Te Ahikāroa

Te Ahikāroa invites viewers on a journey through the collection of Dunedin Public Art Gallery, shaped by artworks and stories that have been gathered together since the collection was first exhibited in 1884. This exhibition celebrates art and artists, the many paths that have brought their work to Ōtepoti Dunedin, and the possibilities that emerge when art, ideas and people come together.

Ahikāroa describes the continuous occupation of land through whakapapa, acknowledging the home fires which marked settlements and those who have maintained these connections across generations. In this opening space of Te Ahikāroa, photography, sculpture, poetry and waiata acknowledge mana whenua. In the adjacent galleries, artworks spanning centuries, cultures and vast geographies reveal the breadth of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery collection and the stories that gather here. 

Te Ahikāroa celebrates Aotearoa New Zealand’s first public art collection, and its place and identity in Ōtepoti Dunedin. This is a collection and institution grounded by a belief in art to connect people and ideas, and open minds to different ways of thinking. The exhibition reflects the journey of the institution, using works from the collection to tell stories of arrivals and departures, new foundations and relationships, and the possibilities that exist just beyond the horizon.

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Ka karakahia e Te Ahikāroa te huka manuhiri ki te tere atu ki te kohika toi o Te Whare Toi Tūmatawhānui o Ōtepoti, he mea ahuahu e kā mahika toi, e kā pakiwaitara ko kohia nō te whakaaturaka tuatahi o te kohika i te tau 1884. Ka whakanuia e tēnei whakaaturaka te mahi toi, kā rikatoi me kā ara rau i ahu mai nei ā rātou mahi ki Ōtepoti, ā, me kā ara rau e ahu atu ai i konei i te whakakotahitaka o te toi, te whakaaro me te rika auaha.

Ka whakaatuhia e Ahikāroa te noho mau roa o te whakapapa ki tēnei whenua, ko te auahi, he au ora i tohua ai kā nohoaka, ā, i tautohua ai te huka takuahi nā rātau te honoka ki te whenua i tauwhiro i kā reaka e hia ko pahure. I tēnei pārae o Te Ahikāroa ko tā te mahi whakaahua, kā whakairo, kā toikupu me kā waiata ko te whakamihi i te mana whenua. Kai kā ahurewa e pātata nei ko kā mahika toi e toro atu ana ki kā rautau ko hori, ki kā momo ahurea me kā matawhenua matararahi kia huraina ai te rakiwhāwhātaka o te kohika toi o Te Whare Toi Tūmatawhānui o Ōtepoti, ā, ki ōhona kōrero ko hopua ki konei.

He whakanui hoki a Te Ahikāroa i te kohika toi tūmatanui tuatahi o Aotearoa, tōhona nohoaka, me tōhona tuakiri ki konei, ki Ōtepoti. He kohika, he nōhaka ko whai tūāpapa i te whakapono ki te toi hai taura here i te takata, i kā whakaaro, ā, i te hirikapo kaikaha hoki ki kā ara rau rerekē o te whakaaro. Ka kōrerohia te whakaaturaka nei te tereka o tēnei nōhaka, e whakamahia ana kā mahika toi nō te kohika ki te kōrero mō kā taeka me kā weheka, kā tūāpapa hou, kā hereka takata, me kā whāika kai tua noa o te pae tata.

 Exhibition Partner