Exhibitions
Events
On display
Milford Sound by Edwin Robert Stapylton Sandys
Edwin Robert Stapylton Sandys Milford Sound 1889.
Charcoal on paper. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, gift of Max Broadbent 2023
Art Bite
Meet in the exhibition
Join curator Ken Hall as he discusses Edwin Robert Stapylton Sandys' Milford Sound on display in He Kapuka Oneone - A Handful of Soil on the first floor.
Art Bites are 30-minute lunchtime presentations on a single work on display, presented by our staff, guides and guest speakers.
There's a new Art Bite to enjoy each Friday at 12 noon (except during public and school holidays).
Related reading: Free event
Exhibition
He Kapuka Oneone – A Handful of Soil
From 24 August 2024
Exploring the relationship between tākata and whenua – people and land – through Aotearoa New Zealand’s art history.
Collection
Edwin Robert Stapylton Sandys Milford Sound
Remote Te Rua-o-te-moko Fiordland was visited seasonally by Māori for hunting and fishing and to gather the prized takiwai pounamu from near the mouth of Piopiotahi Milford Sound. Traditional Kāi Tahu stories explain the area’s creation by Tū te Rakiwhānoa, who used his toki to carve rocks into fiords, the last of which, Piopiotahi, was considered his greatest triumph. The Australian warship HMS Opal first visited Milford Sound in 1888 with instructions to locate a briefly missing explorer. During a second visit the following year, the ship’s paymaster, Edwin Sandys, made this work to add to his collection of charcoal drawings of places visited.
takiwai pounamu ~ translucent variety of greenstone
Kāi Tahu ~ tribal group of much of Te Waipounamu South Island
toki ~ adze
He Kapuka Oneone – A Handful of Soil (from August 2024)
