Visual guide to Toi Art

A step-by-step visual guide to help you plan your visit to the Toi Art galleries on Levels 4 and 5 of Te Papa.

This guide has information about seating, lifts, flooring, light, and sound levels, accessible toilets and shows photos of the spaces in Toi Art.

Getting to Toi Art

The entrance to Te Papa is across the forecourt, and through the doors under the awning.

A view of Te Papa, with the entrance at the centre of the building

Te Papa forecourt, 2025. Photo by Jeff McEwan. Te Papa (267125)

Through the doors, you come into an entrance foyer.

A high-ceilinged foyer with stone floors, a lift, 2 stone staircases separated by a central handrail and an escalator on the right. A water fountain made of a big, black stone ball set in a stone box, is in front of the stairs. Two children are pushing the ball which is covered in water.

Te Papa entrance foyer, 2019. Photo by Johnny Hendrikus. Te Papa (136706)

On Level 2, there is a ticket desk. This is where international visitors pay for their tickets.

Front desk with ticket prices signage. Roped off path and green arrow points left show the direction of the queue.

Tickets desk, Level 2, 2025. Photo by Maarten Holl (275095)

To get to Toi Art, take the stairs to Level 4 or the lifts from Level 2 to Level 4 or 5.

Lift doors and a brightly-lit stairwell with shiny, stone floors and central, left and right side wooden handrails

Lifts and stairs, Level 2, 2023. Photo by Daniel Crichton-Rouse. Te Papa. (226067)

Toi Art galleries – Level 4

This is the entrance to Toi Art on Level 4.

Gallery entrance, with artworks visible and lifts on right.

Toi Art entrance, Level 4, 2025. Photo by Rowan Moulder. Te Papa

There is a cafe outside the entrance to this gallery – sometimes you can hear the noise of the cafe in Toi Art.

Large café bordered by roped bollards, full of padded chairs with wooden arms.

Espresso cafe, Level 4, 2025. Photo by Rowan Moulder. Te Papa

The visitor hosts wear green shirts and grey jerseys. They are there to help if needed.

Te Papa host in a green shirt show 3 visitors Bill Hammond artwork.

Te Papa host and manuhiri (guests), 2025. Photo by Jeff McEwan. Te Papa (272452)

Please don’t touch the artworks (unless invited to).

White tape lines on the floor protect artworks from touching. Please stay behind the white lines.

A line of white tape on the floor, with the words 'Kaua e pā / No touching' in the middle of it

Kaua e pā | No touching, 2025. Photo by Rowan Moulder. Te Papa

On Level 4, you enter into a gallery with very high ceilings, called the Threshold Gallery.

A room with white walls and a very high ceiling. In the middle of the room is a sculpture on a plinth, on the right is wooden bench seating without arm rests.

Shona Rapira-Davies (Ngāti Wai), Nga morehu, 1988. Installation view, Threshold gallery entrance, 2025. Photo by Rowan Moulder. Te Papa

A bridge runs above you, across the middle of the room.

The Threshold Gallery is brightly-lit with wooden floors, so hard-soled shoes (like high heels or boots) may be noisy.

Past the Threshold gallery, the other galleries on Level 4 have a lower ceiling height and the light is dimmer. The galleries have wooden floors.

A long narrow gallery with wooden floors and framed photographs on the walls. Low, cushioned seating with wooden arm rests and low table in the center.

Seating in Leslie Adkin: He Kaipāmu Kaiwhakaahua | Farmer Photographer gallery, 2025. Photo by Rowan Moulder. Te Papa

The light will be dimmer and then brighter at different places through Toi Art.

Sometimes the light needs to be dim to protect the artwork from too much light. You are welcome to wear a hat or sunglasses to shade your eyes.

Seating – Level 4

There are trolleys of folding stools on both Level 4 and Level 5. You are welcome to use these anywhere in the galleries.

Stairwell with tiered seating beside it. Flat cushions and folding portable stools on the right.

Stairwell and portable folding chairs, Level 4, 2025. Photo by Rowan Moulder. Te Papa

A woman sitting on a folding stool, looking at a camera display case.

Folding stool used in Leslie Adkin: He Kaipāmu Kaiwhakaahua | Farmer Photographer, 2025. Photo by Rowan Moulder. Te Papa

There are places to sit and relax on Level 4. One at the bottom of the stairs on bench seats, and one inside the Leslie Adkin exhibition on padded seats with arms.

Two padded sets with arms, a coffee table, a rug on the floor.

Seating in Leslie Adkin: He Kaipāmu Kaiwhakaahua | Farmer Photographer. Photo by Rowan Moulder. Te Papa

Toilets – Level 4

There is one accessible toilet located at the back of Leslie Adkin: He Kaipāmu Kaiwhakaahua | Farmer Photographer.

To get to the toilet, walk past the chairs and turn left.

Corridor with wooden floors, and a sign pointing to an accessible toilet.

Hallway to Level 4 accessible toilet at the back of Leslie Adkin: He Kaipāmu Kaiwhakaahua | Farmer Photographer, 2025. Photo by Rowan Moulder. Te Papa

This toilet is for any and all genders. There are handrails and a sanitary bin.

Accessible toilet, with a metal handrail on the wall next to it, sanitary bin and a low sink.

Accessible gender neutral wharepaku (toilet), 2025. Photo by Rowan Moulder. Te Papa

Toi Art galleries – Level 5

Access to Level 5 of Toi Art is via the stairs or the lift outside the entrance to the Threshold Gallery.

Stairs with handrails and floor lights, Level 4, 2025. Photo by Rowan Moulder. Te Papa

Two lifts with a bright LED screen between them. Hard floor reflects LED screen light.

Two lifts next to the Toi Art entrance, opposite Espresso cafe, Level 4, 2025. Photo by Rowan Moulder. Te Papa

The lift opens into a small gallery.

A curved wall with framed photographs on it

Level 5 lifts by Anne Noble: Oranga Huna | Hidden Lives, 2025. Photo by Rowan Moulder. Te Papa

To the right and across the bridge is the rest of Level 5. From the bridge, you get a good view of the artworks in the gallery below.

A bridge across a gallery, with glass railings on either side

Bridge above the Threshold gallery, Toi Art, Level 5, 2025. Rowan Moulder. Te Papa

Entry and central gallery – Level 5

There is space to sit and relax at the entrance to the Level 5 galleries. There are padded chairs with arms and a selection of books to browse.

Padded chairs with arms, a coffee table, a rug on the floor, a shelf on books on the back wall

Rest space, Level 5, 2025. Photo by Rowan Moulder. Te Papa

Moving through the first two galleries on Level 5, a low-ceilinged gallery opens into a high-ceilinged one. The light is much brighter in the high-ceiling gallery.

View through a low-ceilinged gallery to a high-ceilinged one, with a change from dim to bright light

Mahi Rārangi | Linework in Level 5 entry gallery, 2025. Photo by Rowan Moulder. Te Papa

This sculpture made from shiny metal bars is by an artist called Yona Lee.

Lee invites visitors to engage with the work – you are welcome to touch the bars, sit at the table, and sit or lie on the lower bunk.

Please do not climb on the work, and please treat it gently.

A sculpture made from bent shiny metal bars, with various objects suspended in them: two bunk beds, a lamp, a shower curtain, a red sun umbrella. A visitor is lying on the bed while another adjusts the curtain.

Yona Lee, Kit-set In-transit, 2020. Installation view (detail), 2025. Purchased 2021. (2021-0030-1) Photo by Marteen Holl. Te Papa (264928)

West galleries – Level 5

To the right from Yona Lee’s work is another gallery with a high ceiling.

At the end of the gallery is a projected film. The film’s soundtrack is mostly the quiet noise of the dancer’s body moving, and also has 15 seconds of classical music. The film is 8 minutes long.

A long narrow gallery with a high ceiling and wooden floors. A sculpture on a circular plinth and two padded benches in the middle of the room

Entrance to Ariā | Traces in west gallery, 2025. Photo by Rowan Moulder. Te Papa

There is a small, low-ceilinged gallery off to the right, with one painting in it. There is a bench in front of the painting where you can spend time looking at it.

A gallery with a painting on one wall. A wooden bench in front of the painting

Bill Hammond, Traffic Cop Bay in Tūakinga Toi | Art Encounter installation in west gallery, 2025. Photo by Marteen Holl. Te Papa (272050)

There is also a comfortable space with couches and small tables to sit and relax.

Two long couches with a table between them

Seating in Tūakinga Toi | Art Encounter, 2025. Photo by Maarten Holl. Te Papa (272063)

Art Studio – Level 5

To the left at Yona Lee’s work is the Art Studio.

A brightly coloured space with couches at the entrance, and long tables and stools inside the room. Signage says no food and drink.

Entrance to Papa Toi | Art Studio, 2025. Photo by Rowan Moulder. Te Papa.

This is an interactive space for children and whānau, with sofas and table space for children’s activities. It can be noisy.

Across from the Art Studio is a large window behind a glass railing.

An art installation by Ruth Buchanan is hanging in front of the window.

A view from a balcony of a two-floor space with three horizontal window that have several different curtains on each that are all different materials and colours.

Ruth Buchanan (Te Ātiawa and Taranaki iwi), Priorities, whakapapa / Or, Door, window, world… , 2025. Commissioned by Te Papa. Photo by Maarten Holl. Te Papa (273031)

There are three activities in the Art Studio: shadow play, drawing, and felt play.

Brightly coloured space with a projection on the back wall.

Te Whare Tāpere | Shadow Play activity station, 2025. Photo by Maarten Holl (266553)

The drawing activity includes a wheel that spins.

Visitors are invited to spin the wheel and get a prompt for a story, which they can then draw or write, and put on the wall.

Brightly coloured space with long tables and stools in the middle

Papa Toi | Art Studio drawing station and felt activity station, 2025. Photo by Maarten Holl. Te Papa (266552)

Toilets – Level 5

There is a gender neutral, accessible toilet and a family room at the back of the Art Studio.

The door to the toilet and family room is past the felt activity and next to the drawing wheel activity.

Corridor with tile floors, a sign to a family room and an accessible toilet

Entrance to whānau (family) room and any gender wharepaku (toilet), 2025. Photo by Rowan Moulder. Te Papa

The family room has arm chairs, changing tables, nappy bins, and a microwave.

Room with padded seats with arms, that can be curtained off for privacy. Changing table and rubbish bin to the left

Whānau (family) room, 2025. Photo by Rowan Moulder. Te Papa

There are more toilets on the other side of the Art Studio. They are at the back, past the shadow play activity.

These male and female toilets are either side of rubbish bins.

Push down on the rubbish bin lids to open and close them.

Corridor with laminate floors, signs to toilets, and rubbish bins

Level 5 corridor to wharepaku (toilets), 2025. Photo by Rowan Moulder. Te Papa

A toilet with tiled floors, cubicles, a basin, and a hand dryer

Level 5 wharepaku (toilet), 2025. Photo by Rowan Moulder. Te Papa

East galleries – Level 5

Past the Art Studio is a gallery with a high ceiling, called Kōrero Pūrākau |Telling Stories.

A high-ceilinged narrow gallery, with wooden floors. The gallery space is broken up by walls.

Entrance to Kōrero Pūrākau | Telling Stories, 2025. Photo by Rowan Moulder. Te Papa

At the entrance to the gallery is a video work with a soundtrack and some quick flashing lights.

A whare-like structure with a TV screen inside it, and two bean bags and cushions on the floor

Kahurangiariki Smith, MāoriGirl videogame, 2021 and Hāriata Rōpata-Tangahoe, Waka Tūpāpaku, 2021. Installation view, 2025. Photo by Marteen Holl, 2025. Te Papa (266560)

Visitors are invited to step into the whare and play Kahurangiariki Smith’s artwork – a videogame called MāoriGirl.

This work has no sound. There are beanbags to sit on in the whare. You can also use one of the folding stools, which are on a stand at the entrance to the gallery.

To the right of Kōrero Pūrākau | Telling Stories are two galleries with low ceilings, black curtained walls, and low light.

Low light areas – Level 5

In the middle of the first is a large black plinth on a light wooden floor, with an artwork hanging above it.

A gallery with black walls, pale wooden floors, and a large black plinth in the middle. An artwork is suspended above the plinth

Maureen Lander, Huna: Kaitiaki o te Harakeke, 2012. Installation view, 2025. Photo by Rowan Moulder. Te Papa

Noise from the Art Studio can sometimes be heard in this gallery.

To get into the second gallery, there’s a pathway in the gap in these black velvet curtains.

A pathway through hanging black curtains

Entrance to String games, 2025. Photo by Lizzie Bisley. Te Papa

The gallery behind the curtains is dark, and the artwork glows from UV light.

The UV is directed at the artworks only – you will not be standing under UV light.

A gallery with black walls and padded benches in the middle. Neon-coloured shapes along the walls

Maureen Lander, String games, 1997. Installation view (detail), 2025. Commissioned by Te Papa (1999-0033-1). Photo by Marteen Holl. Te Papa (266588)

There are two videos in this gallery, with soundtracks.

There are low black cushioned seats with short metal arm rests in the middle of this gallery space.

Please do not touch any of the artworks in this gallery.

A gallery with black walls. In the middle of the gallery is a hanging, neon-coloured artwork with four large black posts at each of its corners

Maureen Lander, String games, 1997. Installation view (detail), 2025. Commissioned by Te Papa (1999-0033-1) Photo by Marteen Holl. Te Papa (266578)

We hope that you enjoy your visit to Toi Art.

If you have any questions you can call us on +64 (04) 381 7000, or contact us using this form.

We look forward to welcoming you soon.

Visual guide to planning your visit
Here’s what you need to know before you visit Te Papa – from opening hours to car parking.
Toi Art
Fresh takes and new favourites. You’ll find them in Toi Art – the home of the National Art Collection.
Discover new artists, get creative in the family-friendly Art Studio, or spend time with a favourite artwork.
On now
Long-term exhibition
Exhibition Ngā whakaaturanga
Accessibility
Helpful information for visitors with disabilities before you visit. When you’re here ask our friendly Hosts for help at any time.