Kaleidoscope: Abstract Aotearoa Anō he kōpere: Te reo tohu

An exploration of colour, shape, and pattern in the Pacific.

When | Āhea

17 Mar 2018 – 2 Apr 2023

Where | Ki hea

Toi Art, Level 5

Cost | Te utu

Free entry

Abstract art is often presented as a 20th-century European invention. Kaleidoscope turns that on its head and celebrates how the exploration of shape, colour and pattern have captured our imaginations in the Pacific.

Guide to Toi Art in New Zealand Sign Language

View of Kaleidoscope: Abstract Aotearoa, 2020. Photo by Maarten Holl. Te Papa

Artworks, from left to right:

Ralph Hotere, Black Painting XIII, from ‘Malady’ a poem by Bill Manhire, 1970, acrylic on canvas. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Te Papa (1971-0024-1)

Gordon Bennett, Abstraction (Ethnic), 2011, Australia, acrylic on linen. Te Papa (2016-0023-2)

Kulimoe'anga Stone Maka, Ngatu ta‘uli (blackened tapa cloth), 2010, bark cloth. Te Papa (FE012937)

Helen Calder, Everything in its right place (Arrangement for seventeen colour groups 17/51), 2011-2017, acrylic paint, stainless steel pins. Photograph by Maarten Holl. Te Papa

Rebecca Baumann, Automated colour field (variation 8), 2017, 140 flip clocks, laser-cut paper, batteries. Photograph by Maarten Holl. Te Papa

Filipe Tohi, Haupapa (installation view), 2017, wood, glue. Te Papa

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