Aigantighe Art Gallery

17/09/2026

𝗡𝗮𝘂 𝗺𝗮𝗶 𝗸𝗶 𝗧𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗸𝗶 𝗼 𝘁𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗼 𝗠𝐚̄𝗼𝗿𝗶! 🇳🇿

Māori Language Week is here, so we're sharing some kupu drawn from works currently on display.

𝗞𝗮𝘂 — 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲
Also kāhui kau (a herd) and pāmu (farm). Kau is a transliteration, one of the oldest borrowed words in te reo.

𝗧𝗲 𝗧𝗶𝗵𝗶 𝗼 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘂 — 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘂
Tihi is a peak or summit, and Maru is the tupuna the name honours. In William Gibbs' painting of the harbour, look for the moana (sea), the tai (tide) and the waka coming in.

𝗨𝗸𝘂 — 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘆
Mahi uku is claywork. An ipu is a vessel or container, an oko a bowl. All of it shaped by ringaringa (hands) and finished in the ahi (fire).

𝗠𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗮 — 𝗺𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻
William Ferrier's painting takes in Te Kiekie, Tarahaoa, Huatekerekere and Ōpuke. Together they form a pae maunga (mountain range), each one a tupuna maunga — an ancestral mountain.

𝗞𝗶𝗮 𝗸𝗮𝗵𝗮 𝘁𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗼 𝗠𝐚̄𝗼𝗿𝗶!💬

Image Credits:
1. William Greene, "Highland Cattle, Claremont", 1904, AAG.1960.3
2. William Menzies Gibb, "Timaru Harbour", 1888, AAG.2002.10
3. Maddison Gourlay, "Casserole Dish", SC Pottery Group
4. William Ferrier, "Caroline Bay", 1918, AAG.1983.20

15/09/2026

🏺 Meet our guest artist and SELECTOR for Metamorphosis — Duncan Shearer!
Duncan has been a working studio potter since graduating with a Bachelor in 3D Design (majoring in ceramics) from UNITEC in 1998. He's led the Auckland Studio Potters as Co-Director and managed the Waikato Society of Potters, before settling in Karangahake in 2014 to establish Rahu Road Pottery.
Duncan is known for beautifully functional, wheel-thrown pots, fired in his own wood kiln with a touch of soda to bring life and depth to the surfaces. He also works with clays sourced from his own land, and is a sought-after kiln builder and teacher across the pottery community.
We're honoured to have Duncan's eye and expertise selecting this year's exhibition.
👉 Find out more: duncanshearer.co.nz / rahuroadpottery.co.nz
✨ Catch Metamorphosis, South Canterbury Pottery's Annual Exhibition & Awards, presented by Timpany Walton: 19 Sept to 11 Oct. Don't miss it!

15/09/2026

Congratulations to the Winner of our ARTARAMA 2026 People’s Choice Award- Sam Hansen!

Sam’s work is called "Even in silence we are heard."

Sam tells us a bit about the piece; It's a detailed pencil drawing of Matua Isrea, a friend, and an amazing carver who I know up North. Shown in a quiet, thoughtful pose, his hands are held together, suggesting prayer, reflection, and strength. The most striking feature is the intricate moko covering his face, representing his cultural identity and heritage. His serious expression communicates dignity, resilience, and inner strength. The name suggests that even without speaking, a person's culture, identity, and experiences can communicate powerful messages. Overall, celebrating Māori identity, spirituality, and silent strength.

Thank you to all students, we look forward to ARTARAMA next year!

14/09/2026

Coming Soon
and 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 present

𝑴𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒔
19TH SEPT-11TH OCTOBER

South Canterbury Pottery’s Annual Exhibition & Awards returns this weekend.

130+ clay-based works by Master, Guest, Local & Student Potters, with guest selector Duncan Shearer selecting from an extraordinary array of local work.

A celebration of clay, craft and transformation.

We ask for your patience whilst the main gallery is closed this week for installation. Our other two spaces, are open with the collection based exhibition, 𝐴𝑛 𝑇𝑎𝑖𝑔ℎ/ 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒: 𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑑, a show exploring local connections and generous support of the Friends of the Aigantighe.

Filming Credit to: James Bradley, Rickwood Creative

11/09/2026

James Hamilton Mackenzie, Lifting Peats - North Uist, unknown date, on display in An Taigh / The House: Held exhibition at the Aigantighe Art Gallery. (Acc. 1969.14)
Currently on display at the Aigantighe Art Gallery is an exhibition of the Gallery’s permanent collection, An Taigh / The House: Held, which celebrates 50 years of the Friends of the Aigantighe Art Gallery.

Displayed in Aigantighe House, this exhibition explores the wider story of artistic communities in South Canterbury – tracing connections between the Gallery, early Scottish settlement, and the permanent collection in relation to the activities of the Friends of the Aigantighe. An artwork on display in this exhibition is an oil painting called Lifting Peats – North Uist, unknown date, by James Hamilton Mackenzie (1875-1926).

Lifting Peats—North Uist depicts the seasonal work of gathering peat on the Isle of North Uist in the Outer Hebrides. Cut from the moor, dried, lifted, and carried home, peat was an essential winter fuel in Highland and Island communities. Three figures move across the open, boggy terrain, their domestic labour set against the shifting light of the Western Isles.
James Mackenzie trained at the Glasgow School of Art and worked as a painter and etcher. This painting was first shown in New Zealand at the 1925 New Zealand & South Seas International Exhibition in Dunedin where it would have conveyed a strong image of Highland life to a city shaped by Scottish settlement.
An Taigh / The House: Held will be displayed until October 2026.

10/09/2026

✨Explore the stunning treasures from our permanent collection currently on display in An Taigh / The House: Held, an exhibition celebrating fifty years of the Friends of the Aigantighe.✨

Here are some photos from the opening night, where we celebrated this significant milestone and the remarkable legacy of the Friends of the Aigantighe and their contribution to the arts community in Timaru.

An Taigh / The House: Held, brings together works from our permanent collection, offering an opportunity to discover some of the treasures held within the Aigantighe and learn more about the Friends’ lasting contribution to the collection.

Don't miss out on your chance to experience these wonderful works on display until 11 October 2026.

10/09/2026

✨🎨 It is the last few days to view Artarama 2026!🎨✨

Congratulations to everyone who participated and thank you to all the schools, what an incredible effort! There's still an award to give away! Get your last-minute votes in for the People's Choice Award, as the winner will be drawn at the end of the exhibition!

🕐Tues–Fri 10am–4pm | Weekends 12–4pm
📌Exhibition on until Sunday 13 September

Thank you to our supporters: Rotary Club Timaru North, The Friends of the Aigantighe & South Canterbury Art Society.

10/09/2026

Join us Sunday 20th September at 4:30pm for Mozart's 270th Anniversary Concert Tour!

Baroque Music Community and Educational Trust of New Zealand presents: Travel Through Time Chamber Series – Back to Classic. Celebrating 270 years since Mozart's Birth!

Performed by an outstanding ensemble - Gabriel Baird (piano), Jonathan Tanner (violin), and Tomas Hurnik (cello) - this concert brings together both celebrated masterpieces and rarely heard gems, offering audiences a rich and varied musical experience.

Don't miss out on this wonderful event! Get your tickets now at Eventfinda or Cash Sales available at the door!

Celebrating Mozart's Birth Concert Tour, Baroque Music Community and Educational Trust of ..., Aigantighe Art Gallery, Timaru, Canterbury, 20 September 202

09/09/2026

Remembering Barry Cleavin (1939–2026)

The Aigantighe Art Gallery is saddened to hear of the passing of Barry Cleavin ONZM, one of Aotearoa's most important and inventive printmakers.

Barry's work was recently featured in our New Vision Gallery exhibition, held in Aigantighe House alongside other artworks from the Gallery's permanent collection celebrating the artists supported by the early Auckland dealer gallery, New Vision. In tribute, we have brought his etching 𝘉𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘛𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘋𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘴, 1966, back on display.

Cleavin's prints combined technical precision with a satirical, surrealist sensibility, juxtaposing the familiar and the uncanny to create work rich in humour, social critique and meticulous draftsmanship. Process was always central to his practice — in 𝘉𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘛𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘋𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘴, his own fingerprints become armoured warriors mounted on ornately decorated horses, locked in battle and viewed from a bird's-eye perspective, a composition that nods to the tradition of Japanese Ukiyo-e prints.

Born in Dunedin in 1939, Cleavin studied at the University of Canterbury, completing his Diploma of Fine Arts (Hons) in 1966, the same year he made this work, before going on to become Senior Lecturer in Printmaking at Canterbury from 1978 to 1990. Locally, he was also remembered as Head of Art at Timaru Boys' High School, where he taught for many years in South Canterbury. He was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the arts in 2001 and received an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Canterbury in 2005.

Across six decades, Cleavin challenged viewers to reconsider visual convention and narrative expectation, engaging always with New Zealand's cultural landscape through the demanding, age-old craft of intaglio and etching. His influence on generations of printmakers who followed him is immeasurable.

Our thoughts are with Denise and Barry's family, friends and the wider arts community.

Vale Barry.