B.

Take a self-guided tour of our exhibition Te Wheke: Pathways Across Oceania. Student workbooks are available to support students while they explore the spaces - download a copy below or email schools@christchurchartgallery.org.nz to organise a printed class set.

All About Te Wheke

Wheke means octopus in te reo Māori. For many cultures around Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa / the Pacific Ocean, this resourceful, resilient, adventurous creature is a symbol of early voyages of exploration and migration from the Polynesian homelands of Hawaiki. Its long tentacles stretch out across the ocean to Tonga, Kiribati, Hawaii, Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and Aotearoa New Zealand. In this selection of art from the Gallery collection and beyond, Te Wheke offers a way to understand how we are connected across time and place.

In Aotearoa, conventional art history tells the stories of art that ties us to Britain and Europe. The art in Te Wheke looks in a different direction – from the Pacific outwards. Artists reach back to Polynesia and out into the world beyond, finding connections that are old and new.

Oceania is large and glorious. Like the octopus, it connects us along Pacific pathways with ideas of navigation, belonging and identity. Te Wheke opens up conversations about the journeys, tensions and connections that shape our past, present and future.

Students will take away an appreciation of art and consider a selection works that can cover a range of subjects, styles, media and purposes. The works viewed will be a selection from our current exhibitions. Students are expected to discuss and question what they see. Tours can be tailored to all levels.

Bookings essential.

Download our Gallery Guidelines below.

Students will tour the Gallery and explore a range of Polynesian artforms including woodblock, Tivaevae and Tapa. During the tour they will make recordings of patterns and motifs used in the work they see. They will use their drawings to create their own Polynesian print. Students will be working individually and in groups during this lesson.

Looking for things to do at home or school? Take a look at these worksheets and activities.

Pacific Printmaking
He Waka Eke Noa
Waka Huia

Explore our set of colouring activities based on works from our collection - check them out here. 

Have a go at curating your own exhibition with the works in our collection using My Gallery 

We would love to see your work when it's done - take a photo and send it to schools@christchurchartgallery.org.nz or tag us on social media!

Take a guided tour of our exhibition Te Wheke: Pathways Across Oceania. Students will discuss a range of artists' work and explore ideas of navigation, belonging, identity and how we are connected across time and place. Students will then use a range of materials to create a pictorial map of their journey through the Gallery using collage, colour and pattern.

Your students will tour the Gallery and look at a range of artworks that feature Māori motif and design. In the classroom, students will learn four common shapes used in kōwhaiwhai and learn how the shapes are used. The class will use these shapes to create a cut-out design based on Lonnie Hutchinson's work Sista7. 

Available until 2 April

Discover the work of one of Aotearoa New Zealand's most significant artists with your class. Students will begin with a guided tour of Ralph Hotere: Ātete (to resist), discussing how Hotere's art charted his journeys throughout Aotearoa and the world, reflecting on his experiences, identity, and politics. They will then experiment with colour and different paint techniques to create a collaborative work for your classroom.

Available 27 March - 25 July

Students will explore different ways of making on a tour of the Gallery, looking at a range of artists' work and completing a series of drawing exercises. Students will then look closely at The Children's Charter, a work by Mark Braunias commissioned for our Education Centre corridor. Each student will develop their own free-form figure drawing to keep using a series of line drawings and oil pastel or paint.

Available until 11 July

Join experimental musician and educator Noel Meek in a workshop which explores music-making through the experience of listening and responding to sound. Students will be introduced to Olivia Webb's exhibition Anthems of Belonging and think about what it means to belong in Aotearoa. They will then explore different ways of listening and be guided into responding through sound making. Practical exercises will allow all students to enjoy creating music, regardless of prior experience. Instruments provided, but students may also bring their own. 

Available 24-28 May 2021

Our week-long series of artist-led workshops is back! This is an exceptional opportunity for enthusiastic and motivated visual arts students to work with established artists and experiment with different disciplines and materials. Each of the five workshops will focus on a different aspect of creating art and include hands-on experience as well as inspirational examples, discussions and activities.

Download the 2021 programme below.

Proudly supported by CADFAS, Canterbury Decorative & Fine Arts Society

Take a guided tour of Ahu Timataka / Trace Elements, an exhibition of new works by Lonnie Hutchinson that explores rongoā, the customary Māori practice of plant-based healing. During the tour students will discuss the power of plants and our relationship with nature and think about how each work has been made. They will make recordings of the shapes and patterns used in the works they see and then use their drawings as inspiration to create a multi-layered artwork to keep.

Available 19 June - 31 October