Art Attic Gallery

09/08/2026

Remnants: Echoes That Resonate | Jessica Covell

Opening Event: 5.30pm, 21 August | Featuring a live performance by Chris Miller and a reading by Lloyd Esler

Tufting Workshop: 22 August | A drop-in style workshop from 10am - 2pm

Exhibition runs until: 26 September, 2026

Remnants: Echoes That Resonate is an immersive installation reflecting on the native forests and species that once flourished across Waihōpai before colonisation and widespread agricultural clearing transformed the landscape.

Tufted textiles, native timbers and moving image come together to create an abstracted botanical landscape that invites visitors to move through, look closely and touch. Woven throughout the works, possum fibre introduces a quiet tension; transforming a material associated with an introduced predator into a way of reflecting on the native ecosystems it has helped diminish.

An original composition by Ōtepoti musician and composer Chris Miller accompanies the exhibition, adding another layer of atmosphere and reflection.

Visitors are also invited to explore a reading corner and contribute to a collaborative collage throughout the exhibition.

On Saturday 22 August, drop in between 10am and 2pm to have a go at tufting. Jessica will be on hand to share knowledge about the process, with plenty of opportunity for informal conversations and questions around the exhibition and the work.

With thanks to Art Attic Gallery, the Creative Communities Scheme team at Invercargill City Council, Chris Miller, Lloyd Esler, Maggie Covell and The Halo Project for their support in bringing the exhibition to life.

03/08/2026

Join us for poetry night 6pm Tues 4 Aug at Art Attic, 43 Tay Street Invercargill (Runs monthly on the first Tuesday).

Read your own, your favourite, or come to listen, any poetry is welcome.

Featured: Mud is thicker than blood, Bri Leone Rhea Lawrence and Geo Thompson Skipworth

30/07/2026

We'd love to plug this annual art challenge at Te Hikoi Southern Journey 🙌
Let your friends know and get involved!

We are seeking expressions of interest from artists who would like to participate in our fourth annual Art Challenge! Download the expression of interest form off our website: https://www.tehikoi.co.nz/artchallenge.html
1 - Explore our collection online to select an object of inspiration: https://ehive.com/collections/3278/te-hikoi-museum
2 - Email us your completed expression of interest form before 4 September. We will respond with any cultural considerations and the go ahead to proceed.
3 - Deliver art work no later than 18 September.
The exhibition will run through October and November, you can sell your art inspired by an object in our collection, and be in the running for the $500 voucher from Art Supplies Southland - for the People's Choice Award!

22/07/2026

What is being unlocked in 'Cabinets at The Attic'? Darren talks to artists Lisa Benson and Campbell Trewin about a new opportunity at the Art Attic Gallery Here's the conversation - https://tinyurl.com/yzd5sh6f

12/07/2026

Tāmata | Bri Law and Geo Thompson Skipworth

Open event 5.30pm 17th July 2026
Runs until 15th August 2026
Art Attic Gallery 43 Tay Street Invercargill Waihōpai

The kaupapa of Tāmata originated from a research trip undertaken by the artists after mutually recognising the potential for a shared history. The trip follows both artist’s lines of whakapapa, tracing connections to Hinemihi (Wairoa) and Hinerupe (Te Araroa). Both marae are linked through layered histories of deterioration and restoration. Engaging directly with these sites, the artists examine colonial displacement, cultural restoration and Māori identity.

A core aspect of the kaupapa is relational restoration – strengthening ties with whānau, land and marae through conversation and creative action aligned with ongoing restoration efforts. Tāmata offers an experience for the audience to engage with the artist’s art-making journey. The works honor the past while envisioning contemporary forms of restoration.

11/07/2026

Join us for a closing artist talk and demonstration with Hazel Smith at the gallery this Sunday 12th July, at 1pm.

Pictured: gallery documentation for Holding Hands with a Ghost.

01/07/2026

Join us at Art Attic Gallery for two special events with Hazel Smith as part of her exhibition.

Poetry Night - Tuesday 7 July, 6pm

Hazel has set the theme “past ghosts”, exploring the idea of the ghosts we carry with us. Bring along your thoughts, memories, and reflections as we share an evening of poetry and conversation. Hazel will also be creating a collaborative offering using cyanotype fabric ribbons, which guests can tie to the branches by the altar.

Artist Talk - Sunday 12 July, 1pm

Come and spend time with Hazel as she shares the stories behind her work. This will be a relaxed walk and talk through the exhibition, with a demonstration of her printmaking process.

18/06/2026

Holding Hands with a Ghost. An exhibition by Hazel Smith.

Runs at Art Attic Gallery until 11th July 2026.
Open hours Weds to Fri 11am - 4pm, Sat 11am to 3pm.

11/06/2026

ROLLING CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

Cabinets at the Attic - Art Attic Gallery, Invercargill

We’re inviting national and international creatives to develop small-scale, site-responsive installations for a series of lockable street-level and internal display cabinets.

If you like to work within limits, are ready to dazzle our southern audience… we’d love to hear from you!

Return postage, micro materials budget and installation support provided
Depth: 30mm | No power | Precise dimensions apply

Message us or visit our website for more details today:

Propose to use the gallery | Applications, Gallery photos, Floor plans

02/06/2026

Holding Hands with a Ghost | Hazel Smith
Open event 5.30pm Friday 5 June
Exhibition runs until 11 July 2026

With her latest work “Holding Hands with a Ghost” Southland and Otago based artist Hazel Smith invites you to look introspectively into the past. Hazel's work focuses on the symbolic and whimsical, using them as ways to explore concepts that we can't quite grasp onto.

Previously she has looked at ideas and concepts such as memory with “Memory is Blue” and nostalgia with “Nostalgia is Pink”. More recently has exhibited at Arts Murihiku where the concept of the unknown was explored with “Sanctifying the Fog” - which sought to make peace or at least an understanding with the unknown, a concept which can feel unsettling. In her latest exhibition at Art Attic, Hazel delves into the idea of confronting and illuminating the ghosts that stay with us long after their first encounter. Like with the concept of the unknown she hopes to find a means to bring peace to this way of viewing the past.