Past exhibitions: Art and photography

Nearly 1,000 wind chimes hang in front of you. Aotearoa New Zealand artist Kate Newby made this expansive artwork over 10 years. Through clay and glass, she explores how natural materials transform when shaped and fired.

Dane Mitchell’s Iris, Iris, Iris merges the visible world with the invisible, using the many meanings of the word ‘iris’ to explore the senses of smell and sight.

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

January 2023 marks 100 years since the death of Wellington-born writer Katherine Mansfield, whose stories are celebrated the world over.

These 12 lithographs tell a story of family life, childbirth, and parenthood – unusually, from the point of view of the father. They offer a fresh view of late 20th-century New Zealand art from a largely self-taught artist.

Lifting the lid on the photobook phenomenon and the art of the whole book as a creative work.

More than 50 works from across Dame Robin White’s 50-year career will form what the artist describes as a ‘family reunion’, bringing together works from 22 galleries and living rooms across the country. 

Hundreds of zeros hover above you.

This exhibition shows a selection from the 339 works gifted to the National Art Gallery (now Te Papa) by Archdeacon Francis Henry Dumville Smythe (1873–1966) in 1957.

Spices, herbs, gemstones, and other natural materials believed to have healing properties are arranged here in a rainbow, a vision of hope and new beginnings. Fair-trade bells hang on the ribbons, and below them is a salt mandala – a symbol of cleansing and ritual.

How are you feeling? This experimental installation invites you to choose a colour based on how you feel right now. Press a button and become part of an evolving communal light sculpture.

Rita Angus created a distinctive vision of a new, modern New Zealand. This landmark exhibition celebrates 40 years of her work.

See Lisa Reihana’s vast digital wallpaper for the first time in Aotearoa New Zealand since its showing at the 2017 Venice Biennale.

A selection of photos that play with perception.

In 'Finding Shape' artworks by Sriwhana Spong and Vivian Lynn explore how experience is shaped by the body and mind.

Enter the marvellous world of surrealism. See extraordinary artworks by Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, Marcel Duchamp, Leonora Carrington, Man Ray, and more. Astonishing, surprising, and only at Te Papa.

Surrealist Impulse explores a local and Māori relationship with surrealism through works by two leading artists – Michael Parekowhai and Shane Cotton.

Based on the new book ‘The Back of the Painting’ from Te Papa Press, view a work from our collection – both the artwork and what is on the back of the painting – and unpick the story it tells.

‘MAU: House of Night and Day’ is a major installation by renowned director, choreographer and multidisciplinary artist Lemi Ponifasio.

A selection of postcards offering views of popular travel destinations in Aotearoa New Zealand from more than a hundred years ago.

The web of time, an installation by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota, creates the vision of a night sky studded with constellations of numbers.

We warmly remember Douglas MacDiarmid (1922–2020) with six colourful sketches he drew of his friend Helen Hitchings hitchhiking through France in 1953.

The 1952 Auckland exhibition Art and Design introduced New Zealanders to a vision for a more equal, happier way of life that grew from the devastation of World War II. Modern Living offers a lens into this ground-breaking exhibition, and an exciting era of new design in Aotearoa.

This exhibition presents a new acquisition, a painting by William Hodges, in conversation with Ngāi Tahu whānui taonga and artworks by Mark Adams and Colin McCahon. Together, they speak to the legacies – artistic, cultural, and scientific – generated by the first meeting of James Cook and southern Māori.

A collection of exquisite botanical watercolours from the late 19th century, showcasing New Zealand’s native flowers.

This exhibition presents the work of four photographers who capture the dynamic practice of contemporary Sāmoan tatau (tattooing) over the last 40 years.

‘Finale: Bouquet’ captures a moment of jubilation, with confetti caught mid fall in a celebration that never ends.

In about 1915, Tokyo publisher Shōzaburō Watanabe coined the name of a new art movement: shin-hanga 新版画, ‘new prints’.

Choose a photograph to blow up on the gallery wall.

The 1960s and 1970s were decades of social change and experimentation, and for photography they marked the beginnings of art photography in New Zealand.

The first comprehensive survey of one of New Zealand’s most influential modern artists.

Get up-close to some of China’s ancient imperial icons this summer.

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

Objects linking Asia and Aotearoa New Zealand, representing over a century of connected and curious artists and collectors.

An art exhibition for kids that explores the magical, monstrous and imagined creatures drawn from the depths of Te Papa’s art collection.

An exhibition of Tony Fomison’s paintings, featuring monsters, misfits, and medical deformities that explores what it means to be an outsider.

From Te Papa’s art collection comes a dynamic exhibition across five galleries. The art works here explore identity and cross-cultural exchange.

These portraits represent mana - power and prestige. Some trumpet the status of European royalty, Māori leaders, or prosperous colonial settlers in New Zealand. Others advertise the skills of the artist. All carry with them stories from the past into the present.

Whimsical but with a critical edge, ‘Détour’ is Michael Parekowhai’s response to the repositioning of contemporary art at Te Papa with the opening of the new gallery.

The 30-year evolution of world-renowned New Zealand jeweller Lisa Walker.

A celebration of mana wāhine, indigenous identities, and the role this collective has played over the past 26 years in giving voice and visibility to Māori and Pacific peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Enter a giant, three-dimensional profile page.

With this art work, Jeena Shin responds to the architecture and environment of the space.

A fascinating slice of modern art, from surrealism to abstraction, featuring art works by Salvador Dalí, Roy Lichtenstein, René Magritte, Jackson Pollock, and Andy Warhol.

With this exhibition, Te Papa marks the first national commemoration of the New Zealand Wars – Rā Maumahara, or Remembrance Day, 28 October 2017.

Five New Zealand and five Australian artists respond to the history, legacy, and recent centenary of World War I.

Simon Denny’s acclaimed Venice Biennale exhibition Secret Power explores surveillance, espionage, and New Zealand’s role in the Five Eyes international intelligence alliance.

Exquisite European art and objects reveal how the Church, trade, and innovation influenced what was once considered the height of affluence.

Works by Derrick Cherrie, L Budd, Graham Fletcher, and others explore what happens when home life goes on display.

Gender, sexuality, and power – the 1970s photographs of this feminist artist have been described as ‘icons of fearlessness for women’.

Sculptor Matt Pine combines Māori and Pacific perspectives with American minimalism in a new version of his Placement Projects.

Jacqueline Fraser and Tracey Moffatt use popular culture, particularly that of cinematic film, to move their work into the realm of the creative imaginary.

The works of pioneering Māori artist Ralph Hotere, American minimalist artist Ad Reinhardt, and Māori minimalist sculptor Matt Pine are brought together in a surprising conversation.

Female artists enlivened modern art in New Zealand. Double portraits by Rita Angus, Frances Hodgkins, and A Lois White face off, and a little-known mural by White gets some wall time.

Adorned brings together paintings, prints, and cultural treasures to explore the art of adornment in Māori and Pacific cultures.

The exhibition drew on contemporary and historic objects from Te Papa and considered how objects can be connected across time.

Helen Hitchings’ vibrant dealer gallery was ground-breaking in its presentation of modern art and design in New Zealand.

New Zealand’s spectacular scenery captivated European artists and photographers who came here in the 1800s. With no works by Old Masters to copy, nature was their training ground.

Max Gimblett's brass quatrefoils are a glimmering message of peace and remembrance for all New Zealanders who served in World War I. A selection of these art works were on display in Ngā Toi │Arts Te Papa.

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.

Information about Te Papa’s past exhibitions that opened in 2015. Including, DreamWorks Animation: The Exhibition, Contraception: Uncovering the collection of Dame Margaret Sparrow and The Canterbury earthquakes.

Past exhibitions that opened in 2014 – from The Berry Boys: Naming the Kiwi faces of World War I to Kāhui Raranga: The art of tukutuku.

Past exhibitions that opened in 2013 – from Chairman Mao’s Cloak to Aztecs: Conquest and glory.

Past exhibitions that opened in 2012 – from Buller's Birds: The art of Keulemans and Buchanan to Uniformity: Cracking the code.

Past exhibitions that opened in 2011 – from Tai Timu, Tai Pari, Tainui: Journey of a people to Collecting Contemporary.

Past exhibitions that opened in 2010 – from Brian Brake: Lens on the world to The Lure of Italy: Continental travel pictures from 1775 to 1840.

Past exhibitions that opened in 2009 – from Monet and the Impressionists to Kura Pounamu: Treasured stone of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Past exhibitions that opened in 2008 – from We are unsuitable for framing to Oddooki.

Information about Te Papa’s past exhibitions that opened in 2007 – from The Scots in New Zealand to Whales | Tohorā.

Past exhibitions that opened in 2006 – from Egypt: Beyond the tomb to Annie Bonza: Fashion explosion.

Past exhibitions that opened in 2005 – from The Genetic Revolution to Stamped: Celebrating New Zealand’s postal history.

Past exhibitions that opened in 2004 – from Out on the Street: New Zealand in the 1970s to Toi Te Papa Art of the Nation.

Past exhibitions that opened in 2003 – from Signs and Wonders | He Tohu He Ohorere to Wild Design.

Past touring exhibitions that opened between 2003 and 2007 – from New Zealand on Ice to The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy: The Exhibition.

Past exhibitions that opened between 1998 and 2002 – from Tūhoe: Children of the mist to The Time Warp.