Christchurch Art Gallery

Our stunning new pukapuka ‘Fiona Pardington: Taharaki Skyside’ has landed in store! We’re welcoming it here in Aotearoa and across the moana in Venice, where it accompanies Fiona Pardington’s incredible exhibition 'Taharaki Skyside' at the Aotearoa New Zealand pavilion for the 61st Venice Biennale. Brimming with beauty and loss, the avian portraits of Fiona Pardington (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Mamoe, Ngāti Kahungunu, Clan Cameron of Erracht) resurrect the charisma and wildness of native birds preserved as taxidermy specimens in museum collections. On these pages, her manu are not merely replicated but reborn. Highlights: – Beautifully designed hardcover book by the artist’s brother, artist and designer Neil Pardington, including an exquisite colourway representing Aotearoa skies at dawn. – A rich and brilliant selection of texts exploring the practice of an artist at the height of her career by Geoffrey Batchen, Maia Nuku (Ngāi Tai), Hana O’Regan (Kāi Tahu), Harry Rickit (Te Arawa, Ngāpuhi), Megan Tamati-Quennell (Te Ātiawa, Kāti Māmoe, Ngāi Tahu) and Andrew Paul Wood. – More than 25 pages of high quality reproductions, including the monumental works she has created for the Aotearoa New Zealand Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale. Get your own copy now from the Design Store or on our website!

Make your way to the Gallery during the month of May for our line-up of events! Enjoy exhibition floor talks, our autumn quarter gig, and a weekend of visual connections. ➡️ Swipe to see what’s on.

Planning a visit? Here’s a look at our current and upcoming exhibitions. ✨ Join a free daily tour at 11am or 2pm, or enjoy an evening tour on Wednesdays at 7.15pm. We look forward to welcoming you into the whare!

A first walkthrough of Taharaki Skyside at @labiennale , featuring 17 large-scale portraits of taxidermied manu from Aotearoa and Australia. Puamiria Parata-Goodall (Ngāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha, Ngāti Kahungunu), Arts Council member and Venice Kaihautū, says Ngāi Tahu acknowledges with pride Fiona’s presence at the Venice Biennale. “Her work elevates our manu as taonga, treasured reminders of our past, present and future. These are not simply images; they are acts of remembrance and recognition, calling attention to what has been lost, what endures, and our shared responsibility to the natural world and each other.” Video credit: @timstonerrock #FionaPardington #AotearoaNewZealandatVenice #NZatVenice

Haere mai to our collection exhibition 'He Kapuka Oneone: A Handful of Soil' where you'll be able to view these uku (clay) works by Māori artists! Baye Pewhairangi Riddell (Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau-a-Ruataupare) is a founding member of Ngā Kaihanga Uku – the Māori Clay Artists collective. He doesn’t use glazes in his ceramics; instead enhancing the clay with carved, painted or incised surfaces as a way of honouring the original material. The richly textured surfaces of Tracy Keith’s (Ngā Puhi) raku fired ceramics contain the imprints of abstracted shapes and patterns. His work is informed by the way ancestral relationships with the whenua are often disrupted or fractured by the need to move away from one's turakawaewae. Colleen Waata Urlich (Te Popoto o Ngāpuhi ki Kaipara, Te Rarawa) was one of the founding members of Ngā Kaihanga Uku, the Māori Clay Artists collective and was affectionately known as the “matriarch of the muddies”. Her work often celebrated mana wāhine and the female form, and as well as objects for exhibition, she also produced unfired vessels in which to bury the whenua (placenta) after birth. The surface patterns on her Paikea Pot show the influence of her research into Lapita pottery, and the visual relationships across the Pacific that are evident in weaving, carving, painting and ceramic arts in Aotearoa New Zealand. ________________________ Baye Pewhairangi Riddell, Manaia, 2020. Ruku clay with incised design. Purchased 2022. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū. Tracy Keith, Midnight Vessel, 2021. Raku fired ceramic. Purchased 2023. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū. Colleen Waata Urlich, Paikea Pot, 1994. Earthenware. Purchased 2023. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū. Tracy Keith, Twilight Vessel, 2021. Raku fired ceramic. Purchased 2023. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū.

Join us for the Art Bite this Friday (15/05) at 12pm for a special free screening of the documentary film 'Edith Collier: A Light Among the Shadows' written and directed by Michael Heath. "One of Aotearoa New Zealand's most talented yet underrated artists, Edith Collier (1885-1964) was, sadly, a victim of her times. Born in Whanganui at a time when the town was still in the grip of profound and stultifying Victorianism, she suddenly found herself in an exciting milieu of new ideas and experimentation when she escaped to study in England. In this fertile environment she created many exquisite paintings in the new Modernist style (Frances Hodgkins was one of her admirers), but when her father, who felt she was wasting her time and costing too much to support, summoned her home, she had no option but to return. Being back in her home environment was crushing for her, as people had no understanding of her work, and, tragically, Collier chose to give up painting as a result. Michael Heath's film tells Collier's story with sensitivity and respect, and includes much of her extraordinarily beautiful work. It is not only a fitting eulogy to a remarkable artist, but an affecting tale of cultural identity and rejection." — Whānau Mārama, New Zealand International Film Festival The recently opened survey exhibition 'Edith Collier: Early New Zealand Modernist' at the Gallery takes a fresh look at her achievements, both at home and abroad, now at a time of growing international interest in the work of women modernists. The exhibition includes key paintings from the Edith Collier Trust held at Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery that have rarely been seen in Ōtautahi Christchurch. Developed and toured by Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery, with the generous support from the Edith Collier Trust. Free Entry Friday 15 May at 12pm Philip Carter Family Auditorium ______________________________________ Edith Collier, Kāwhia Scene, 1927–8. Oil on board. Collection of the Edith Collier Trust, in the permanent care of Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery

A quick tour around Venice and the Aotearoa New Zealand pavilion, and footage from the Ngāi Tahu blessing of Taharaki Skyside, celebrating the opening week of the 61st Venice Biennale. Video credit: @timstonerrock #FionaPardington #AotearoaNewZealandatVenice #NZatVenice

A thoughtful companion to the touring exhibition celebrating one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most adventurous and experimental modernist artists, Edith Collier ⭐️ ‘Edith Collier: Early New Zealand Modernist’ is available now in-store or online along side the exhibition at the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū. Featuring over 150 artworks, a major essay by award-winning art writer Jill Trevelyan and multiple guest essays, this publication offers a deeper look into her remarkable life and work. 💚 Available in-store or online 💚 #edithcollier #artist #newzealand #christchurchartgallery

Ohh, to have my feet on the floor of the 61st Venice Biennale right now, standing inside Fiona Pardington’s exhibition… 🥲 For now, I’ll just have to admire her stunning work from afar 💫 ‘Fiona Pardington: Taharaki Skyside’ Book - Available in-store and online now 💙💜💛 #venicebiennale2026 #christchurchartgallery #newzealand #venice #fionapardington

The final of three install shots of Taharaki Skyside. “Fiona’s photographs are more than images: they are acts of return. Each bird, each shimmer of feather and darkened horizon, carries presence and absence in equal measure – the breath of life, and the hush that follows it. Her work holds the paradox of beauty and loss with grace and precision, summoning both ancestral memory and contemporary urgency. To stand before these photographs is to feel the gaze of Aotearoa returned, patient and knowing.” Kent Gardner, Commissioner, Aotearoa New Zealand at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, 2026 Chair, Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa. #FionaPardington #AotearoaNewZealandatVenice #NZatVenice Taharaki Skyside centre panel, photography by Neil Pardington

The second in a series of three install shots of Taharaki Skyside. [W]e are reminded that these manu are still here in ancestral memory, and their calls are not lost.” Dr Hana O’Regan ONZM #FionaPardington #AotearoaNewZealandatVenice #NZatVenice Photography: Neil Pardington Taharaki Skyside Installation, left wall.

Wednesday saw the official opening of Taharaki Skyside. Fiona Pardington’s portraits of Aotearoa New Zealand’s manu: extinct, endangered, remembered. On view at La Pietà, Venice, until 22 November 2026. #FionaPardington #AotearoaNewZealandatVenice #NZatVenice Photography by @wahacreative