Free museum entry for New Zealanders and people living in New Zealand
Open every day 10am-6pm
(except Christmas Day)
Free museum entry for New Zealanders and people living in New Zealand
The Photobook Festival is back for 2026 with workshops, bookselling, and talks at Te Papa. A multi-event festival celebrating artists’ photobooks from around Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally – Including a book fair, talks, exhibitions, and workshops. A must for anyone interested in innovative books and visual art. Free and open to everyone.
When | Āhea
6:30pm, Thu 6 Aug – 4.00pm, Sat 8 Aug 2026
Where | Ki hea
Across Te Papa
Cost | Te utu
Free with museum entry, booking applies to some events
Accessibility
Wheelchair Accessible
Variable Lighting in some spaces
Hearing loop for events in Soundings
Peter Turner Memorial Lecture
Tracey Moffatt — Under the Influence
Soundings Theatre, Te Papa Tongarewa
6.30–8pm (Doors open 6.15pm), followed by refreshments
Free entry, bookings required via Eventbrite.
Photobook Exploder Workshop (Fully booked)
Matt Dunne & Solomon Mortimer
9.30–11.00am
Te Aka Matua Reading Room, Level 4
Critical Practice Review (Fully booked)
Martha Naranjo Sandoval
9.30am–12.30pm
Kōrero Room, Level 3
Critical Practice Review (Fully booked)
Matt Dunne
12.30pm–3.30pm
Kōrero Room, Level 3
Critical Practice Review (fully booked)
Erin Lee
12.30–3.30pm
Te Aka Matua Reading Room, Level 4
Keynote artist talk (Free event)
Martha Naranjo Sandoval
4.00–5.00pm
Soundings Theatre, Level 2
Bookfair (Free event)
Photobook makers from around Aotearoa & Australia, the US & Latin America, Berlin, Spain, Indonesia, and Hong Kong.
10.00am–4.00pm
The Wedge by Toi Art, Level 4
Talks & launches
10.30am–3.00pm
Bookfair publishers launch and talk about their work in 20 minute time slots.
Make your own photobook! (Free event)
Assemble your own miniature photobook. Explore photographs from Te Papa’s collections and create new sequences and relationships between your favourites. Then learn how to finish your book using simple bookbinding techniques.
10.00am–2.30pm
Toi Art foyer during the bookfair, Level 4
Rare photobooks special viewing (Free event, Fully booked)
Athol McCredie
11.00–11.45am
Te Aka Matua Reading Room, Level 4
Slow Burn Ahi Tāmau photobooks (Free event)
Hear from the creators of the photobooks in Lissa Mitchell’s Slow Burn Ahi Tāmau exhibition.
2300–2.45pm
Slow Burn exhibition, Level 4
Ann Shelton’s ‘That’s you Mugwort!’
A performance commissioned for the exhibition Slow Burn: Women and Photography | Ahi Tāmau: Māreikura Whakaahua, curated by Lissa Mitchell.
3.00–3.30pm
Toi Art Galleries, Level 4
Head to the festival's website for the full programme schedule with events across Te Whanganui-a-Tara: Programme — Photobook / NZ.
Leslie Adkin’s photographs capture rare glimpses of everyday life from the 1900s to the 1930s. This expansive selection of photographs ranges from affectionate portraits of Adkin’s beloved wife, Maud, to life on the family farm near Levin. Experience the unique eye of one of New Zealand’s finest early photographers.
This exhibition is in Toi Art, Level 4
On now
Long-term exhibition
Exhibition Ngā whakaaturanga
This display is a small sample of photographs from New Zealand Photography Collected (Te Papa Press). Explore early photographs, commercial images from the mid-20th century, and works from the beginning of contemporary art photography in Aotearoa.
On now
Long-term exhibition
Exhibition Ngā whakaaturanga
Slow Burn showcases the diversity of photography by women and non-binary artists in Aotearoa New Zealand from the 1960s to today.
On now
Feb 2026 to Jan 2027
Exhibition Ngā whakaaturanga
