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Tuesday 11am - 5pm Wednesday 11am - 5pm Thursday 11am - 5pm Friday 11am - 5pm Saturday 11am - 5pm Sunday 11am - 5pm

Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery

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Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery

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Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi is the purpose-built gallery of Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University

The Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi is the purpose-built gallery of Victoria University of Wellington. It initiates, produces and presents a highly-regarded programme of exhibitions, events and publications; manages and develops the Victoria University of Wellington Art Collection, and provides a vital platform for critical thinking across media, disciplines, cultures and contexts. Using art and its presentation as a tool of analysis, it contributes to the production of new knowledge and creates opportunities for learning, for the benefit of staff, students and the wider community. To learn how we ensure our social media channels are safe places for open discussion follow this link: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/site-info/social-media-house-rules

21/10/2026

Join us for the opening night celebration of Sriwhana Spong: HA HA HA: 5.30pm, Friday 30 October.

The evening will include a performance featuring Spong’s growing series of sculptural instruments inspired by Balinese gamelan.

Nau mai ki a koutou katoa, all are welcome. No RSVP is required.

Refreshments are provided with thanks to our sponsors Ngā Waka Wines and Duncan's Brewing Company.

Sriwhana Spong: HA HA HA is presented in partnership with Monash University Museum of Art | MUMA Naarm / Melbourne where it was curated by Pip Wallis and Melanie Oliver and shown earlier this year; the exhibition at Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery has been curated by Abby Cunnane. Sriwhana Spong: HA HA HA is generously supported by the Chartwell Trust, Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa, and the Henry Moore Foundation.

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16/10/2026

Our heartfelt congratulations to Sriwhana Spong on her 2026 Arts Laureate Award! Sriwhana Spong: HA HA HA opens at the gallery on 31 October. Huge congratulations also to Emily Karaka, et al, and the other extraordinary New Zealanders honoured this year.

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The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi

14/10/2026

Are you our next Intern | Pia Nahanaha Taonga?
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: 2027 Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery Internship

Applications are now open for the 8th annual Adam Art Gallery Internship. This internship enables a recent graduate, postgraduate student or early-career art professional to work with the Gallery to develop research skills and knowledge relating to collection research, curatorial management, exhibition making, communications and public programming through their involvement in planning and delivery of aspects of our work.

The internship is a paid, part-time, fixed-term position, totalling 400 hours duration. Although the timeframe for the internship is flexible, ideally the successful applicant will be available between February and August 2027.

Applications close at midnight on Wednesday 11 November 2026. Follow the link in our bio to visit the vacancy listing for full details about the role and how to apply.

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R-L: Rosalie Koko, our 2024 Pia Nahanaha Taonga Intern, with bassist, singer, songwriter, and composer Esperanza Spalding and Dr Nālani Wilson-Hokowhitu, pictured at the exhibition Vaiei Tupuna.

Elisapeta Heta, ‘Ua Tafa Mai Ata: Matāli’i ki Wainuiātea, 2026, terracotta bricks, coconut shells and oil, hue, shells. Installation exterior view, Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2026. Photo: Ted Whitaker.

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11/10/2026

And that’s a wrap… for now! See you soon for HA HA HA, opening 31 October

10/10/2026

Tomorrow, Sunday 11 October, is the final *ever* day to see our three Hōtoke winter exhibitions: Not a solitary feeling; ‘Ua Tafa Mai Ata: Matāli’i ki Wainuiātea; and The Choice. Don’t miss the chance to see extraordinary New Zealand art by Fiona Connor, Colin McCahon, Ross Hemera, Brett Graham, Mark Harvey, Ayesha Green, Yuki Kihara, Kate Newby, Layla Rudneva-Mackay, Christine Hellyar, Tanya Ashken, Melissa Macleod; Elisapeta Hinemoa Heta; and George Watson.

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1) Yuki Kihara, Mal, 2025, and Zazu, 2025, pandanus mats, embroidered with the assistance of Moata’a Aualuma Community, Upolu Island, approx. 1600 × 2400 mm. Courtesy of the artist and Gow Langsford Gallery; and Winds of Change, 2026, installation of 100 pandanus fans handmade by Sāmoa Victim Support Group Nofotane, suspended, dimensions variable, courtesy of the artist.

2) Melissa Macleod, a borrowed chorus (detail), 2026 (iteration #3), dawn air Pukehīnau/ Kelburn hill -41° 17’ 18.96” S, 174° 46’ 8.40” E, aluminium, cable ties. 1100 × 2200 × 4400 mm each structure, courtesy of the artist. Installation view, Not a solitary feeling, Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2026. Photo: Ted Whitaker.

3) Elisapeta Hinemoa Heta, ‘Ua Tafa Mai Ata: Matāli’i ki Wainuiātea (detail), 2026, terracotta bricks, coconut shells and oil, hue, shells, Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington. Photo: Ted Whitaker.

4) Elisapeta Hinemoa Heta, ‘Ua Tafa Mai Ata: Matāli’i ki Wainuiātea, 2026, terracotta bricks, sharkstooth gauze, charred macrocarpa; karanga by Rhonda Tibble, soundscape by Salvador Brown, Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington. Photo: Ted Whitaker.

5 and 6) Installation view, George Watson, The Choice, 2026, Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington. Photos: Ted Whitaker.

09/10/2026

This is the final weekend to see George Watson’s 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦, along with Elisapeta Hinemoa Heta's '𝘜𝘢 𝘛𝘢𝘧𝘢 𝘔𝘢𝘪 𝘈𝘵𝘢: 𝘔𝘢𝘵ā𝘭𝘪'𝘪 𝘬𝘪 𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘪ā𝘵𝘦𝘢 and our group show, 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 brings together galvanised steel farm gates, Victorian fretwork, textiles, artificial dust and Jane Austen to consider colonial inheritances in Aotearoa. Watson transforms the gallery through works suggesting containment, restraint, labour and domesticity.

Don’t miss it - the final day to visit Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery before the exhibitions close is this Sunday, 11 October.

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Cover of 𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘈𝘳𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘦, Issue 03

Sankar, A. (2026). "The Choice Which is Not One." 𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘈𝘳𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘦, 03, 76–89.

George Watson, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦, 2026, Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington. Photo: Ted Whitaker.

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sophie

08/10/2026

There are only a few days left to experience Elisapeta Hinemoa Heta’s ‘Ua Tafa Mai Ata: Matāli’i ki Wainuiātea. On 3 October, we hosted a talanoa discussion, “Salty Blood and Tears”, Ocean Stories 2: Moananui Talanoa, led by Professor Albert Refiti and held in Heta’s architectural installation.

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Elisapeta Hinemoa Heta, ‘Ua Tafa Mai Ata: Matāli’i ki Wainuiātea, 2026, terracotta bricks, sharkstooth gauze, charred macrocarpa; karanga by Rhonda Tibble, soundscape by Salvador Brown, Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington. Photo: Ted Whitaker.

Elisapeta Hinemoa Heta, ‘Ua Tafa Mai Ata: Matāli’i ki Wainuiātea (detail), 2026, terracotta bricks, coconut shells and oil, hue, shells, Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington. Photo: Ted Whitaker.

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Elisapeta Heta ✨ Izy

07/10/2026

Christine Hellyar

1947 – 2026

We are saddened to hear of the death of influential artist and educator Christine Hellyar.

Born in New Plymouth in 1947, Hellyar studied at Elam School of Fine Arts in the late 1960s, where she first began to work with latex – a material that would become key within her practice. In 1972, she made the well-known 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 (collection of the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery), where 20 latex-dipped items of clothing hang, rigidly windblown – bringing both the outside world and the everyday into the gallery. Describing the piece, Hellyar said, “I believe all my work is about the domestication of the sublime in the New Zealand landscape, and I think that's a really good example of it."

Though Hellyar is best known as a sculptor, drawing also played a central role within her practice both as an artform and as a tool for research and documentation. 𝘋𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 (1977–78), made while Hellyar was living in Edinburgh and held in Ngā Puhipuhi o Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington Art Collection, is an early exploration into the garment sculptures that she would begin to make in 1980s; aprons made to be hung on the wall and, later, worn on the body. Curator Simon Gennard writes that Hellyar referred to the apron form "as a kind of 'skin', which acts as an interface between the body and the world."

Photographs from Hellyar's 𝘚𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 series (1969), from the collection of the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, are on display at the gallery until 11 October.

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Christine Hellyar, 𝘋𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺, c 1977-1978. Blue ballpoint pen on paper. 760mm x 557mm. Ngā Puhipuhi o Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington Art Collection, gift of Gordon H. Brown, 2000.

02/10/2026

Milly Mitchell-Anyon talks about Ross Hemera's 𝘛𝘢𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘰: 𝘈 𝘉𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, currently on view in the gallery as part of 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨.
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Ross Hemera, 𝘛𝘢𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘰: 𝘈 𝘉𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 1995, tōtara, No.8 wire, galvanised steel bolts, variable dimensions, 3000 mm width, Ngā Puhipuhi o Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington Art Collection, formerly Wellington College of Education Art Collection, accessioned 2009. Not a solitary feeling, Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2026.
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.sophie

Address

Gate 3, Kelburn Parade, Victoria University Of Wellington
Wellington
6012

Opening Hours

Tuesday	11am - 5pm
Wednesday	11am - 5pm
Thursday	11am - 5pm
Friday	11am - 5pm
Saturday	11am - 5pm
Sunday	11am - 5pm

Telephone

+6444635229

Website

http://www.adamartgallery.nz/, http://www.legacy.adamartgallery.nz/

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