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Monday 10am - 5am Tuesday 10am - 5pm Wednesday 10am - 5pm Thursday 10am - 5pm Friday 10am - 5pm Saturday 10am - 3pm Sunday 10am - 3pm

CoCA - Centre of Contemporary Art

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CoCA - Centre of Contemporary Art

The gallery aims to foster people’s connection and appreciation for contemporary art.

The Centre of Contemporary Art Toi Moroki (CoCA) is a leading art gallery in Ōtautahi Christchurch, governed by the Canterbury Society of Arts Charitable Trust. CoCA presents a dynamic programme of exhibitions offering an expansive view of contemporary art and diverse cultural perspectives, supported by compelling, participatory arts experiences, within our gallery and across the community. Our cu

ratorial strategy is underpinned by the fundamental principles of inclusion, innovation and integrity. We aim to present a rich view of the visual arts across all disciplines, representing artists at all career stages, and presenting diverse voices reflective of the place and time we live in.

29/05/2026

Our next One Wall artist is:

Jamie Price
"Through the mist, I can’t see"
800x1000mm
Cotton Rag
2025

Currently completing post-graduate study at the University of Canterbury, Price seeks to understand and challenge his own positionality. Drawing from photographic archives of a faceless man who is embodied in structure, and retracing a road trip from his mother's childhood, Through the mist, I can’t see takes fruition from conversations of lost paternity, trauma, and forgotten memories. Processed through photography, this work becomes part of a deeper exploration of fraught histories and legacies buried within the soil of Te Tai Poutini.

Showing at CoCA’s annex wall 29 May - 26 June ✨️

26/05/2026

Thank you to everyone who could join us last Friday for the opening of "Boy, Away From Home" a solo exhibition by Chevron Hassett.

“Boy Away From Home” is a mihi to those whose wero illuminated a path to an alternative future, an alternative way of being as tāne. The works in this show blend Te Ao Hurihuri and Te Ao Māori to create a contemporary understanding of kaitiakitanga, whakapapa and tangitangi from the lense of urban tāne navigating their ahua, with shoulders up, in worlds that feel far, far away from home.

We are grateful to Ngāi Tūāhuriri for their support and warm welcome with their beautiful mihi whakatau. Special thanks to our wonderful volunteers and gallery hospitality partners: , , and .wine 💛

"Boy, Away From Home" is on until 28 May. Exhibition opening capture by the talented 🌿

15/05/2026

Gallery view of "Ka maumahara te uku (the clay remembers)" Jess Nicholson's solo exhibition at CoCA.

Last few days to visit this stunning show. Jess Nicholson is a ceramic artist from Ōhope, now based in Ōtepoti, with a practice grounded in Kāitahutaka and environmental sustainability.

They explore the transitional and non-linear nature of re/connecting to whakapapa and whenua by transforming local, collected, and reclaimed materials (uku, pōhatu, oneone, and ash) into ceramic forms that act as a metaphor for the self – to make real and permanent the emotional and cultural connections they feel to te taiao. Nicholson rejects capitalist notions of ceramic production, instead prioritising labour-intensive and intimate processes that explore belonging, domesticity, and acceptance.

Exhibition documentation by Owen Spargo 🌿 "Ka maumahara te uku (the clay remembers)" is on until 17 May.

11/05/2026

Last in our series of detailed posts with artworks from "Ka maumahara te uku (the clay remembers)" is:

"We used to be a mighty mauka"
Reclaimed clay, found ceramic and glass from Whaka Oho Rahi, Basalt from Blackhead Quarry, Rakiura Doc hut fireplace ash, Sage Green rock from Whaka Oho Rahi (Broad Bay), White Tāmaki Makaurau clay from Rowena and Barry’s house, Matatā pumice, Maukatere gold clay, Blue Whakatāne clay from Freddy, Chalky White rock from Whaka Oho Rahi, ash from Moewai’s Nan’s frieplace, Maukoroa from Karitāne, Grey River silt, Rakahuri clay, Logan Park kōkōwai from Aroha
6100 x 200 mm
2026

Jess Nicholson's solo exhibition on at CoCA Ō Papa gallery until 17 May. Exhibition documentation by Owen Spargo 🌿

10/05/2026

"Ka maumahara te uku (the clay remembers)" Jess Nicholson's solo exhibition on at CoCA Ō Papa gallery until 17 May.

"E noho"
Reclaimed clay, found ceramic and glass from Whaka Oho Rahi; Karitāne sand, Basalt from Blackhead Quarry
450 x 435 x 370 mm
2026

"Ka maumahara te uku"
8 min audio of uku from Maukatere, Grey River, and Rakahuri awa slaking down in water, looped
2026

Exhibition documentation by Owen Spargo 🌿

08/05/2026

📣 New exhibition alert 📣

We are delighted to invite you to "Boy, Away From Home", a solo exhibition by Chevron Hassett.

"Boy, Away From Home", explores Māori male identity, addressing the tension between historical legacies and contemporary realities. The works challenge stereotypes, intertwining personal history, cultural heritage, and modern perceptions of Māori men.

"Boy, Away From Home"
Chevron Hassett
23 May - 28 June

Opening 22 May, 5.30pm
Please join us for a mihi whakatau to welcome Chevron and open this exhibition.

Image caption: : "Boy, Put Your Shoulders Up", Mangere Arts Centre 2025. Image courtesy of the artist 🌿

05/05/2026

"Ka maumahara te uku (the clay remembers)" Jess Nicholson's solo exhibition on at CoCA Ō Papa gallery until 17 May.

"Papa potential"
Reclaimed clay, found ceramic and glass from Whaka Oho Rahi, Maukatere clay
890 x 500 mm
2026

Exhibition documentation by Owen Spargo 🌿

01/05/2026

"Ka maumahara te uku (the clay remembers)" Jess Nicholson's solo exhibition on at CoCA Ō Papa gallery until 17 May.

"Whakamenetia (to gather together) I"
Reclaimed clay, found ceramic and glass from Whaka Oho Rahi, Basalt, Logan Park kōkōwai from Aroha
275 x 460 mm
2026

"Whakamenetia (to gather together) II"
Reclaimed clay, found ceramic and glass from Whaka Oho Rahi, Basalt, Logan Park kōkōwai from Aroha
280 x 450 mm
2026

Exhibition documentation by Owen Spargo 🌿

30/04/2026

In the next few days we will share more details of each artwork from "Ka maumahara te uku
(the clay remembers)" Jess Nicholson's solo exhibition on at CoCA Ō Papa gallery until 17 May.

"We used to be a braided awa"
Reclaimed clay, found ceramic and glass from Whaka Oho Rahi; Karitāne sand, Grey river silt, Matatā pumice,
Maukatere gold clay, Karitāne maukoroa
2700 x 1120 mm
2026

Exhibition documentation by Owen Spargo 🌿

05/02/2026

Our first exhibition of the year, "CHOMP: The Paste-ups of Earwig Magazine", features original paste-up artwork from "Earwig" (1969-1973) an underground magazine created by John Milne. Curated by Claudia Long.

'Prior to the introduction of the desktop computer, paste-ups were created by graphic designers to place typography and imagery into multi-layer compositions that would be combined in print to form a final page design. The evidence of the human hands behind the design of Earwig communicates care and effort that is uncommon in many design practices today. To physically plan and construct a paste-up design exercises a level of thought, craft and complexity that is at odds with the resources, space, and time available in our contemporary world.' - Claudia Long.

In revisiting this past practice through the lens of a designer in the current age of computer automation and AI, this exhibition aims to highlight the slow manual craft of analogue design and how it could be used to subvert the digital mainstream of mass generation, producing work with real meaning and agency.

With thanks to the Heather Knowles Collection, Macmillan Brown Library, University of Canterbury.

Join us at 5.30pm on Friday 20 February for a mihi whakatau to welcome Ōtautahi graphic designer Claudia Long and "CHOMP: The Paste-ups of Earwig Magazine".

Image caption: research image provided by the curator.

Address

66 Gloucester Street
Christchurch
8013

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 5am
Tuesday	10am - 5pm
Wednesday	10am - 5pm
Thursday	10am - 5pm
Friday	10am - 5pm
Saturday	10am - 3pm
Sunday	10am - 3pm

Telephone

(03) 366 7261

Website

http://www.coca.org.nz/

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