Whakaaturaka
Exhibitions
Taiopeka
Events
E Whakaaturia ana Ināianei
On display
Art Matters: Venice Biennale
Fiona Pardington, Taharaki Skyside installation (detail). Photo: Neil Pardington
Talk
Past event
Philip Carter Family Auditorium
Free
Lead curator Felicity Milburn discusses Fiona Pardington’s Taharaki Skyside at the Aotearoa New Zealand pavilion in Venice and shares some of her Biennale highlights.
Related reading: Talk, Venice Biennale, Fiona Pardington, Free event
Commentary
On the World Stage
When Fiona Pardington’s remarkable presentation Taharaki Skyside opens this May at the 2026 Venice Biennale, it will be the result of months of work by the artist and many others, including the team here at the Gallery. In January 2025 the Gallery was announced by Creative New Zealand as the exhibition delivery partner for the project, with curators Felicity Milburn and Chloe Cull at the centre of a team that would work with Pardington to develop the exhibition and accompanying publication. Bulletin asked Chloe and Felicity about the project.
Notes
Taharaki Skyside in Venice
We’re incredibly proud of the role Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū has played as delivery partner for Aotearoa New Zealand’s participation in the 61st Biennale di Venezia. From the moment the Gallery’s selection of Fiona Pardington as artist was confirmed by Creative New Zealand, Taharaki Skyside has required a huge effort and commitment from right across the Gallery team. It was amazing to see that expertise, care and professionalism represented in Venice when the exhibition opened last month.
Director's Foreword
Director’s Foreword
In late 2024, the Gallery received the great honour of being chosen by Creative New Zealand as their delivery partner for the national pavilion at this year’s Venice Biennale. That was the first step in a long process, and as I write this I am preparing to attend the opening of Fiona Pardington’s spectacular exhibition Taharaki Skyside. Our decision to propose Fiona for this occasion was based in our deep respect for her body of practice, and our belief that her current works – profoundly moving photographic portraits of taxidermied native manu in museum collections – were a perfect fit for this moment on the global stage.
Article
A Tale of Two Chiefs
If you have recently visited He Taonga Rangatira: Noble Treasures at the Gallery you will have been struck by Fiona Pardington's two large photographic portraits of lifelike busts of Ngāi tahu tipuna (ancestors).
Article
New Zealand in the Biennale of Sydney and the Biennale of Sydney in New Zealand
Call it a moment of uncanny curatorial synchronicity. Call it an alignment of the trans-Tasman curatorial stars. Or-calming down a bit-call it a minor but welcome coincidence. In Sydney from 12 May till 1 August, nine New Zealand artists go on show in the Biennale of Sydney-one of the largest contingents of Kiwis ever to take part in the nearest thing the South Pacific has to European megashows like documenta and the Venice Biennale.
