists. But rather than focusing his attention on the grandeur and majesty of the Otira Gorge, Henderson focuses on the mundane – a humble railway cottage at the Otira township. However, the densely forested mountain slopes still dominate the background, while rust patches on the Datsun in the foreground hint at the dominance nature wields over manufactured objects. (Van der Velden: Otira, February 2100)
Collection
Johannes Gerardus Keulemans Jack-bird. Creadion cinereus.Saddle-back. Creadion carunculatus.
The forest-dwelling tīeke belongs to Aotearoa New Zealand's unique wattlebird family, an ancient group that includes the endangered kōkako and extinct huia. Once abundant, it declined sharply following the arrival of people, due to introduced predators and habitat loss. Separate tīeke species live in our two largest islands, with the most endangered South Island variety depicted here in adult and juvenile (jackbird) form. Tīeke came close to extinction in the 1960s, saved only through the efforts of the New Zealand Wildlife Service and local iwi.
Johannes Gerardus Keulemans (also known as John Gerrard Keulemans or J.G. Keulemans) was a renowned bird artist, famed for his accuracy. He illustrated Walter Lawry Buller’s 1873 book 'A History of the Birds of New Zealand' but never came to Aotearoa, instead working from specimens and stuffed birds provided by Buller.
tīeke ~ saddleback
iwi ~ tribes
(He Kapuka Oneone – A Handful of Soil, 2025)