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Te Pūkenga Whakaata
 

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

New Zealanders: Free Entry
International Visitors (18+): $10


Shed 11, 60 Lady Elizabeth Lane
Wellington Waterfront 6011

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Exhibitions
only connect: Portraits by Joanna Margaret Paul and Janet Elaine Paul
Mar 5
only connect: Portraits by Joanna Margaret Paul and Janet Elaine Paul

A new exhibition curated by Helen Kedgley of portrait paintings and drawings by Joanna Margaret Paul and her mother Dame Janet Elaine Paul.

Image: Joanna Margaret Paul ‘Self-Portrait’ circa 1970, pencil on paper, 2001/38/2. Collection of Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery. Gift of the artist, 2002.

The Adam Portraiture Award 2026
May 21
The Adam Portraiture Award 2026

The Adam Portraiture Award is Aotearoa’s premier prize for painted portraiture.

Image: Ian Caddy, You’re not just a transitional object to me, acrylic on canvas (finalist)

Life in Forms: Pauline Kahurangi Yearbury
Jun 11
Life in Forms: Pauline Kahurangi Yearbury

Life in forms is a focused survey of the work of trailblazing Ngāpuhi artist Pauline Kahurangi Yearbury (1928-1977). It charts the artist’s practice over four decades, from her early works in the 1940s to her final pieces in the 1970s.

Developed and toured by Te Uru Contemporary Gallery.

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Public Programmes
Adam Portraiture Award 2026 - Judge's Talk
May 21
Adam Portraiture Award 2026 - Judge's Talk

Join us on the opening day of the 2026 Adam Portraiture Award for a talk from this year’s guest judge, Sydney-based artist Jude Rae.

Curator Talk - Helen Kedgley
May 30
Curator Talk - Helen Kedgley

Join us for a talk from only connect: Portraits by Joanna Margaret Paul and Janet Elaine Paul curator Helen Kedgley.

Themed Monthly Life Drawing: Books
May 30
Themed Monthly Life Drawing: Books

Join us for this month’s themed life drawing session, inspired by those Adam Portraiture Award 2026 finalists whose sitters are enjoying a good book!

Image: Tony Guo, Xin reading a book, 2025. Oil on linen. Cropped.

Touring Exhibitions →
 
Touring Exhibitions
Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award 2025 - Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi
Feb 27
Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi
Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award 2025 - Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi
Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi

The Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award is a competition that encourages young Maaori artists to create portraits of their tupuna (ancestors) in any medium. The 2025 finalists’ exhibition will be touring to multiple venues around the motu.

Image: Ashley Tutaki, Back to the Source, Photography (finalist)

Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi
Ian Scott: Painting New Zealand - Ashburton Art Gallery
May 2
Ashburton Art Gallery
Ian Scott: Painting New Zealand - Ashburton Art Gallery
Ashburton Art Gallery

Presenting previously unseen or rarely seen works, this exhibition brings together a selection of Ian Scott’s work from the last three decades of his life.

Image: Rita Angus in Taradale, 1987, Collection Art House Trust

Ashburton Art Gallery
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