Pūkana whakarunga! Gaze wildly to the realm above! Pūkana whakararo! Gaze wildly to the realm below!
Kauri Hawkins, Reweti Arapere, Ngatai Taepa, Kereama Taepa, David Hakaraia, Stevei Houkamau, Robyn Kahukiwa,
Lonnie Hutchinson, James Lainchbury and Reuben Paterson.
Curated by Suzanne Tamaki
2 – 24 June
Reuben Paterson Afternoon Delight
Physical and virtual taonga are unified in the exhibition Pūkana whakarunga! Pūkana whakararo! curated by Suzanne Tamaki. Referencing the heralding of Matariki, the exhibition brings heaven and earth into closer conversation. Contemporary artworks by leading and emerging Māori artists are paired with virtual taonga from the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa, accessed via visitors’ mobile devices. The connection of contemporary and historic treasures in Pūkana whakarunga! Pūkana whakararo! offers a glimpse into how Māori symbolism, carving and ideologies have developed and morphed into new artistic practices.
Authenticity comes into question through the physical and virtual exhibition experience, as the selected museum taonga are all replicas of original artefacts - even in real-life they are in a sense unreal. Tamaki’s inclusion of the replicas in the exhibition suggests they are no less valuable as taonga.
Contemporary issues are also embedded into the exhibition. Tamaki has worked with Te Whare Rokiroki – Māori Women's Refuge Arts Coordinator Natalie Mataria to incorporate a constellation of hand woven stars into the exhibition. The stars will be created through workshop sessions at Toi Pōneke Arts Centre as part of the ‘One Millions Stars to End Violence project’ initiated by artist Maryann Pau. Tamaki sees the inclusion of the community-made stars as a hopeful way to raise awareness about contemporary issues during Matariki.
other exhibitions
Daniel Beban and Tim Barlow's immersive, interactive sound installation fills the environment of Toi Pōneke gallery for the final exhibition at the Able-Smith Street space.
Toi Pōneke is excited to present Koru meets Tartan by Toi Pōneke Art Centre’s 2024 Visual Arts Residency recipient Mitchell Manual, opening on Saturday 21st March 2026.
Exploring the potential of woven structures through textile making, the exhibition by Angela Kilford and Lisa Munnelly titled Under, Over and Across creates a dialogue between painting, raranga and hand-woven works.
voices notations distortion is the debut solo show by artist and musician Gemma Thompson at Toi Pōneke Gallery 17 Jan - 6 Feb 2026. Inspired by Pauline Oliveros' Sonic Meditations, the exhibition explores her soundwalking practice through graphic scores, realised as drawings, paintings, prints, and sonic compositions. Each mark resonates with its own energy – echoing, layering, and unfolding across the surface.
In Each Other’s Pockets opens Friday 24 October 2025 at Toi Pōneke Gallery, Te Aro, Wellington.
Through her playful installation, contemporary jeweller Louise Hill interrogates the politics of pockets; the private spaces that shape how we move through the world, investigating what it means for some to be equipped with the tools they need, while others are not.
20 years at Abel Smith looks back on the tapestry of Toi Pōneke at Abel Smith Street and invites artists, friends, family and guest on a small stroll down memory lane in hopes to build an even stronger step forward into the future. Opens Friday 5:30 24 Oct and is on in the back gallery until Friday 21 Nov 2025.
He Whare Mahana - a warm house, a full house, a cosy kainga to nurture your dreams and the infi nite queer possibilities. Tātou āhuru mōwai, nau mai, haere mai.
Artists Katy Cottrell and Rick Allender explore the connection between land and sea through intricate works crafted from natural wood veneers.
What is the connection between sugar, colonisation, global trade and climate change?
Azucar/Sugar is an explorative gallery experience that uses sugar sculptures, videos and digital art to trace how European and US conquest terraformed the environment from a living entity that encompassed the living spirits of the land, water, plants, animals and humans into an inert repository of resources to be harvested and harnessed for profit. Azucar/Sugar is the latest installation from With Lime, the long-standing collaboration between William Franco and Miki Seifert.
Sonic artist Kieran Monaghan presents GUEST, an interdisciplinary exhibition of sound, image and organic matter, which offers up a sonic practice for the Anthropocene. This body of work explores a practice that places the ‘human’ not at the centre, but as an ongoing active collaborator. Working as a member of the non-human/tech/human trio, vegetable.machine.animal, Monaghan makes space where the voice of the ‘Other’ is amplified and essential to the voice of the ‘Whole’.
This May, Toi Pōneke Gallery presents a compelling mother-son exhibition that reclaims vision and voice through the powerful mediums of painting and photography. Featuring the evocative work of Ashraf Pirnia and Pedram Pirnia, this showcase dives into deep introspection and feminist resistance, amplifying silenced voices and uncovering layers of identity, truth, and transformation.
see other past exhibitions in the gallery archive
- Posted in exhibition
- Tagged moving image, installation