Pātaka

04/09/2026

𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗶 𝗥𝗮̄ 𝗣𝗮̄𝗽𝗮̄! Get your Papa sorted at Pātaka 🖤

It's Father's Day this weekend and we're giving a special shout out to Hoia Taylor and Ross Pritchard, two of the wonderful Whittaker's workers (and fathers!) who you can read all about in our current exhibition 𝗨𝗻𝘄𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱: 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝟭𝟴𝟵𝟲. 💫

👉🏾 Have you checked out the show yet? Why not bring your dad down this weekend, 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗿𝘂𝗮 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 and leave with a beautifully wrapped stack of chocolate available for purchase at Toi store. 🤤 Everybody wins.

03/09/2026

✨𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 ✨
Creative Communities Scheme | Apply now for projects between 1 December 2026 – 1 December 2027

▪️ Next round closes Wednesday 7 October 2026
▪️ What is the Creative Communities Scheme?
Creative Communities Scheme supports and encourages local arts activities. It is a partnership between Porirua City Council and Creative New Zealand.
✨Your project must take place in Porirua and have an arts focus✨
It also needs to meet one or more of the three funding criteria:
▪️ Participation - create opportunities for local communities to engage with, and participate in local arts activities
▪️ Diversity – support the diverse artistic cultural traditions of local communities
▪️ Young people – Enable young people (under 18 years) to engage with, and participate in the arts

Everything you need to know to submit is on our website – we can’t wait to hear from you!
🔗 https://pataka.org.nz/whats-on/events/creative-communities-scheme-apply/

📸: 𝘚𝘪𝘢𝘰𝘴𝘪 𝘗𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺, 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘋𝘰 𝘕𝘡, 2023. 𝘗𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘳𝘶𝘢 𝘌𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘏𝘢𝘭𝘭.
Creative New Zealand Siaosi Photography Discover Porirua Porirua City Council

27/08/2026

𝗔𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗿 𝗧𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗶 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗹 | National Poetry Day , 2026
𝘗𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘕𝘦𝘪𝘭 𝘗𝘦𝘯𝘮𝘢𝘯, 1987

Celebrating an artist, his art, and the artist who photographed him in one fell swoop. 🖤

Alistair was an acclaimed poet, playwright and novelist who was one of New Zealand’s most distinctive poetic voices from the 1950s to the 2000s.

His work, which combined lyricism and darkness, was shaped by an idyllic Rarotongan childhood, early family tragedies, childhood exile to New Zealand, and a transformative return to Polynesia in middle age.

In the shifting relations between English, Māori and Pasifika traditions in his work, Campbell expanded the scope of his own writing and that of New Zealand, the Pacific and the postcolonial world.

Residing in Pukerua Bay for 50 years, Alistair became a Porirua legend and as such was one of many portraits photographer Neil Penman captured on his mission to preserve Porirua's histories. His picture hangs as part of the exhibition 𝗧𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄’𝘀 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀: 𝗽𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝘀 𝗯𝘆 𝗡𝗲𝗶𝗹 𝗣𝗲𝗻𝗺𝗮𝗻 on now at Pātaka.

Read the full article on Alistair Te Ariki Campbell at the link below, and don't miss your opportunity to visit Neil's work in person at 𝗧𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄’𝘀 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀: 𝗽𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝘀 𝗯𝘆 𝗡𝗲𝗶𝗹 𝗣𝗲𝗻𝗺𝗮𝗻 - until 8 November, 2026.

*𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/6c7/campbell-alistair-te-ariki

18/08/2026

𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗣𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝘆 𝗗𝗮𝘆 | 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝗶𝗹 𝗣𝗲𝗻𝗺𝗮𝗻
‘...it was constantly in my mind, being aware that a photograph today is history tomorrow.’
—𝙉𝙚𝙞𝙡 𝙋𝙚𝙣𝙢𝙖𝙣

Today is World Photography Day and we couldn't let the occasion pass without celebrating the late great Neil Penman (1931-2025), whose images are presented right now at Pātaka in 𝗧𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄’𝘀 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀: 𝗽𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝘀 𝗯𝘆 𝗡𝗲𝗶𝗹 𝗣𝗲𝗻𝗺𝗮𝗻.

Neil Penman’s photographs of Porirua mark significant moments in the city’s history and honour the legacy of a photographer who believed that ‘𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙥𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙝 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙖 𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙬’.

Penman’s impulse to record coincided with a period of change in Porirua, which experienced rapid growth from the 1960s through to the early 2000s. Attentive to the city’s development, Penman, a self-taught photographer, dedicated himself to documenting moments of urban transformation as they happened. He photographed the closing of Todd Motors, the changes at the Porirua psychiatric hospital, the construction of North City Plaza in the 1990s, the removal of the Porirua city centre’s canopies in 2015, the housing renewal of Porirua East and the restoration of historic cottages in the early 2000s.

Neil Penman was many things: a woodworker, husband, father, an RNZAF officer and longtime Porirua resident. At Pātaka, he is perhaps best remembered as a photographer and social historian.

Come and experience this incredible exhibition, on until 8 November, 2026.

Image cred: Neil Penman, Ramari Te Hiko WiNeera, c. 1988

13/08/2026

𝗜𝗼𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗚𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗼𝗻-𝗦𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘂𝗻𝘄𝗿𝗮𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗮̄𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗮 𝗲𝘅𝗵𝗶𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 | 9 Aug 2026, Rachel Healy

"Locally, we wanted to trace how 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘄 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝗽 – 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁 𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗿𝘂𝗮 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗽 and took Porirua-produced chocolate out into the world."

"Chocolate has a remarkable history; it spans thousands of years and touches on everything from Indigenous cultivation and global trade to industrialisation and contemporary questions around ethics and sustainability. 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝗔𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗮 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗭𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱’𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱. Understanding how that came to be is the underpinning of our exhibition." - 𝘐𝘰𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘎𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘰𝘯-𝘚𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘩.

Read more at the link below:
https://pataka.org.nz/news/whittakers-unwrapped-exhibition/
𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯 8 𝘈𝘶𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵 2026

📷Images: Mark Tantrum + Nikki Parlane

12/08/2026

About Friday night... 💫 📸 🥂 What a beautiful way to begin our Winter season last Friday ❄️

Thank you to everyone who joined us to celebrate the opening of three exciting new exhibitions:

▪️ (𝗔𝗶)𝗧𝗨™ 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗮‘𝗔𝗜𝗧𝗨 (𝘃𝗼𝘆𝗲𝘂𝗿) 𝗯𝘆 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗵 𝗟𝗲𝗽𝗼𝘂™
▪️ 𝗨𝗻𝘄𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱: 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝟭𝟴𝟵𝟲
▪️ 𝗧𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄’𝘀 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀: 𝗽𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝘀 𝗯𝘆 𝗡𝗲𝗶𝗹 𝗣𝗲𝗻𝗺𝗮𝗻

While each exhibition offers something distinct, they share themes of whakapapa, memory and storytelling. We are deeply grateful to all who helped bring this season to life — our artists, Lenders, mana whenua, and our exhibition partners Goethe Institut and Whittaker’s. A special thank you to Mayor Anita Baker, Porirua City Councillors, the Pātaka Foundation, His Excellency Afioga Afamasaga Toleafoa, and the many friends, whānau and collaborators who joined us for the evening.

It was a buzz to open this season with such generosity, warmth and aroha — and to celebrate the creativity, history and family stories at the heart of these exhibitions. A shout out too to In-House catering and One Sweet Day for the scrumptious treats and to the Aotea College kapa haka, Te Kahui Kuratea for helping make the evening so special.

Entry is free. Repeat visits are a must!

09/08/2026

‘Lindah Lepou is a multi-disciplinary artist raised in Porirua and Samoa who coined the term Pacific Couture. Her new exhibition Mata'aitu, now at Pataka Art+Museum until 8 November, traces the history of human zoos from the 1890s to the present, exploring how the vo**uristic gaze of the 19th-century zoo has evolved through film and into the digital age. On a research trip to Germany, she found a list of Samoan names taken to Europe for display and recognised one as her ancestor, a ten-year-old boy called TOLIO, taken without his parents. She joins Culture 101 to discuss the exhibition and the concept of the digital zoo she now inhabits herself.’

Lindah Lepou is a multi-disciplinary artist raised in Porirua and Samoa who coined the term Pacific Couture. Her new exhibition Mata'aitu, now at Pataka Art+Museum until 8 November, traces the history of human zoos from the 1890s to the present, exploring how the vo**uristic gaze of the 19th-century...

07/08/2026

Open from today, three new shows and they’re all unmissable! 💥👌🏾 💃

🍫 Unwrapped: Whittaker’s since 1896

✨ (Ai)TU™ Series Presents Mata‘AITU (vo**ur) by Lindah Lepou™

📷 Tomorrow’s histories: photographs by Neil Penman

Nau Mai, haere mai 🖤