Nick Austin
What Did People Do All Day?
2 June 2026
This Saturday, 6 June, we welcome visitors to Nick Austin’s What Did People Do All Day? A former Frances Hodgkins Fellow who has made Ōtepoti Dunedin his home, Austin is the second artist presenting work in the 2026 iteration of the Suite exhibition series. Running for over a decade, Suite set out to create a platform for nationally significant exhibition projects made by artists living and working in Ōtepoti Dunedin.
In What Did People Do All Day? Austin brings together a series of works that create unexpected meeting points between art history, archives and collections, and the social histories of Ōtepoti Dunedin. Throughout the exhibition are references to collections and collecting – from stories discovered in the Hocken Collections Uare Taoka o Hākena, to modes of display that are familiar in museums and galleries. Austin brings found objects and materials together with care and deep consideration, creating works that explore the passage of time, stages of life, legacy, and place.
Nick Austin will give an artist talk at 11am on Saturday 6 June, please join us at the Gallery.
Noho ora mai
Lucy Hammonds
Kairauhī Curator
Dunedin Public Art Gallery
[above: NICK AUSTIN Digital Oils (2018-2025). Courtesy of the artist]