Landscape and Desire

Ko tēnei whakaaturanga e tūhura ana i ngā āhuatanga rerekē o ngā ringatoi o Aotearoa ki te whakaatu i ō rātou hononga ki te whenua – ki ngā wāhi e noho nei tātou.

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This exhibition explores the different ways that artists in Aotearoa have expressed their relationship to the land – to the places we live in.

When | Āhea 8 Oct 2022 – mid 2024
Where | Ki hea Toi Art, Level 5
Cost | Te utu Free entry
Ages | Te reanga All ages
Accessibility | E wātea ana ki
- Wheelchair accessible
- Large print labels available in English and te reo Māori
- Audio guide has transcripts
- Some artworks are on the floor, without barriers
- One digital video with natural environment and traffic sounds
Find out more about accessibility at Te Papa

Ki tā te Māori, ko te whenua me te whakapapa tōna hononga tāngaengae e mauroa ai te aronga matemate-ā-one i te takanga o te wā. Ko tā te Pākehā mahi he pōhewa mai i ngā whenua me ngā tohu rerekē e whakatakotohia ana e te ringatoi.

Kei tēnei whakaaturanga kitea ai te whenua hei whakaeminga, ‘he totoro whenua kua paparua ki te mahara, te tūmanako, me te whakaaro’ – arā, te hononga whenua me te hiahia whenua.

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For Māori, whenua is a concept that connects land to whakapapa

whakapapa, providing a sense of belonging through time. The Western tradition of landscape painting offers an aesthetic response – views of the land represented and reimagined by artists.

Discover land as an accumulation, ‘a stretch of earth overlaid with memory, expectation, and thought’ – land as connection and desire.

Kī horipū (quote): kaituhi (author) Scott Russell Sanders, 1998

Header artwork: Tony de Lautour, Send off, 1999, oil and varnish on an old oil painting on paper mounted on board. Purchased 1999 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. Te Papa (1999-0021-2)

Toi Art audio guide

Explore Hiahia Whenua | Landscape and Desire with our audio guide. Hear from curators, artists, and experts, as well as some unexpected characters.

Toi Art audio guide

Activities

Audio guide: Toi Art audio guide
Toi Art audio guide

Art can inspire us to look at nature in new ways – listen to our free audio guide.

1/10

William Hodges, [Waterfall in Dusky Bay with Maori canoe], 1776, oil on panel. Purchased 2019 with assistance from Lottery Grants Board, Tuia Encounters – 250 Fund. Te Papa (2019-0003-1)
2/10

Shane Cotton, Hiahia, 1997, gelatin silver print. Te Papa (O.028076/A-C to C-C)
3/10

George O’Brien, Otago landscape, 1870, watercolour. Te Papa (1976-0038-2)
4/10

Tony de Lautour, Send off, 1999, oil and varnish on an old oil painting on paper mounted on board. Purchased 1999 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. Te Papa (1999-0021-2)
5/10

Charles Blomfield, Scene of Kauri Bush, gumdiggers at work, 1892, oil on canvas. Te Papa (2004-0005-1)
6/10

Wayne Youle, 100 red blankets, from the series What Do You Say Savages, 2010, ink and wax on Fabriano Tiepolo paper. Te Papa (2013-0012-1/1-43 to 43-43)
7/10

Messenger Sisters, Landscape with settlers, about 1857, oil on board. Purchased 1999 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. Te Papa (1999-0003-1)
8/10

William Strutt, View of Mt Egmont, Taranaki, New Zealand, taken from New Plymouth, with Maoris driving off settlers’ cattle, 1861, oil on canvas. Te Papa (2015-0042-1)
9/10

Emily Karaka, Ngā Tapuwae o Mataoho, 2020, mixed media on canvas. Te Papa (2020-0020-2)
10/10

Murray Hewitt, Recessional, 2010, digital video with sound. Te Papa (2017-0026-2)