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Te Pūkenga Whakaata
 

OPEN DAILY: 10:00am – 4:30pm
Except Christmas Day and New Years Day

New Zealanders: Free Entry
International Visitors (18+): $10


Shed 11, 60 Lady Elizabeth Lane
Wellington Waterfront 6011

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Exhibitions
Reclaimed Land: Tāngata, Tiriti, Taiao
Nov 20
Reclaimed Land: Tāngata, Tiriti, Taiao

Drawing together work by contemporary artists, Reclaimed Land: Tāngata, Tiriti, Taiao presents a portrait of the earth told through personal, ancestral and collective relationships between he tāngata and te taiao. These artists take action for nature, and tell stories of collective futures. Their works reclaim the land, reminding us that to tend to the land is to tend to ourselves.

Curated by Israel Randell and Susan Ballard 

Image: Tia Ranginui, Ka Hapai te Rama, 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Laree Payne Gallery.  

A Horse Walks Into A Bar: Humour and Portraiture in Aotearoa
Dec 11
A Horse Walks Into A Bar: Humour and Portraiture in Aotearoa

A Horse Walks Into A Bar: Humour and Portraiture in Aotearoa is curated by Liz Stringer Curatorial Intern for 2025, Matthew Whiteman.  Reaching across a half-century of portraiture in Aotearoa, this exhibition offers a potted history of how painters, photographers and video artists have snuck punchlines into the white cubes of the gallery, and to what end.

Image: Maurice Bennett, Self, 2010. 2275 pieces of toast, PVA and 2 pot lacquer on painted board. Collection of New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata

Salome: An Angel of History
Feb 19
Salome: An Angel of History

For the very first time, this exhibition will plot the course taken by renowned New Zealand artist Yuki Kihara in her exploration of Pacific history, through her alter-ego Salome.

Image: Yuki Kihara, After Tsunami Galu Afi, Lalomanu, 2013. Courtesy University of Auckland.

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Public Programmes
Trapping Tunnel Building Workshop
Jan 24
Trapping Tunnel Building Workshop

Join Predator Free Wellington for a Trapping Tunnel Building Workshop.

Monthly Life Drawing
Jan 31
Monthly Life Drawing

Have a go at portraiture in a relaxed setting with our koha monthly life drawing sessions.

Touring Exhibitions →
 
Touring Exhibitions
Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award 2025 - Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum & Gallery
Sep 12
Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum & Gallery
Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award 2025 - Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum & Gallery
Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum & Gallery

The Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award is a competition that encourages young Maaori artists to create portraits of their tupuna (ancestors) in any medium. The 2025 finalists’ exhibition will be touring to multiple venues around the motu.

Image: Ashley Tutaki, Back to the Source, Photography (finalist)

Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum & Gallery
Robyn Kahukiwa: Tohunga Mahi Toi - Aratoi, Wairarapa
Oct 11
Aratoi: Wairarapa Museum of Art and History
Robyn Kahukiwa: Tohunga Mahi Toi - Aratoi, Wairarapa
Aratoi: Wairarapa Museum of Art and History

Robyn Kahukiwa’s artworks have made a difference to Māori. They have provided not only beauty and strength but inroads into our mātauranga, and the multi-layered, inter-generational and ever-evolving stories that are part of our cultural landscape. Her work has become an alternate visual rendering of Aotearoa’s history, through the lens of a Māori woman.

Image: Robyn Kahukiwa, Portrait of a Woman, 1986, Private collection, Wellington

Aratoi: Wairarapa Museum of Art and History
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