Knowledge on a beam of starlight

This three-panel light work – originally conceived of as ‘The Incredible Dream Zine Machine’ – invites you to make your own fanzine, or do-it-yourself magazine. Fanzines are fantastically varied, from lavish art works to quick-fire fliers. The choice is yours.

When | Āhea

22 Aug 2014 – 31 Mar 2016

Where | Ki hea

Level 5

Cost | Te utu

Free entry

To make her work, the artist Kerry Ann Lee trawled through thousands of free images on Te Papa’s Collections Online. She was inspired by childhood treasures like Cole’s Funny Picture Book (1979).

Typewriters butt up against pink swans. Stuffed penguins jostle with Chinese gowns. Punctuating their dance are provocative questions sparked by internet quizzes and personality tests: What are you waiting for? What should your name really be?

Kerry Ann Lee, *Knowledge on a beam of starlight* (composite), 2014, found images and questions, vinyl, commissioned 2014; Aug 2014. Te Papa

Kerry Ann Lee, *Knowledge on a beam of starlight* (panel 1), 2014, found images and questions, vinyl, commissioned 2014; Aug 2014. Te Papa

Kerry Ann Lee, *Knowledge on a beam of starlight* (panel 2), 2014, found images and questions, vinyl, commissioned 2014; Aug 2014

Kerry Ann Lee, *Knowledge on a beam of starlight* (panel 3), 2014, found images and questions, vinyl, commissioned 2014; Aug 2014. Te Papa

Kerry Ann Lee, *Knowledge on a beam of starlight*, 2014. Te Papa

Discover moreKia kitea ake

Kerry Ann Lee: Return to Skyland

Artist Kerry Ann Lee invites you to enter a dreamscape transit lounge. An installation accessible to ticket holders for ‘Terracotta Warriors: Guardians of Immortality’.

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A large artwork filled with clouds of olive green and black paint. Adding to the surreal cloudscape are small, detailed drawings of decapitated birds’ heads, mountains, fantastical creatures and circular hiapo motifs that create small pockets of narrative.

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Coming soon: Fresh takes and new favourites. You’ll find them in Toi Art.

Keep an eye on this page to see which exhibitions will be open from June 2025.

Opening soon

Reopening June 2025

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A painting of a stylised harbour and land. There is a green face on the right hand side with one large eye.

Art and photography in our collections

Te Papa’s art and visual culture incorporates significant historical material, major contemporary commissions, emerging artists, and nationally significant commercial design material.

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