Wairau Māori Art Gallery

Wairau Māori Art Gallery The Wairau Māori Art Gallery is the first dedicated public Māori art gallery in Aotearoa.

Wairau Māori Art Gallery will celebrate and showcase the best of contemporary Māori art and customary practice in Aotearoa.

10/09/2026

Explore ‘Ka Eke - To Ascend’ by Vanessa Wairata Edwards, with korero by Geva Downey.

Reclamation of text as visual culture is a pou of Vanessa Edwards work, represented here in our current show ‘Whakawhiti: Toi WhakaTAA Toi WhakaATA’. Celebrating 20 years of Toi Whakaata - Maori Print Collective Aotearoa.

Vanessa Wairata Edwards
(Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Whakatōhea, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Kuri)

‘Ka Eke - To Ascend’ - Carved MDF on plinth

‘Ka Eke - To Ascend’ 2023
1/1, Woodcut relief print, on magnani insisioni 310 gsm paper, fixed to MDF, framed unglazed

“Like the kiekie vine binding the ngahere, continue seeking the light.” 🌿Vanessa Edwards considers literacy in all its f...
28/08/2026

“Like the kiekie vine binding the ngahere, continue seeking the light.” 🌿

Vanessa Edwards considers literacy in all its forms as central to communication, connection, and belonging. Through the layering of histories — the act of cutting away and revealing — these works return to their source, reminding us to move beyond limitations and continue seeking the light.

As curator of this show, Vanessa brings together six founding members of the Toi Whakaata print collective. Challenging her rōpū to consider alternative ways of presenting print and printmaking, she exhibits her own original woodblock alongside the print itself — a reflection on whakapapa, tupuna and descendants.

👀Whakawhiti: Toi WhakaTAA Toi WhakaATA, 1 Aug - 22 Nov 2026

Vanessa Wairata Edwards (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Whakatōhea, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Kuri) Vanessa Wairata Edwards

Ka Eke - To Ascend 2023 1/1, Woodcut relief print, on magnani insisioni 310 gsm paper, fixed to MDF, framed unglazed

Ka Eke - To Ascend - Whenua Blocks 2023 Carved MDF on plinth

📷Alan Squires

Toi Whakaata - Maori Print Collective Aotearoa

“Between the river and the sea asks: who holds the land, who is held by it, and what is lost when the two are separated?...
21/08/2026

“Between the river and the sea asks: who holds the land, who is held by it, and what is lost when the two are separated?”

Jasmine Horton’s exploding books evoke whenua and water through cyanotype, kōkōtuku bark and the geometric traditions of tāniko.

The quiet presence of the keffiyeh draws a parallel between Palestinian dispossession and the experience of Māori under colonisation in Aotearoa. These are not the same story, but share a structure of erasure and separation from land.

Made in solidarity and grief, the work reflects on our deep connection to place.
Ko au te whenua, ko te whenua ko au.
I am the land, and the land is me.

Jasmine Horton (Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi, Te Ātiawa ki Whakarongotai, Ngāti Tūwharetoa)
Between the river and the sea I
Between the river and the sea II
Between the river and the sea III
Between the river and the sea IV
Between the river and the sea V
2026 Toned cyanotypes on cotton paper and tilia wood

Currently showing as part of ‘Whakawhiti: Toi WhakaTAA Toi WhakaATA’
1 August 2026 — 22 November 2026

We need to talk about Alexis Neal’s exquisite work ‘Nāu te rourou, Nāku te rourou’, featuring in our current show (I mea...
13/08/2026

We need to talk about Alexis Neal’s exquisite work ‘Nāu te rourou, Nāku te rourou’, featuring in our current show (I mean look at those shadows!)

The whakatauki “Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi”, with your basket and my basket the people will prosper is the foundation of this work. This whakatauki has been used over the years to describe Toi Whakaata and speaks to the sharing of resources and knowledge in the goal of a thriving people, culturally and iwi to iwi.

On display as part of ‘Whakawhiti, Toi WhakaTAA Toi WhakaATA’, curated by Vanessa Edwards, on until the 22 November.

Alexis Neal (Ngāti Awa, Te Atiawa) Nāu te rourou, Nāku te rourou’
2026
Kōkōwai Kete, whatu rua tāniko, Wax thread

📸 Air - Land - Sea - Whangarei Alan Squires

Toi Whakaata in te whare! It was an epic turnout last week as we celebrated six printmakers whose influence and exemplar...
07/08/2026

Toi Whakaata in te whare! It was an epic turnout last week as we celebrated six printmakers whose influence and exemplary toi continue to resonate across generations.

Gabrielle Belz, Maude Cook-Davis, Jasmine Horton, Alexis Neal, Faith McManus, and Vanessa Edwards (Curator & Artist) have come together to commemorate 20 years of their print collective: Toi Whakaata - Maori Print Collective Aotearoa.

Whakawhiti: Toi WhakaTAA Toi WhakaATA is on from
1 August 2026 — 22 November 2026.

📸 Air - Land - Sea - Whangarei
Vanessa Wairata Edwards Faith McManus Alexis Neal Jasmine Horton

Nga mihi Toi Iho Creative New Zealand Foundation North and Lotto for the sponsorship as well as our patrons.

Mihi to McLeod's Brewery Wedding and Event Furniture in Northland Almighty for event support.

We are incredibly proud! 🥲 🌺 This week, celebrations were held for the appointments of Dr Ngahuia Harrison (Ngátiwai) an...
31/07/2026

We are incredibly proud! 🥲 🌺 This week, celebrations were held for the appointments of Dr Ngahuia Harrison (Ngátiwai) and Dr Sione Faletau (Taunga, Vava’u and Lakepa, Tongatapu) into permanent lecturing roles at Elam School of Arts, Waipapa Taumata Rau.
Elam School of Fine Arts.

We congratulate Ngahuia, Sione and the other wonderful staff with new roles at the University of Auckland.

Ngahuia wears many hats, one of them being a key member on our Board of Trustees. We are fortunate to share this haerenga with you ehoa.

Sione Faletau Ngahuia Harrison Ngātiwai Te Iwi Aperahama Edwards Keatley Te Moananui Hopkins
📸 Huhana Melanie Lyndon

Join us for artist talks with Curator Vanessa Edwards. Sunday, 2nd August 10:30am. FREEWhakawhitiToi WhakaTAA Toi Whaka...
29/07/2026

Join us for artist talks with Curator Vanessa Edwards. Sunday, 2nd August 10:30am. FREE

Whakawhiti
Toi WhakaTAA Toi WhakaATA
Celebrating 20 years
Revealing to light
2006-2026

Gabrielle Belz
Maude Cook-Davies
Vanessa Edwards (Curator)
Jasmine Horton
Faith McManus
Alexis Neal

Whakawhiti marks a milestone moment in the work of the national Māori printmakers collective through the work of six key members in Gabrielle Belz, Maude Cook-Davies, Vanessa Edwards, Jasmine Horton, Faith McManus and Alexis Neal. This exhibition celebrates and reflects on 20 years of this unique collective with signature works from across this time presented alongside new works.

Image: Alexis Neal
Ngāti Awa & Te Ātiawa

Piripiri, 2026
Mono/relief printed & T stained
Hahnemuhle paper 300gsm
1400x300mm

Our next show is incoming! We are thrilled to be hosting this season, celebrating six key members of the iconic print ...
20/07/2026

Our next show is incoming! We are thrilled to be hosting this season, celebrating six key members of the iconic print roopu.

Gabrielle Belz, Maude Cook-Davies, Vanessa Edwards, Jasmine Horton, Faith McManus and Alexis Neal. This exhibition celebrates and reflects on 20 years of this unique collective with signature works from across this time presented alongside new works.

'Whakawhiti
Toi WhakaTAA Toi WhakaATA
Celebrating 20 years revealing to light
2006 – 2026'

Curated by
1 August - 22 November '26

📷Alexis Neal
(Ngāti Awa & Te Ātiawa)

Piripiri, 2026
Mono/relief printed & T stained
Hahnemuhle paper 300gsm
1400x300mm

Sāmoan architect and academic Dr Albert L Refiti (Leali’ifano, Vaovai, Falealili) explores the concept of vā — the relat...
23/04/2026

Sāmoan architect and academic Dr Albert L Refiti (Leali’ifano, Vaovai, Falealili) explores the concept of vā — the relationships between people, space, and time — through his practice.

His installation Vānimonimo (2024) brings this to life through what he calls “cosmograms” — experimental ethnographic drawings made with pen and pencil on notebook paper. These intricate webs of connection echo genealogies, mapping how ancestral knowledge and belonging move through place and practice.

Created during talanoa — open, inclusive exchanges of ideas — these works act as field notes, capturing moments of encounter across social, cultural, and academic spaces throughout Aotearoa and the wider Pacific. Names, dates, and annotations ground each drawing in time and place, holding stories of connection.

Vānimonimo was first presented in to carry, at the Sharjah Biennial 16 (2025), co-curated by Megan Tamati-Quennell. Currently showing as part of 'Tātai Tuarangi: Star Seeds, Sound Waves and Ceremonies' on until 19 July.

Leali’ifano Albert L Refiti
(1963–), Samoa: Fasito’outa, Vaovai, Vailima, Aotearoa/New Zealand
Vānimonimo
2024
pen, pencil, paper
on loan from the artist
Curated by

📷

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Whangarei
0110

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Wednesday 10am - 5am
Thursday 10am - 5am
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