Just in time for the summer holidays, Te Puna o Waiwhetū Christchurch Art Gallery has a new interactive exhibition and lots of activities to keep the kids (and adults) entertained. “If you haven’t been to the Gallery in a while, now’s a great time to pay a visit. There are lots of great opportunities to…
Category: Art & creativity
Humans of Christchurch exhibition reveals wonder of everyday
Stories and photos celebrating the everyday people of Ōtautahi Christchurch will be on display at Tūranga’s Southbase Gallery this summer. The Humans of Ōtautahi Christchurch project uses a format made famous in 2010 by Humans of New York and since adopted in cities as far flung as Bombay, Amsterdam and Melbourne. It features photographic portraits…
Visits increase as public confidence returns
Visitor numbers to Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū are starting to see a return to normal after three years of COVID 19 disruption. Figures for the year to 22 November show 216,344 people visited the gallery, with that number expected to reach 237,000 by the end of December. That compares with 350,000 visitors…
Final artwork complete at Christchurch convention centre
Work to install the last artwork in Christchurch’s convention centre Te Pae is now complete. Moment of Movement has been installed on the Colombo Street side of the building by Ōtākaro Limited. The 15.4m x 6.7m work was designed by New Zealand Korean multi-media artist, Seung Yul Oh, in association with John Troy O’Sullivan. “Seeing…
City artists move into new creative home – Toi Auaha
Jewellers, writers and digital artists are among the 17 local creatives about to move into new spaces at Toi Auaha. 12 studio spaces were offered to the local arts community and have been filled by a variety of arts practitioners. Toi Ōtautahi and Christchurch City Council Principal Arts Advisor, Kiri Jarden says Toi Auaha is…
New lightboxes to help illuminate the arts in Christchurch
Christchurch will soon be home to seven large freestanding lightboxes celebrating and promoting creativity in Ōtautahi. The new lightboxes will be a dedicated resource for the arts and will showcase a changing array of original artworks. They will bring much-needed public art infrastructure to Christchurch’s central city and help create a stronger plaform for Toi…
Two new exhibitions opening at Christchurch Art Gallery
Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu is readying for the opening of two new exhibitions that showcase the work of two contemporary New Zealand artists. James Oram Spectral hands (detail) 2022. Cyanotype prints of found imagery. Courtesy of the artist. Beginning on Saturday 5 November, the gallery is hosting a new solo exhibition by…
Eight new artworks to go on display in central Christchurch
Intriguing artworks by local and international artists will punctuate Christchurch’s city centre when the SCAPE Public Art Season 2022 opens on Saturday 5 November. Held annually, the SCAPE Public Art Season is a free event that invites people to wander the streets and discover new public artworks by emerging and established artists. This year, works…
Two otherworldly new exhibitions arrive this spring
The otherworldly visions of two of New Zealand’s most celebrated painters are arriving at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū this spring with the opening of two new exhibitions – Jeffrey Harris: The Gift and Barbara Tuck: Delirium Crossing. Jeffrey Harris: The Gift 1 October 2022 – 12 March 2023 Over the past 50…
Gallery visitors greeted by new harakeke art work
At your next visit, make sure you look up – a brand new commission from Mata Aho Collective is now swooping down from the skylights and across the foyer at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū. This ambitious installation, Tīkawe, is made up of 530 metres of braided strands of harakeke, or flax. It’s…
Uncovering the secrets of Christchurch’s Queen of Crime
Dame Ngaio Marsh’s life was almost as much of a mystery as her famous detective novels. She lived a completely private life, despite being dubbed one of the “Queens of Crime” alongside names like Agatha Christie and selling more than two million copies of her novels. And was also full of dualities. When Dame Ngaio…
Uncovering the secrets of Christchurch’s Queen of Crime
Dame Ngaio Marsh’s life was almost as much of a mystery as her famous detective novels. She lived a completely private life, despite being dubbed one of the “Queens of Crime” alongside names like Agatha Christie and selling more than two million copies of her novels. And was also full of dualities. When Dame Ngaio…
The city’s popular Dance-O-Mat is back
After a $45,000 revamp, Christchurch’s popular Dance-o-Mat is open for a boogie at its new central city site. The coin-operated dance floor was located at a vacant site next to the Isaac Theatre Royal on Gloucester Street since 2014 but was relocated to 211 Manchester Street to make way for construction of the Court Theatre and Performing…
Former addict inspiring others through hip hop music
Hunter Wilson had hit rock bottom. He battled against the ADHD he was diagnosed with at the age of six, had a hard time through school, got into trouble and later in life struggled massively with addiction to methamphetamine. Hunter ended up in hospitalised during a drug induced psychosis. But then he threw himself into…
Heritage building saved for community arts
Rolleston House will get a new lease on life as a space for local artists. The heritage-listed building at 5 Worcester Boulevard was set to be disposed of by Christchurch City Council as part of last year’s Long Term Plan. However, today Councillors decided to retain the property for use as a community arts venue…
Going to the chapel
A shell-shaped chapel that won people’s hearts has been restored and moved to a prominent spot next to He Puna Taimoana Hot Pools on the New Brighton foreshore. The chapel won the people’s choice award in the 2016 Tiny Huts design competition but has been tucked away under the pier for several years while the…
Christchurch’s Somali women show their voice through art
Shocked, surreal and excited. Those are the words of first-time artist Samira Ahmed as she watched her print being delicately hung up on show in Tūranga. Samira is one of eight Somali women aged between 20 and 70 whose art is now on display in the Gurigeena: Our Home Somali exhibition held by the Canterbury…
Awards stack up for Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū
Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū has walked away from the prestigious Museums Australasia Multimedia and Publication Design Awards with an armful of awards. The gallery’s book Bill Hammond: Across the Evening Sky, designed by Aaron Beehre, took out the top prize in the book/publications category of the awards. It also won Best in…
New exhibition of Māori moving images
The newest exhibition at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū has some of Aotearoa’s leading Māori artists embracing moving image – from slick animation to 16mm film, with an unexpected dose of karaoke. Māori Moving Image ki Te Puna o Waiwhetū, open from 4 June – 16 October 2022, champions recent moving image art…
New exhibition celebrates Māori magazine
A magazine which was described as “a marae on paper” is being celebrated with an evolving exhibition at Tūranga. The exhibition Te Ao Hou: A moment in Time showcases the tenacity and elegance of the Māori spirit represented in the magazine Te Ao Hou and runs Saturday 16 April through to Sunday 7 August at…
Sydenham a hot-spot for street art
An inner-city suburb is becoming a hot-spot for street art with dozens of murals large and small decorating walls and buildings around Sydenham. The central city has become celebrated for its vibrant large-scale street art while Sydenham is notable for its high concentration and eclectic range of murals. Some have been privately commissioned by local…
New gallery exhibition from world-renowned artist
A new exhibition from internationally renowned Kiwi artist Francis Upritchard features a range of figures made from rubber extracted from trees in Brazil. The new exhibition Paper, Creature, Stone also includes ceramic works, figurative sculptures and watercolours – all new pieces from Upritchard that will be on display from Saturday 2 April 2022 at Christchurch…
Celebrating 10 years of cabinet art in Ōtautahi Christchurch
A joint initiative between Christchurch City Council’s Graffiti Team and telecommunications provider Chorus has helped turn dozens of mundane metal cabinets into small works of art. The idea originated from an Auckland-based trial conducted by Chorus which found decorating with art works helped to decrease the frequency of graffiti vandalism. It proved so successful the…
Art gallery mural celebrates atua wāhine
A wild new mural that celebrates atua wāhine (Māori goddesses) is about to unfold on the ‘bunker’ outside Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū. Kāi Tahu artist Xoë Hall is the artist behind the mural, which will adorn the three concrete sides of the ‘bunker’ which houses the stairs down to the gallery’s underground…
New vending machine dispenses art
A unique piece of international art can be yours for the same price as of a pound of butter. A new Kunstautomat – art vending machine – has been installed in the Christchurch Arts Centre and is the first of its kind to make its way to these shores. The machine is the invention of…
New exhibition reveals wild disorder of nature
What do an ant’s eye, orange peel, a hibiscus flower, rhubarb, bacteria and a space blob have in common? They all feature in the new Atlas of Anti-Taxonomies exhibition opening at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu on Saturday 12 February. Atlas of Anti-Taxonomies features more than 100 images that New Zealand born artist…
New exhibition celebrates art of Māori weaving
The art of Māori weaving, under threat 40 years ago, is celebrating its survival against overwhelming odds in a world first exhibition, Te Puna Waiora: The Distinguished Weavers of Te Kāhui Whiritoi. Two years in the making, this major exhibition opens at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū on 18 December 2021. The opening…
Old and new celebrated in two new art gallery exhibitions
With two new exhibitions, The Moon and the Manor House and Leaving for Work, visitors to Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū can enjoy a mix of new acquisitions and old favourites presented in a new context this summer. The Moon and the Manor House showcases the Aesthetic and Arts and Crafts Movements of…
Make sure you check-in to Isolation Hotel this summer
Cantabrians are encouraged to put themselves in the frame in a new exhibition at Canterbury Museum. Isolation Hotel is a unique, immersive art experience by Auckland artist Heather Straka, brought to Christchurch by the Museum in collaboration with SCAPE Public Art. Visitors to the exhibition will check in to a specially-constructed set designed to evoke…
The Court Theatre’s new site blessed
The site in central Christchurch where The Court Theatre’s new home is going to be built has been blessed. The blessing was led by a mana whenua representative and marks another milestone in the project to bring The Court Theatre back into the heart of Christchurch. “In the 10 years since the earthquakes The Court…