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Te Pūkenga Whakaata
 

OPEN DAILY: 10:00am – 4:30pm
Except Christmas Day and Good Friday


FREE ENTRY
Shed 11, 60 Lady Elizabeth Lane
Wellington Waterfront 6011

 

Exhibitions
Toss Woollaston: Figures from Life
Nov 21
Toss Woollaston: Figures from Life

From the early 1930s Toss Woollaston’s approach to portrait painting was radical, resulting in what Jill Trevelyan calls “New Zealand’s first modernist portrait”, Figures from Life, 1936. His portraiture was unlike anything produced in the country to this time.

Image: M T Woollaston, Figures from Life, 1936. Oil and charcoal (627 x 478 mm) Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Colin McCahon, 1954

Background Matters: Portraiture and Place in Aotearoa New Zealand
Dec 12
Background Matters: Portraiture and Place in Aotearoa New Zealand

A picture is a whole world unto itself.

Step beyond the frame and see what you find. Background Matters asks what can be revealed when we view the sitter of a portrait in the expanded field of their surroundings. In bringing the background to the fore, this exhibition subverts the hierarchy of subject and setting to consider the portraiture of Aotearoa New Zealand from a fresh vantage point.

Nicolette Page, Carmen, Oil on board, 2012

Gavin Hurley: Growing Up
Feb 20
Gavin Hurley: Growing Up

Gavin Hurley’s portraits substantiate, interfere and play with the role of portraiture as a tool for the crafting and performance of public personae.  

Image: Gavin Hurley, Standing on Moonlight, 2021, courtesy of the artist.

Me Anga Whakamua – Facing the Future
Mar 20
Me Anga Whakamua – Facing the Future

In response to the Tuia 250 event, Me Anga Whakamua – Facing the Future, explores the impact of the first encounters between Māori and Europeans. Emotive photographic portraits of tāngata whenua, their thoughts and aspirations offer a window into everyday lives of Māori looking back to the past to form a pathway to a shared future. 

Julia B. Lynch: A Dedicated Life
Jun 19
Julia B. Lynch: A Dedicated Life

This exhibition will focus on three aspects of Lynch’s artistic career: portraits painted for competitions (for instance she entered the famous Australian Archibald Portrait Prize four times), controversial portraits (her portrait of Mayor Percy Dowse, Lower Hutt was taken down at the Dowse but in 1984 the director was told to reinstate it against his dislike for it) and portraits of her students, of which there are many.

Julia Lynch, Self-portrait, c.1924, (private collection).

ENTRIES ARE OPEN FOR THE 2025 KIINGI TUHEITIA PORTRAITURE AWARD

The Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award is a competition that encourages young Maaori artists to create portraits of their tupuna (ancestors) in any medium. The Award is hosted and administered by Te Pūkenga Whakaata the New Zealand Portrait Gallery in honour of the late Maaori King, Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII.

The Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award provides young Māori artists with the opportunity to showcase their talents on the national stage, while also playing an important role in recording and celebrating tūpuna (ancestors) and their stories. The award for the overall winner is $20,000.

Entries close on 20 March 2025.

 

Public Programmes
Toss Woollaston inspired Saturday Sittings Ink workshop with Denise Durkin
Jan 25
Toss Woollaston inspired Saturday Sittings Ink workshop with Denise Durkin

A twist on our usual Saturday Sittings!

Join Inverlochy Art School teacher Denise Durkin for a FREE creative event inspired by the beautiful work of Toss Woollaston, drawing expressive portraits in ink.

Artwork by Denise Durkin

Perspectives on Place - Background Matters Panel Discussion
Feb 8
Perspectives on Place - Background Matters Panel Discussion

Join Liz Stringer Curatorial intern Maddie Brooks Gillespie, Chevron Hassett (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Rongomaiwahine) and Ehsan Hazaveh for a panel discussion on the importance of place in their photography practice and the place of portraiture in the arts landscape of Aotearoa today.

Image of Background Matters exhibition, Jess O'Brien

Gavin Hurley: Growing Up Artist Discussion
Feb 20
Gavin Hurley: Growing Up Artist Discussion

Join Gavin Hurley and New Zealand Portrait Gallery Director Jaenine Parkinson for a free-form discussion on Gavin Hurley: Growing up.

Gavin Hurley, Boy with Grey’s Beard, 2024, collection of the artist.

Saturday Sittings - February
Feb 22
Saturday Sittings - February

Have a go at portraiture in a relaxed setting with our free monthly drawing sessions.

Saturday Sittings - March
Mar 29
Saturday Sittings - March

Have a go at portraiture in a relaxed setting with our free monthly drawing sessions.

Saturday Sittings - April
Apr 26
Saturday Sittings - April

Have a go at portraiture in a relaxed setting with our free monthly drawing sessions.

Saturday Sittings - May
May 31
Saturday Sittings - May

Have a go at portraiture in a relaxed setting with our free monthly drawing sessions.

Saturday Sittings - June
Jun 28
Saturday Sittings - June

Have a go at portraiture in a relaxed setting with our free monthly drawing sessions.

 
Touring Exhibitions
Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award 2023 - Marlborough Art Gallery (Blenheim)
Nov 23
Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award 2023 - Marlborough Art Gallery (Blenheim)

The Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award is a biennial competition that provides emerging Māori artists with the opportunity to showcase their talents on the national stage, while also playing an important role in recording and celebrating tūpuna and their stories.

Image: Tia Barrett, A Time Capsule of Aroha, photography (finalist)

Robyn Kahukiwa: Tohunga Mahi Toi - Te Manawa, Palmerston North
Dec 7
Robyn Kahukiwa: Tohunga Mahi Toi - Te Manawa, Palmerston North

Robyn Kahukiwa’s artworks have made a difference to Māori. They have provided not only beauty and strength but inroads into our mātauranga, and the multi-layered, inter-generational and ever-evolving stories that are part of our cultural landscape. Her work has become an alternate visual rendering of Aotearoa’s history, through the lens of a Māori woman.

Image: Robyn Kahukiwa, Portrait of a Woman, 1986, Private collection, Wellington

Adam Portraiture Award 2024 - The Arts House Trust (Pah Homestead), Auckland
Feb 20
Adam Portraiture Award 2024 - The Arts House Trust (Pah Homestead), Auckland

The Adam Portraiture Award is New Zealand’s premier portrait prize.

Image: Tessa Meyer, Sunshine, oil on board (finalist)