01/09/2026
In 2009, Fiona Connor's contribution to the group exhibition The Future is Unwritten was to audit Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery’s energy efficiency. The resulting Letter to an Unwritten Future set out recommendations for reducing the gallery's energy use. At the time, its environmental control system accounted for 86% of the building's energy consumption. During the exhibition, gallery staff moved their offices into the exhibition space, folding the everyday work of running the gallery into the artwork.
In 2015, Connor launched a website documenting responses to the letter and changing attitudes to energy use. She reconnected with the gallery in 2018 to revisit what had changed, and the work was shown again in Solid State. The letter, website and agreement were formally accessioned into Ngā Puhipuhi o Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University Art Collection in 2018.
In 2025, the gallery's environmental control system was replaced, and the building reopened in November with a system designed to meet the climate standards required for sensitive artworks and taonga, while substantially reducing energy use.
Letter to an Unwritten Future is on display now as part of Not a solitary feeling, at Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery until 11 October, Tuesday–Sunday, 11am–5pm. Free entry.
Read the full letter at www.alettertotheunwrittenfuture.org (link in bio).
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Images:
1) Fiona Connor, A Letter to the Unwritten Future, July 10, 2009–, letter, website, agreement, A4 text page, variable measurements, Ngā Puhipuhi o Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University Art Collection, purchased 2018. Installation view, Not a solitary feeling, Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery, 2026. Photo: Ted Whitaker.
2–5) Fiona Connor, A Letter to the Unwritten Future, July 10, 2009–, letter, website, agreement, A4 text page, variable measurements, Ngā Puhipuhi o Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University Art Collection, purchased 2018.
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