Art

Explore the work of artists such as Tiffany Singh, Simon Denny, Colin McCahon, and Rita Angus through videos, podcasts, and in-depth articles.

All About “Eve”: Rodin’s masterpiece

All About “Eve”: Rodin’s masterpiece

Hear the story of Auguste Rodin’s “Eve”, and the conservation work that went into making her ready for display, to tour New Zealand in 2019.
Art and wellbeing with Tiffany Singh, Ella Brewer, Catherine Spence, and Martin Awa Clarke Langdon

Art and wellbeing with Tiffany Singh, Ella Brewer, Catherine Spence, and Martin Awa Clarke Langdon

Panellists from science, health, education, and arts backgrounds explore how the relationship between the arts and health can offer diverse and dynamic settings for expressive restorative, educational, and therapeutic benefits.
A child’s interpretation of Frank Craig’s ‘Goblin market’

A child’s interpretation of Frank Craig’s ‘Goblin market’

What does a child see when they look closely at Frank Craig’s ‘Goblin market’?
“The themes in his work always have a place in society”: Wellington High School’s Aroha Millar on Tony Fomison

“The themes in his work always have a place in society”: Wellington High School’s Aroha Millar on Tony Fomison

“The themes in his work always have a place in society – especially today where so many people are outcasts from their own countries.”
“There is nowhere to go if something’s inside of you”: Wellington High School’s Elijah Neilson on Tony Fomison

“There is nowhere to go if something’s inside of you”: Wellington High School’s Elijah Neilson on Tony Fomison

“I think much of what he paints is an expression of feelings too big for your body. He makes these things that impress upon you from the outside. That can feel better than something emerging from the inside, because there is nowhere to go if something’s inside of you.”
“I really enjoy the way that they make me think”: Wellington High School’s Rose Wallington on Tony Fomison

“I really enjoy the way that they make me think”: Wellington High School’s Rose Wallington on Tony Fomison

“I still kinda hate the way that they look, but I really enjoy the way that they make me think.”
Dark desires: Female sexuality in art

Dark desires: Female sexuality in art

What does female sexuality look like in art? Here, it looks like monsters, mermaids, and minotaurs…
Watch: Tony Fomison at work

Watch: Tony Fomison at work

See rare footage of Tony Fomison at work, captured on glorious Super 8 by New Zealand experimental film-maker Martin Rumsby.
How to design an exhibition for teens? Co-create it with them

How to design an exhibition for teens? Co-create it with them

‘Tony Fomison: Lost in the Dark’ is co-created with students from Wellington High School, which involved working together across a number of creative sessions. Here, Experience Designer Chloe Johnston channels her inner teen.
Children’s Guide to Lisa Walker

Children’s Guide to Lisa Walker

How does a child view the jewellery of Lisa Walker?
The secrets found on the backs of paintings

The secrets found on the backs of paintings

Accompanying the portrait wall in ‘Tūrangawaewae: Art and New Zealand’ are digital interactives that allow you to dive deeper into the conservation efforts that prepared the paintings for exhibition, and reveal hidden histories.
Behind the scenes of Toi Art under construction

Behind the scenes of Toi Art under construction

Take a peek at how the galleries were built.
Stories behind the portraits – in New Zealand Sign Language

Stories behind the portraits – in New Zealand Sign Language

Curator Historical New Zealand Art Rebecca Rice and Curator Mātauranga Māori Matariki Williams tell NZSL Presenter Theresa Cooper about four of the artworks on the portrait wall in Tūrangawaewae: Art and New Zealand.
Watch: How to sign art words

Watch: How to sign art words

New Zealand Sign Language Presenter Theresa Cooper signs some helpful words to know when you’re talking about art.
Watch: Pacific Sisters create ‘Tāulaolevai: Keeper of the Water (Tuna)’

Watch: Pacific Sisters create ‘Tāulaolevai: Keeper of the Water (Tuna)’

Behind the scenes of the making of ‘Kaitiaki with a K; Tāulaolevai: Keeper of the water (Tuna)’, on display at ‘Pacific Sisters: Fashion Activists’.
‘I’ve never seen the gallery like this before’: Experiencing Toi Art through dance

‘I’ve never seen the gallery like this before’: Experiencing Toi Art through dance

Transfixed by BodyCartography Project’s ‘Walk with me’ tour of Toi Art, Head of Exhibition Renewal Frith Williams wrote down her thoughts in the middle of the night, “so I could remember it later.” Here’s what she wrote.
Lisa Walker, New Zealand’s jeweller provocateur

Lisa Walker, New Zealand’s jeweller provocateur

It’s 30 years since Lisa Walker set off on her journey in jewellery. Te Papa marks this achievement with the survey exhibition Lisa Walker: I want to go to my bedroom but I can’t be bothered.
‘A mix of control and accident’ – Helen Calder in her own words

‘A mix of control and accident’ – Helen Calder in her own words

Helen Calder’s Everything in its right place (Arrangement for seventeen colour groups 17/51) is currently on display in Kaleidoscope: Abstract Aotearoa | Anō he kōpere: Te reo tohu. Here, the artist talks about what drew her to paint, the role accidents play in her work, and taking inspiration from Radiohead.
Watch: Tūrangawaewae portrait wall timelapse

Watch: Tūrangawaewae portrait wall timelapse

This portrait wall forms part of the Toi Art exhibition ‘Tūrangawaewae: Art & New Zealand’, which spans historical portraiture to contemporary practice, with art works that inspire and provoke, question and console.
Space, body, and movement: An interview with BodyCartography Project’s Olive Bieringa

Space, body, and movement: An interview with BodyCartography Project’s Olive Bieringa

“There’s a long tradition of dance in the museum, but I think in terms of dance history and in this larger critical discourse around art history, dance has not been a part of that conversation.”
Lisa Walker, a career in pictures

Lisa Walker, a career in pictures

Lisa Walker has always questioned what jewellery can mean and be. Trace the career of this important New Zealand contemporary artist.
Spotify playlists
Spotify playlists

Music to accompany your visit.
- Tony Fomison: Lost in the Dark Spotify playlist
- Pacific Sisters: Fashion Activists Spotify playlist
Art I’m Into: Nina Tonga, Curator Pacific Art

Art I’m Into: Nina Tonga, Curator Pacific Art

“When installed and backlit, the work casts thousands of shadows that envelop the viewer.”
Tiffany Singh: Indra’s bow & Total internal reflection
Tiffany Singh: Indra’s bow & Total internal reflection

Explore Tiffany Singh’s ‘Total internal reflection’ and ‘Indra’s bow’.
Art I’m Into: Charlotte Davy, Head of Art

Art I’m Into: Charlotte Davy, Head of Art

“When I first unpacked this work from its travelling crate an uncontrollable shiver went up my spine.”
Art I’m Into: Justine Olsen, Curator Decorative Art and Design

Art I’m Into: Justine Olsen, Curator Decorative Art and Design

“In an ideal world I would wear this necklace to a party.”
The photographs of Marti Friedlander (1928—2016)

The photographs of Marti Friedlander (1928—2016)

Friedlander was particularly renowned for her portraits of artists in the 1960s and 1970s, and for her images of the last Māori women to have received the chin moko in a customary manner.
Is LEGO art?

Is LEGO art?

Art curator Mark Stocker interviews LEGO professional Ryan McNaught. They discuss the contentious subject of whether LEGO can be seen as art.
Five things you never knew about Rodin

Five things you never knew about Rodin

Art curator Mark Stocker highlights five fascinating facts you probably didn’t know about the great French sculptor Auguste Rodin.
Listen: Rodin – France’s Greatest Sculptor

Listen: Rodin – France’s Greatest Sculptor

Dr Mark Stocker's lecture explores Rodin's slow – even painful – rise to fame, the controversies he sparked, and some of his most renowned works, including The Thinker and The Kiss.
Audio and video about New Zealand painter Rita Angus

Audio and video about New Zealand painter Rita Angus

The life, work, and relationships of Rita Angus.
Standing on the shoulders of giants: Megan Dunn interviews Andrew McLeod

Standing on the shoulders of giants: Megan Dunn interviews Andrew McLeod

‘People don’t always know how to respond to art, they don’t know if they have to read the text or not.’
Watch: Interviews with four New Zealand jewellers

Watch: Interviews with four New Zealand jewellers

Jewellers Lisa Walker, John Edgar, Warwick Freeman, and Alan Preston discuss their work and inspiration.
‘It’s before meaning’: Bill Culbert on ‘VOID’

‘It’s before meaning’: Bill Culbert on ‘VOID’

Curator Sarah Farrar talks with Bill Culbert about his work VOID, 2006, made in collaboration with the late artist Ralph Hotere, and commissioned for Te Papa.
Watch: Bill Culbert installing 'Daylight flotsam Venice' (2013) and 'Drop' (2013)

Watch: Bill Culbert installing 'Daylight flotsam Venice' (2013) and 'Drop' (2013)

Artist Bill Culbert created 'Daylight flotsam Venice' (2013) and 'Drop' (2013) as part of his exhibition at the Venice Biennale, where he represented New Zealand in 2013. Here, he installs the work for their first exhibition in New Zealand at Te Papa.
Eric Lee-Johnson's night sky photography

Eric Lee-Johnson's night sky photography

New Zealand artist and photographer Eric Lee-Johnson used light in interesting ways in his photography. Here is a selection of images he created in the 1950s.
Gretchen Albrecht on her work ‘In a shower of gold’

Gretchen Albrecht on her work ‘In a shower of gold’

Auckland-based painter Gretchen Albrecht talks about the process of creating her work ‘In a shower of gold’ (2011), and about how the history of her own work sustains her now.
TEAL Posters – Air New Zealand’s Early Days

TEAL Posters – Air New Zealand’s Early Days

A vibrant collection of travel posters designed by Arthur Thompson in the 1950s for TEAL, the forerunner of Air New Zealand.
Watch: Simon Denny's guide to Secret Power at Te Papa

Watch: Simon Denny's guide to Secret Power at Te Papa

Simon Denny talks about issues of mass surveillance, national identity, and international security in his exhibition Secret Power.
Watch: Simon Denny on the most important visual documents of our age

Watch: Simon Denny on the most important visual documents of our age

A new spin on death by PowerPoint: why the NSA slides are some of most culturally important materials of the current age.
Watch: Simon Denny talks Terminator and the irony of artificial intelligence

Watch: Simon Denny talks Terminator and the irony of artificial intelligence

The Terminator was artificial intelligence gone wrong, but NSA artists made it the symbol of their surveillance programme. Denny talks irony in the Snowden slides.
Watch: Simon Denny on David Darchicourt, in-house artist of the NSA

Watch: Simon Denny on David Darchicourt, in-house artist of the NSA

David Darchicourt created cartoons for the NSA. Hear how his leaked images ended up in a Renaissance library.
Watch: Simon Denny on magic, manipulation, and mind games

Watch: Simon Denny on magic, manipulation, and mind games

Many magicians have worked for the military. Denny explores manipulations and mind games, from corporate buzzwords to the human deceptions of espionage.
Watch: Installing Simon Denny's Secret Power at Te Papa

Watch: Installing Simon Denny's Secret Power at Te Papa

Time-lapse of Simon Denny’s ground breaking exhibition Secret Power taking over Te Papa’s art gallery.
Kids’ audio guide: Tell Me a Picture

Kids’ audio guide: Tell Me a Picture

Te Papa’s kids’ audio guide, Tell Me a Picture, was made by children for children. But kids aren’t the only ones who enjoy the fascinating, funny, and poignant perspectives it offers.
Your art drawings curated
Your art drawings curated

We've had some very talented visitors through our doors who have left us some incredible drawings they've produced while in the galleries. Here are some of our favourites.
Watch: Conserving Petrus van der Velden’s Marken funeral barge painting

Watch: Conserving Petrus van der Velden’s Marken funeral barge painting

Painting conservator, Tijana Cvetkovic, describes the delicate conservation treatment required to prepare Petrus van der Velden’s Marken funeral barge for exhibition.
Watch the making of the Anzac Centenary Print Portfolio
Watch the making of the Anzac Centenary Print Portfolio

The Australian War Memorial invited five New Zealand and five Australian artists to each create an artistic response to World War I (1914–19). These videos record the responses, thoughts, working processes, and printmaking techniques of the artists.
Watch: Designing wedding garments for 'Unveiled: 200 Years of Wedding Fashion'

Watch: Designing wedding garments for 'Unveiled: 200 Years of Wedding Fashion'

Watch interviews with New Zealand designers including Francis Hooper, Denise L’Estrange-Corbet, and Benny Castles, whose designs were exhibited in 'Unveiled: 200 Years of Wedding Fashion' during the summer of 2011–2012.
Watch: Walk, a response to Colin McCahon

Watch: Walk, a response to Colin McCahon

Highlights from Riki Gooch and the Sound Institute performing a sonic journey past the 14 ‘stations’ in Colin McCahon’s sweeping multi-canvas work 'Walk (Series C)'.

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Art

All About “Eve”: Rodin’s masterpiece

Art and wellbeing with Tiffany Singh, Ella Brewer, Catherine Spence, and Martin Awa Clarke Langdon

A child’s interpretation of Frank Craig’s ‘Goblin market’

“The themes in his work always have a place in society”: Wellington High School’s Aroha Millar on Tony Fomison

“There is nowhere to go if something’s inside of you”: Wellington High School’s Elijah Neilson on Tony Fomison

“I really enjoy the way that they make me think”: Wellington High School’s Rose Wallington on Tony Fomison

Dark desires: Female sexuality in art

Watch: Tony Fomison at work

How to design an exhibition for teens? Co-create it with them

Children’s Guide to Lisa Walker

The secrets found on the backs of paintings

Behind the scenes of Toi Art under construction

Stories behind the portraits – in New Zealand Sign Language

Watch: How to sign art words

Watch: Pacific Sisters create ‘Tāulaolevai: Keeper of the Water (Tuna)’

‘I’ve never seen the gallery like this before’: Experiencing Toi Art through dance

Lisa Walker, New Zealand’s jeweller provocateur

‘A mix of control and accident’ – Helen Calder in her own words

Watch: Tūrangawaewae portrait wall timelapse

Space, body, and movement: An interview with BodyCartography Project’s Olive Bieringa

Lisa Walker, a career in pictures

Spotify playlists

Art I’m Into: Nina Tonga, Curator Pacific Art

Tiffany Singh: Indra’s bow & Total internal reflection

Art I’m Into: Charlotte Davy, Head of Art

Art I’m Into: Justine Olsen, Curator Decorative Art and Design

The photographs of Marti Friedlander (1928—2016)

Is LEGO art?

Five things you never knew about Rodin

Listen: Rodin – France’s Greatest Sculptor

Audio and video about New Zealand painter Rita Angus

Standing on the shoulders of giants: Megan Dunn interviews Andrew McLeod

Watch: Interviews with four New Zealand jewellers

‘It’s before meaning’: Bill Culbert on ‘VOID’

Watch: Bill Culbert installing 'Daylight flotsam Venice' (2013) and 'Drop' (2013)

Eric Lee-Johnson's night sky photography

Gretchen Albrecht on her work ‘In a shower of gold’

TEAL Posters – Air New Zealand’s Early Days

Watch: Simon Denny's guide to Secret Power at Te Papa

Watch: Simon Denny on the most important visual documents of our age

Watch: Simon Denny talks Terminator and the irony of artificial intelligence

Watch: Simon Denny on David Darchicourt, in-house artist of the NSA

Watch: Simon Denny on magic, manipulation, and mind games

Watch: Installing Simon Denny's Secret Power at Te Papa

Kids’ audio guide: Tell Me a Picture

Your art drawings curated

Watch: Conserving Petrus van der Velden’s Marken funeral barge painting

Watch the making of the Anzac Centenary Print Portfolio

Watch: Designing wedding garments for 'Unveiled: 200 Years of Wedding Fashion'

Watch: Walk, a response to Colin McCahon