Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki

Join us this Saturday 19 October for the inaugural Aotearoa Contemporary and Walters Prize symposium to celebrate, examine and consolidate topics and themes evolving from this year’s ‘Walters Prize 2024’ and ‘Aotearoa Contemporary’. Attendance is FREE! Bookings are essential. Refreshments provided. The symposium brings together curators, artists, academics and creative professionals to discuss core themes pertinent to both these exhibitions. The structure of the day includes panel discussions on ‘Indigenous Space’ ‘Mythology Today’ and ‘The New Subject’ and a movement workshop led by dancer Rose Tapsell, who performed in Amit Noy’s ‘Errant’. Guest speakers include: Dr Fiona Amundsen, Ruth Buchanan, Owen Connors, Simon Gennard, Dr Brett Graham, Qianye & Qianhe Lin, Professor Gregory Minissale, Dr Karamia Muller, Balamohan Shingade, Shannon Te Ao, Luke Willis Thompson, Manuha‘apai Vaeatangitau. Opening and closing remarks will be offered by exhibition curators Cameron Ah Loo-Matamua and Natasha Conland. This event aims to inspire further conversation, discussion and action within the creative community. All are welcome to join and contribute to the discussion exploring and documenting a perceived turning point in the visual culture and identity of Aotearoa. Register your place here: https://bit.ly/3A9aYOJ

We are excited to announce the next major international exhibition touring to the Gallery, ‘Olafur Eliasson: Your curious journey.’ Opening on Saturday 7 December 2024, this retrospective highlights over 30 years of artist Olafur Eliasson’s practice, featuring installations, sculptures, and photographs that explore themes of human perception, experimentation, and environmental awareness. It marks the first solo showcase of the Icelandic-Danish artist in Aotearoa New Zealand. Eliasson describes the exhibition as a collection of diverse artworks that invite visitors to embark on their own journeys: ‘What fascinates me is how the different ways we observe natural phenomena can connect us, not just to each other, but also to the larger world around us. That’s something I try to work with in my art: experiences that welcome everyone and their varied perspectives.’ ‘Olafur Eliasson: Your curious journey’ has been developed in collaboration with Studio Olafur Eliasson and leading art institutions across Asia. The exhibition is supported by Auckland Art Gallery Foundation and presented in association with Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival 2025. Tickets on sale in November. Read the full press release on our website: https://bit.ly/481dJhA

Here is a selection of photos from our recent celebration for the Walters Prize 2024 finalists 🎉 Congratulations to this year’s winner of the prize, Ana Iti (pictured in the first shot reacting to the announcement!), and the finalists: Juliet Carpenter, Owen Connors and Brett Graham. There's only two weeks left to see their works on display in ‘Walters Prize 2024’ at the Gallery. Exhibition open daily, until Sunday 20 October. Entry is free. More info here: https://lnkd.in/gZr6Eb-C

Congratulations to the winner of the Walters Prize 2024! We are thrilled to announce the winner of this year’s Walters Prize is Ana Iti (Te Rarawa). Iti has won the Walters Prize for her formidable sculptural and sonic installation ‘A resilient heart like the mānawa’. The announcement was made by this year’s esteemed international judge, Professor Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, who described the work as ‘radical in its manifestation’. He went on to say, ‘Stripped to the bare minimum, the work shares something in common with great poetry: the ability of accessing multiple universes through the availability of a few words. The work excels in its compactness and abbreviations without being reductive, or indeed it gets rid of everything redundant to give space for a larger truth to exist, and to find form.’ Full press release available to read here: https://lnkd.in/gUc_VGWt Explore Iti’s work in ‘The Walters Prize’ exhibition, open until Sunday 20 October. Entry is free. Congratulations again to Ana Iti for winning Aotearoa New Zealand’s national contemporary art award! ----- Image credits: Portrait photo by Sophie Davis | Ana Iti, ‘A resilient heart like the mānawa’, 2024, installation view, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, 2024.

In the spirit of our new exhibition 'Modern Women: Flight of Time', we're bringing senior and junior women artists and arts professionals together to connect and celebrate each other’s work. At this Women Artist Mingle event, network with seasoned creatives and kōrero over a shared potluck lunch. Participating senior artists and arts professionals are: Hiria Anderson-Mita, Lucinda Bennett, Zoe Black, Henrietta Harris, Ngahuia Harrison, Tasha Jenkins, Yona Lee, Virginia Leonard, Claire Olsen, Rosanna Raymond, Nat Tozer, and Julia Waite. Your ticket will include drinks, thanks to our partner Almighty. This event is part of our Young Members event programme, for the bold and curious under 40s (and young at heart). Sun 22 Sep 11.30am–2pm $25 More info here: https://bit.ly/3XhQg72 Image credits: Bob Watson, 'Woman with face raised and eyes shut', date unknown, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 2010. | Annette Bezor, 'Growing older is a once in a lifetime experience', 1987, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1988. | Gil Hanly, 'Serving the Meal', 1984, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1986.

Today we bid a bittersweet farewell to our current longest-serving staff member, Principal Conservator Sarah Hillary. After over 40 incredible years at the Gallery, Sarah has made remarkable contributions in painting conservation, research, writing, and mentoring colleagues. Sarah joined us in 1983 as a painting conservation intern. The next year she joined the staff as a conservator, and quickly advanced to become a senior conservator in 1987 and then principal conservator in 1997. Throughout her tenure, she has played a key role in preventive conservation, treated numerous paintings, and worked on a plethora of exhibitions, research projects and publications. She has become a leading expert on the techniques and materials of both old masters and modern New Zealand painters. Beyond her work at the Gallery, Sarah has been of great service to the conservation field, serving as a mentor and advisor to her industry colleagues. In her retirement, we're pleased that Sarah will remain associated with the Gallery as Conservator Emerita through research and publications. While her departure will leave a significant void, we are very lucky to have Sarah remain a presence – and a force – here at the Gallery for some time to come! Thank you for all your mahi over the years, Sarah ❤ You will be greatly missed but remain an integral part of the Gallery whānau. ------ Image credit: First image by Doug Sherring

We're delighted to be announced as finalists in the following categories for this year’s Best Design Awards: - 'Light from Tate: 1700s to Now' and 'Guo Pei: Fashion, Art, Fantasy 郭培 ：时装之幻梦' for Colour Award Graphics - 'Guo Pei: Fashion, Art, Fantasy 郭培 ：时装之幻梦' for Design Communication. In addition Scott Parker Creative was also recognised in the Exhibition & Temporary Structures category for 'Ngā Pakiaka: Like the Roots of a Tree' in Te Aka Matua | Creative Learning Centre.

Exciting Career Opportunity! 🌟 We’re seeking a Membership Manager to cover parental leave from mid-October 2024 to early July 2025. In this role, you’ll play a key part in raising funds for our Gallery by overseeing our membership programme. This includes managing Member benefits and creating engaging events that captivate a diverse audience. To find out more about the role and apply today, visit this link: https://lnkd.in/gqSCXcSW Applications close 25 August 2024.

Opening this Saturday, 10 August, 'Modern Women: Flight of Time' explores the impact of women artists in 20th Century New Zealand. Spanning the period from 1920 to 1970, this free exhibition combines more than 80 paintings, prints, sculptures, and textiles from public and private collections across Aotearoa New Zealand to reveal new connections between artists, uncover previously hidden themes and revel in the theatre of modern art. Alongside key works by such iconic figures as Rita Angus, Frances Hodgkins, and A Lois White, the exhibition also aims to celebrate the significant yet often overlooked contributions of lesser known figures, including June Black, Flora Scales, and Pauline Yearbury, one of the first Māori graduates of the Elam School of Fine Arts. Through their works, the exhibition uncovers how these women navigated and transformed the cultural and political landscape of their time, offering new insights into themes of storytelling, identity and belonging. The exhibition includes an accompanying publication, 'Modern Women: Flight of Time', which offers a deeper exploration of the featured artists and profiles additional artists – available to purchase at the Gallery shop and bookstores from 9 August. 'Modern Women: Flight of Time' is proudly supported by Auckland Art Gallery Foundation.

Last Friday, some of our kaimahi gathered at Takaparawhau, Bastion Point with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and the wider Tāmaki whānau in the early hours of the morning to celebrate te tau hou Māori, the Māori new year. Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, our new partner, led the Hautapu ceremony. As part of the Hautapu, a special oven was prepared – ‘te umu kohukohu whetū’, ‘the steaming earth oven of the stars’. Karakia, karanga and waiata were also delivered during the Hautapu, offering us an opportunity to remember, reflect and prepare for the upcoming year. For those of you who were unable to attend, check out our video capturing the day. Mānawatia a Matariki!