Featured Exhibition
E lē galo le tai // The tide is never forgotten
Curated by Brown Town
11.07
16.08
Toi Moroki
Centre of Contemporary Art
Exhibitions
Showcasing bold contemporary works from established and emerging artists.
Hōparatia — Explore
23.05
28.06
Chevron Hassett: Boy, Away From Home
‘Boy, Away From Home’, explores Māori male identity, addressing the tension between historical legacies and contemporary realities.
11.04
17.05
Jess Nicholson: Ka maumahara te uku (the clay remembers)
Clay remembers being pounded flat or rolled into a ball, in the same way that it remembers being the basalt rocks of a mighty mauka or the silt swept along the bottom of a braided awa.
28.11
18.01
There is (no) Anthropocene
‘There is (no) Anthropocene’ responds to the 2024 decision by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) to not classify the term Anthropocene as a formal geological epoch.
Open Call: CoCA Sessions
CoCA is opening its doors to performing artists!
If you are a Waitaha-based performing artist, we invite you to put forward a proposal for a one-off or weekend session in our downstairs Ō Papa Gallery.
Whether you’re working solo, in collaboration, or as part of a community-led initiative, we invite proposals from individual artists, groups and collectives. We encourage responses from performing artists who are tauiwi, Māori or Pacific people working in all kinds of different performance mediums, including dance, music, spoken-word, and performance art.
Applications open: Wednesday 1 July 2026
Applications close: Friday 31 July 2026 (midnight)
Opportunity: Programming Group
We are now recruiting!
CoCA’s volunteer and artist-led Programming Group is made up of experienced Waitaha-based artists across a wide range of disciplines. Together, they contribute to our Open Call for Proposals process, and programme exhibitions for the year ahead.
The Programming Group itself is recruited every two years via an open call to ensure equitable representation across disciplines. The Programming Group work to a framework that prioritises Waitaha artists.
To apply, please send your expression of interest (i.e. a cover letter and 1-page resume) to proposals@coca.org.nz by Thursday 31 July.
Donate & Support
CoCA provides a thriving home for art and culture in Waitaha Canterbury, igniting connections between artists and community. For more than 140 years, CoCA has empowered artists to share work that speaks to our place and our stories.
Our supporters believe in the power of art to connect people, and enable CoCA to provide a free programme of exhibitions and community events.
Canterbury Museum Pop-Up
CoCA’s first floor Ō Raki gallery is currently home to the Canterbury Museum Pop-Up while their Rolleston Avenue site is redeveloped. Space is dedicated to the Museum’s changing exhibition programme, as well as collection highlights and visitor favourites from the Museum’s permanent galleries.
