Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū

Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū OPEN 7 DAYS

10am - 5pm

LATE NIGHT WEDNESDAY

10am - 9pm
(1296)

Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū is the largest art institution in the South Island and home to one of New Zealand's most important public art collections. Located in the heart of the city's Cultural Precinct, our name, Te Puna o Waiwhetū, relates to the life-giving properties of the artesian spring on which the Gallery is built and our role in contributing to the cultural wellbeing of the community.

The Worldwide Travel Showcase is coming to the Gallery on Tuesday 9th June! Join APT and Travelmarvel — two of Australia...
03/06/2026

The Worldwide Travel Showcase is coming to the Gallery on Tuesday 9th June!

Join APT and Travelmarvel — two of Australia’s most trusted travel brands — and their experts as they guide you through their diverse range of tours, travel styles, and unique experiences available across the globe.

Event Schedule:

10:00am – 10:45am: Europe River and Ocean Cruising featuring Amsterdam to Budapest and Portugal River Cruising, plus Small Ship Cruising and Croatia Coastal Cruising.

11:00am – 11:45am: Canada and Alaska featuring Land and Rail Touring, plus Alaska Ocean Cruising.

12:00pm – 12:45pm: Discover the World featuring a range of worldwide cruises, tours, and 4WD adventures.

Free event but register your place now at:
www.aptouring.com/event

Yes, we are open our usual hours (10am – 5pm) every day this long weekend! Come in and see our full range of exhibitions...
27/05/2026

Yes, we are open our usual hours (10am – 5pm) every day this long weekend! Come in and see our full range of exhibitions on at the moment, including this harakeke (flax) work in our collection exhibition ‘He Kapuka Oneone — A Handful of Soil’.

This installation work was created collaboratively by Te Kāhui Hono, a group of weavers from Ōtautahi Christchurch. It highlights the ongoing significance of harakeke to the wellbeing of Māori life and culture.

Traditionally, harakeke was critical to life as a source of healing and as a raw material to make clothing, sandals, baskets, mats, nets, lines and sails, traps and cordage, bedding and adornment.

These days, harakeke remains significant within te ao Māori, offering endless opportunities for artists. Through this traditional material, weavers nurture connections to the whenua, to their tūpuna and atua, and across iwi, hapū, whānau and wider community.

In this installation, the porowhita (circular) form represents the endless value harakeke has to past, present and future generations – he taonga mutunga kore.

The members of Te Kāhui Hono are Christine Brown, Pounamu Higgs, Tania Nutira (Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Toarangatira), Patty-Anne Oberst (Kāi Tahu), Linda Rangipunga (Te Kāhui o Taranaki Iwi, Kāi Tahu), Toni Rowe (Maniapoto, Taranaki Tūturu), Kay Stevens, Ngaio Tuari (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Irakēhu, Kāi Tarewa, Whakatōhea), Trixie Woodill.

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Te Kāhui Hono, He Taonga Mutunga Kore II, 2024. Harakeke. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, purchased 2025.

'Made in the Pacific: A Collection of Tāoga' celebrates Pacific tāoga, bringing together examples made by moana ancestor...
20/05/2026

'Made in the Pacific: A Collection of Tāoga' celebrates Pacific tāoga, bringing together examples made by moana ancestors with new work by their distant mokopuna.

"The museum treasures in this exhibition are by makers who gained their knowledge from elders and specialists in their communities. Their work contains precious cultural histories within both the materials and visual language.

These historical tāoga were used in the creative practice of making barkcloth, known variously in the Pacific realm as tapa, hiapo, siapo, ate, ngatu and masi. As the exhibition’s curator, and a hiapo maker myself, I gravitated towards these objects and the contemporary artists who work with these materials and share their own stories in textile.

The artists in this exhibition are all expert visual orators, using pattern, symbology and text to eloquently depict important narratives. Their individual practices have developed as the result of years of making, research and experimentation with new technologies and materials." ⁠— Cora-Allan, 'Awhitu Wānanga', Bulletin Issue 223

Made in the Pacific: A Collection of Tāoga
On now until 11 October
Free Entry

13/05/2026

Haere mai to our collection exhibition 'He Kapuka Oneone: A Handful of Soil' where you'll be able to view these uku (clay) works by Māori artists!

Join us for the Art Bite this Friday (13/05) at 12pm for a special free screening of the documentary film, 'Edith Collie...
13/05/2026

Join us for the Art Bite this Friday (13/05) at 12pm for a special free screening of the documentary film, 'Edith Collier: A Light Among the Shadows' written and directed by Michael Heath.

"One of Aotearoa New Zealand's most talented yet underrated artists, Edith Collier (1885-1964) was, sadly, a victim of her times. Born in Wanganui at a time when the town was still in the grip of profound and stultifying Victorianism, she suddenly found herself in an exciting milieu of new ideas and experimentation when she escaped to study in England.
In this fertile environment she created many exquisite paintings in the new Modernist style (Frances Hodgkins was one of her admirers), but when her father, who felt she was wasting her time and costing too much to support, summoned her home, she had no option but to return. Being back in her home environment was crushing for her, as people had no understanding of her work, and, tragically, Collier chose to give up painting as a result.
Michael Heath's film tells Collier's story with sensitivity and respect, and includes much of her extraordinarily beautiful work. It is not only a fitting eulogy to a remarkable artist, but an affecting tale of cultural identity and rejection." — Whānau Mārama, New Zealand International Film Festival

The recently opened survey exhibition 'Edith Collier: Early New Zealand Modernist' at the Gallery takes a fresh look at her achievements, both at home and abroad, now at a time of growing international interest in the work of women modernists.

The exhibition includes key paintings from the Edith Collier Trust held at Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery that have rarely been seen in Ōtautahi Christchurch. Developed and toured by Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery, with the generous support from the Edith Collier Trust.

Free Entry
Friday 13 May at 12pm
Philip Carter Family Auditorium

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Edith Collier, Kāwhia Scene, 1927–8. Oil on board. Collection of the Edith Collier Trust, in the permanent care of Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery

13/05/2026

Art, literature and crafts collide in Christchurch Art Gallery’s upcoming zine making workshop.

Join acclaimed essayist, Nadine Hura (Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi, Pākehā) and make a zine with her over a leisurely few hours. Maybe you’ll want to respond to Ana Iti’s (Te Rarawa, Ngāi Tūpoto, Ngāti Here) Ngahere Behind a Pile of Metal installation? The exhibit explores the artist’s research into kauri logging, inspecting our relationships to the natural and built environments.

This intimate workshop is ticketed and bound to sell out. Head to the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū website to book. https://christchurchartgallery.org.nz/events/ngahere-behind-a-pile-of-metal

Address

Worcester Boulevard
Christchurch
8140

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 5pm
Tuesday 10am - 5pm
Wednesday 10am - 9pm
Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 10am - 5pm
Saturday 10am - 5pm
Sunday 10am - 5pm

Telephone

+64 3 941 7300

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