Image: Dunedin Public Art Gallery
Dunedin Public Art Gallery has opened ‘Te Ahikāroa — Artists & Stories of Dunedin Public Art Gallery’, an exhibition that draws on works from the institution’s collection to tell stories shaped by art, people and place. Running from 28 March 2026 to 30 June 2027, the show brings together artworks and related narratives gathered since the gallery’s collection was first exhibited in 1884.
According to the gallery, ‘Te Ahikāroa’ invites visitors on a journey through the collection, with the installation structured around the gallery’s own history as well as the movement of works to and from Ōtepoti Dunedin. The exhibition text says the project celebrates art and artists, the many paths that have brought works to the gallery, and the possibilities that emerge when art, ideas and people come together. It also describes the institution as Aotearoa New Zealand’s first public art collection.
The exhibition places Indigenous storytelling at its centre. The gallery explains that ‘Ahikāroa’ describes the continuous occupation of land through whakapapa and acknowledges the home fires that marked settlements and sustained connections across generations. In the opening space of the exhibition, photography, sculpture, poetry and waiata acknowledge mana whenua. The project then extends into adjacent galleries, where artworks spanning centuries, cultures and vast geographies reveal the breadth of the collection and the stories assembled within it.
The display includes a wide range of artists and works from different periods. Images on the exhibition page identify pieces by Ralph Hotere and Bill Culbert, Robin White, Ayesha Green, Angela Tiatia, Thomas Gainsborough and John Hoppner, Kushana Bush and Reuben Paterson. The gallery says these works help trace stories of arrivals and departures, new foundations and relationships, and the possibilities that exist just beyond the horizon.
The exhibition also positions the gallery itself as part of the narrative. In its own words, the project reflects the journey of the institution, using works from the collection to tell stories of the gallery’s identity in Ōtepoti Dunedin. The text presents the collection as grounded in a belief that art can connect people and ideas and open minds to different ways of thinking.
Dunedin Public Art Gallery’s current exhibitions page lists ‘Te Ahikāroa’ among a wider programme of presentations now on view, but the gallery’s exhibition page gives this show a distinct timeframe and focus. ‘Te Ahikāroa — Artists & Stories of Dunedin Public Art Gallery’ runs at Dunedin Public Art Gallery from 28 March 2026 until 30 June 2027.
