Some characters aren’t quite what they seem, no matter how charming. Michael Parekōwhai’s Cosmo McMurtry is a noxious pest in the guise of a Disney-worthy bunny. Even his doe-eyed, cutesy appearance can’t quite erase our awareness of the toll his endlessly multiplying relatives have taken on Aotearoa New Zealand’s natural environment. It’s a short hop from one introduced, invasive species to the next, which leads us to an uncomfortable question: is Cosmo a rabbit-shaped personification of colonisation?

(Dummies & Doppelgängers, 2 November 2024 – 23 March 2025)