Showcasing the breadth of Aotearoa contemporary art

05.04.2025

- 25.05.2025

Ed Ritchie: Century fire

Invisible infrastructure, hot roads, repellents and rain are just some of the themes present in 'Century fire'.

01.02.2025

- 16.03.2025

Migratory Patterns

Curated by Hayley Walmsley with Jonny Waters, Jesse-James Pickery, Nikita Rewha, Aidan Geraghty, Aroha Novak, Heramaahina Eketone, Moewai Marsh, Isaiah Okeroa, David Garcia, Jon Jeet

23.01.2025

- 23.02.2025

Stitching Solidarity: Artists for Palestine

This work is the first iteration of a collective kaupapa inspired by a long history of collaborative artist-activist quilt making.

30.11.2024

- 01.01.2025

Hamish Coleman: The Fields

A new series of paintings and drawings by Hamish Coleman.

19.10.2024

- 24.11.2024

aaj kal

'aaj kal' is the last iteration of three seminal exhibitions by Tāmaki Makarau based artists, brunelle dias, Gitanjali Bhatt, Rhea Maheshwari, Tarika Sabherwal and Tiffany Singh in collaboration with Sudi Dargipour.

31.08.2024

- 06.10.2024

The Killing: Cirque du Killing – Feast

A buffet of dynamic works that digest the Visual & Social Frameworks of what we collectively understand to be a Circus.

13.07.2024

- 18.08.2024

Jonathan Kay: Cold Listening

An exhibition by Jonathan Kay that contemplates the fragility of our landscapes through the surveying of Haupapa/Tasman glacier.

01.06.2024

- 05.07.2024

Ways of Knowing

Emerging curators, Meg Doughty and Monica Wang have developed two group exhibitions on behalf of CoCA.

18.05.2024

- 26.05.2024

MAP Resides

MAP Resides is an exhibition of Movement Art Practice archives, curated by Janaína Moraes and Kat Stefanova.

12.04.2024

- 12.05.2024

The streets are paved with water

In 'The streets are paved with water' Olivia Chamberlain and Sam Towse explore the surface of the city as their subject.

22.03.2024

- 01.04.2024

The White Room presents: React

The White Room is a community creative space.

10.02.2024

- 17.03.2024

Kia Ora Whaea

Ehara a 'Kia ora' i te mihi noa iho. Kei tōna iho ko te whakanuitanga o te oranga o te tangata, ā, te mana me te tapu o te tangata anō hoki. Kia ora, e mea ana, e whakanui ana ahau i a koe.

18.11.2023

- 14.01.2024

Robyn Kahukiwa: Tangata Whenua

'Tangata Whenua' is Robyn Kahukiwa’s first solo exhibition in Te Waipounamu in two decades.

26.11.2022

- 31.12.2024

Where light and footsteps fold

'Where light and footsteps fold' is a two-part, site-specific mural for CoCA by Megan Brady.

02.11.2023

- 12.11.2023

Canterbury Potters Association

The Canterbury Potters Association is celebrating its 50th annual exhibition of ceramic works by their members.

06.10.2023

- 27.10.2023

WORKING PROGRESS

Postgraduate creative practice alumni from Ara

31.08.2023

- 30.09.2023

Whakawhanaungatanga

The prefix whaka means ‘to action’, and when added to whanaunga forms the verb whakawhanaunga - to get to know one another, or to build relationships.

24.06.2023

- 20.08.2023

Tia Barrett: He Pounamu Ko Āu

A Celebration of Multiplicity and Indigenous Identity: The exhibition features an admirable quality in its acknowledgement of the multiplicity of storytelling and language within Te Ao Māori.

22.10.2022

- 17.12.2022

Nicola Farquhar: L.oen.nium

Nicola Farquhar is interested in the construction of interior and exterior worlds, approaching painting as a tool for imagining regeneration in a time of ecological crisis.

03.09.2022

- 15.10.2022

Gently Ribbed

Turumeke Harrington with Tini Whetū

19.07.2022

- 27.08.2022

Ali Nightingale: Last Swim of the Summer

'Last swim of the summer' is a new video installation by Ali Nightingale developed for CoCA’s Ō Papa Ground Floor Gallery.

26.02.2022

- 07.05.2022

Tender Brick: The Material Epiphanies of Peter Hawkesby

Curated by Richard Fahey

26.02.2022

- 07.05.2022

Judy Darragh: Competitive Plastics

Curated by Heather Galbraith

26.02.2022

- 07.05.2022

Liam Krijgsman: More than this

'More than this' is a new sculpture project by Liam Krijgsman developed for CoCA’s Ō Papa Ground Floor Gallery.

26.10.2021

- 12.02.2022

Steve Carr & Christian Lamont: Fading to the Sky

Fading to the Sky is a collaborative installation that Steve Carr and Christian Lamont developed and first exhibited in Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery during 2020 and has been reconsidered and reworked for CoCA’s Ō Papa Ground Floor Gallery.

11.01.2021

- 31.10.2022

Ella Sutherland: House Painting I + II

Informed by recent research on the relationship between modernist architecture and social and cultural histories, 'House Painting I + II' draws on artist Ella Sutherland’s enduring interest as to the ways in which the built environment, social space and language take form.

26.10.2021

- 12.02.2021

Toro Whakaara: Responses to our built environment

New work by ten practitioners spanning the fields of architecture, design, craft and art explores our experiences of the built environment.

12.06.2021

- 02.10.2021

Hannah Watkinson: The Near Future

Drawing on a decade of photographic work and research, 'The Near Future' considers the psychological landscape of the Buller region.

12.06.2021

- 02.10.2021

Mark Work

Raukura Turei, Julian Hooper & Krystina Kaza, Areta Wilkinson, Warwick Freeman, Hannah Beehre

13.03.2021

- 22.05.2021

Culbert Hotere: Post Black

Individually Bill Culbert and Ralph Hotere are widely regarded as among New Zealand’s most singular and significant contemporary artists from the late twentieth-century.

13.03.2021

- 22.05.2021

Ron Te Kawa: Hīnātore: A Time and Place to Rest

For six days and nights, the Matariki stars go to a place under the sea called Hīnātore.

13.03.2021

- 22.05.2021

A Short Run: A Selection of New Zealand Lathe-Cut Records

Curator and researcher Luke Wood explores the intersection between music and design in the radical margins of New Zealand culture.

28.11.2020

- 20.02.2021

Drawing Room

Drawing Room, by Aaron Paterson, Sarosh Mulla and Marian Macken, presents an alternative kind of architectural drawing.

28.11.2020

- 20.02.2021

Telly Tuita: Tongpop Nostalgia

Telly Tuita explores his cultural identity through the feeling of nostalgia, informed by his migration from Tonga at age nine.

12.09.2020

- 11.11.2020

Jasmine Togo-Brisby: From Bones and Bellies

An exhibition by Jonathan Kay that contemplates the fragility of our landscapes through the surveying of Haupapa/Tasman glacier.

10.08.2020

- 07.11.2020

‘A way through’ – Colin McCahon’s Gate III

Colin McCahon’s epic 1970 mural, 'Gate III', a cornerstone painting in the Victoria University of Wellington Art Collection, makes its first appearance in Christchurch since 1971.

12.06.2020

- 02.10.2020

The Mist and the Horizon

'The Mist and the Horizon' brings together new work from two Ōtautahi-based practitioners, Nathan Pōhio and Luke Shaw, united by a common interest in expanded and deconstructed cinema.

02.06.2020

- 16.08.2020

Malcolm Terry: SIDEWAYS

SIDEWAYS reflects Malcolm Terry's last six months of working, including paintings which were created during the nation-wide lockdown.

21.03.2020

- 19.07.2020

WestFarbe

CoCA is delighted to present WestFarbe, curated by Christoph Dahlhausen in our Mair and North Galleries.

08.02.2020

- 07.06.2020

Emma Wallbanks: Heteroglossia

In an immersive conversation between images, Emma Wallbanks' Heteroglossia is a multi-streamed projected film installation that interweaves along our Ground Floor Gallery walls.

14.12.2019

- 16.02.2020

Gone Home

CoCA, in partnership with City Gallery Wellington, is delighted to present 'Gone Home', curated by Robert Leonard and Gavin Hipkins, showcasing photographs by Hipkins and Peter Peryer in a game of visual snap.

14.12.2019

- 02.02.2020

Shades Arcade: The Pompoms

The Pompoms, by designers Julieanne Eason and Carl Pavletich of Shades Arcade, is an immersive installation made up of ten giant pompoms which dance and swirl to a choreographed routine.

12.10.2019

- 01.12.2019

Tyne Gordon: Visitor

CoCA is excited to present a body of work from Tyne Gordon that responds to her own experience of natural phenomena in New Zealand.

14.09.2019

- 24.11.2019

Conor Clarke: Unchained Melody

CoCA, in partnership with SCAPE, is excited to present Conor Clarke's dual screen video work Unchained Melody in our North Galleries

29.08.2019

- 07.11.2019

David Straight: John Scott Works

'John Scott Works' is a personal visual response to the work of acclaimed New Zealand architect John Scott by photographer David Straight.

24.08.2019

- 06.10.2019

Tim Ross: The Mid Century Project

CoCA is excited to present the first New Zealand iteration of the Mid Century Project.

24.08.2019

- 06.10.2019

Evangelyn Edilson: Melpomene and the Sock

CoCA is proud to present, one of our very own volunteers, Evangelyn Edilson in our Lux Gallery.

06.07.2019

- 18.08.2019

Nicholas Keyse: Overshadow

CoCA in collaboration with Salt Lane Studios, is proud to present Nicholas Keyse's Overshadow in our Lux Gallery.

05.07.2019

- 18.08.2019

KP&WM: The makers behind the artists

KP&WM: The makers behind the artists explores the work of two Christchurch printmakers, and friends, Peter Vangioni of Kowhai Press and Kate Unger of Watermark Printworkshop.

22.06.2019

- 01.09.2019

27th Annual Wallace Art Awards 2018

For the first time in Christchurch for over twenty years, Archibalds and CoCA proudly present the 27th Annual Wallace Art Award 2018, a snapshot of contemporary art in New Zealand today.

24.05.2019

- 18.08.2019

Aro ki te Hā

Aro ki te Hā is the next installment in the Crux*Te Punga project, proudly presented at CoCA.

18.05.2019

- 30.06.2019

Reece King: The Divine Angle

CoCA is excited to present a new body of work from painter Reece King.

18.05.2019

- 30.06.2019

Alice Bray: Sidewinder

Working predominantly in painting or with the found image, Alice Bray’s practice is concerned with organic, yet other-worldly, imagery.

30.03.2019

- 12.05.2019

Roy Good: Parallel Universe

'Parallel Universe: The Art and Design of Roy Good' celebrates the 50-year parallel careers of Roy Good as both a graphic designer and painter.

30.03.2019

- 12.05.2019

David Green: Extraviado

Extraviado interweaves digital grattage with home movies filmed in the early and middle decades of the last century.

30.03.2019

- 09.06.2019

Julia Holden: About Face

CoCA is proud to present About Face by Julia Holden in our North Galleries.

26.01.2019

- 13.03.2019

Mitchell Bright: Cultivated

CoCA is proud to present an exhibition of Mitchell Bright's photography in our Ground Floor Gallery.

26.01.2019

- 17.03.2019

Viv Wotton: …lost in Aotearoa

The works in this exhibition are landscapes and fluid abstractions, dealing thematically with identity, human connection, and memory.

26.01.2019

- 17.03.2019

Emma Wallbanks: As Other, Original Unknown

As part of the Moving Image Programme, CoCA presents new work from Emma Wallbanks.

14.12.2018

- 02.02.2019

Rachel McMillan: In My Hands

Showing in our Lux Gallery, 'In My Hands' showcases the delicate sculptures of Rachel McMillan.

01.12.2018

- 20.01.2019

Lawrence English & Werner Dafeldecker: Fall

Fall was filmed during the decaying moments of summer 2010 on the Antarctic Peninsula at Esperanza Bay.

01.12.2018

- 20.01.2019

Associated

CoCA is proud to present the first group exhibition by its Associates Programme, Associated.

01.12.2018

- 20.01.2019

Anne Noble: Phantasm: Discovering Antarctica

Anne Noble has a long relationship with Antarctica.

30.11.2018

- 03.03.2019

Pauline Rhodes: Time Ongoing

CoCA is proud to present a major exhibition by prominent Ōtautahi Christchurch artist Pauline Rhodes.

14.11.2018

- 25.11.2018

Clint Park: Applesauce

In association with the Corner Store, CoCA is proud to present Clint Park's Applesauce in the Lux Gallery.

12.10.2018

- 01.12.2018

Jessie Rawcliffe: Close the Door When You Go

In partnership with Salt Lane Studio's, CoCA is proud to present a solo exhibition by Jessie Rawcliffe in our Lux Gallery

05.10.2018

- 18.11.2018

SCAPE 2018: Tom Dale

CoCA is proud to present two works by Tom Dale as part of SCAPE's 2018 season.

21.09.2018

- 02.11.2018

Charlie Jackson: Queries

Taking inspiration from the ebb and flow of everyday life, Queries is comprised of photo-zines that begin to search through subjects, thought processes and experiences.

21.09.2018

- 18.11.2018

Wayne Youle: AJAR

Created as part of Crux★Te Punga in response to the demolition of the Hereford Street Police building, Wayne Youle’s 'AJAR' examines ideas about space, time, and access.

14.09.2018

- 24.11.2018

Kate Scardifield: The lighter a thought the more it rises

CoCA is thrilled to present Australian artist Kate Scardifield with a new iteration of her extraordinary installation work 'The lighter a thought the more it rises.'

24.08.2018

- 18.11.2018

Nicola Jackson: The Bloggs

The Bloggs considers what it is that makes us human.

24.08.2018

- 18.11.2018

Mid Century Modern: The Morrison Collection

With a special focus on Italian, American & Scandinavian design from the 1950s- 1980s, this exhibition is the result of one family’s passion for design.

03.08.2018

- 16.09.2018

Denys Watkins: Dynamo Hum

The exhibition features a selection of key paintings by Denys Watkins - one of New Zealand’s outstanding visual artists.

03.08.2018

- 16.09.2018

CHCH/Ōtautahi Zine Library

The CHCH/Ōtautahi Zine Library is a new permanent collection of local, national and international self published materials, residing in Christchurch, New Zealand.

07.07.2018

- 12.08.2018

Rose James: through a cloud of smoke and dust

James’s presentation at CoCA is an exploration of the sonic poetics of the disassembling and implosion of the Christchurch Police building in Hereford St.

09.06.2018

- 05.08.2018

Tiffany Singh: A Collective Voice

CoCA presents a solo exhibition by Auckland-based artist Tiffany Singh featuring two recent large-scale installations.

09.06.2018

- 01.07.2018

Ria Bancroft: Energetic Forms

Resurrected from post-quake storage, Energetic Forms is a monumental sculptural wall-work by the late artist, Ria Bancroft, exhibited at CoCA, crates and all, in a celebration of the artist’s important contribution to public art in Christchurch.

01.06.2018

- 29.07.2018

Uncle Harold: Supply and demand

The inaugural CoCA X The Corner Store collab will see Christchurch-based visual artist and illustrator Uncle Harold return to exhibiting off the back of a string of commercial projects gaining him national recognition, with his third solo exhibition Supply & Demand.

31.05.2018

- 29.07.2018

Tim Veling: Vestiges

CoCA presents a solo exhibition by Christchurch photographer Tim Veling.

03.03.2018

- 27.05.2018

Peter Robinson: Fieldwork

CoCA is proud to present the first solo exhibition at the gallery by Peter Robinson

16.12.2017

- 18.02.2018

Ruth Watson: Geoghagy

CoCA presents Geophagy, the first major Ōtautahi Christchurch exhibition by Canterbury born Auckland-based artist Ruth Watson.

16.12.2017

- 18.02.2018

Hannah Beehre: Mures, et Terram

In collaboration with Jonathan Smart Gallery, CoCA presents Mures, et Terram by Christchurch-based artist Hannah Beehre

08.09.2017

- 26.11.2017

Paemanu: Nohoaka Toi

Ngāi Tahu Artists in Residence.

10.06.2017

- 20.08.2017

MAKING SPACE: The SaVAge K’lub

OutTASpace: jess holly bates, Julian Chote, Numa Mackenzie, Siliga Setoga, Reina Sutton, Jaimie Waititi

10.06.2017

- 20.08.2017

MAKING SPACE: The Social

During MAKING SPACE, The Social are facilitating: Gallery in a Gallery, The Social Street Residency, TinyMURL.Project, Nomad Thinking Residency, Open Studio

10.06.2017

- 20.08.2017

MAKING SPACE: Mata Aho Collective

Erena Baker, Sarah Hudson, Bridget Reweti, Terri Te Tau

10.06.2017

- 20.08.2017

MAKING SPACE: Fika Writers

FIKA are a collective of Pasifika writers based in Ōtautahi, who have been meeting together regularly to write since 2004.

10.06.2017

- 20.08.2017

MAKING SPACE: Fresh and Fruity

Fresh and Fruity is a sexy new look designed to slowly smash the neocolonial heteropatriarchy one sarcastic hashtag at a time #cuterthanu.

10.06.2017

- 20.08.2017

MAKING SPACE: FAFSWAG

FAFSWAG seeks to decolonise their minds and lived experiences through creativity, expression, and the ownership of their own narratives.

09.06.2017

- 20.08.2017

MAKING SPACE

MAKING SPACE celebrates collaborative creative practice taking place in Aotearoa New Zealand today.

11.03.2017

- 28.05.2017

David Shrigley: Lose Your Mind

David Shrigley is a master of scathing one liners, crudely composed drawings and a creator of strange and amusing objects.

26.02.2017

- 26.02.2017

Summer Performance Series

Featuring performances by Nina Oberg Humphries, Vaimaila Urale, Faith Wilson and Leafa Wilson

19.11.2016

- 19.02.2017

Precarious Nature

An exhibition that responds to and interrogates how humans are affecting an increasingly fragile global ecosystem.

20.08.2016

- 06.11.2016

Contemporary Christchurch

A celebration of the range of innovative arts being practised and created in Ōtautahi today.

20.08.2016

- 06.11.2016

Beyond the Visual

A programme of events alongside Contemporary Christchurch, showcasing the incredible talent of creative practitioners in Ōtautahi.

25.05.2016

- 07.08.2016

Tirohanga

Vertigo Sea by John Akomfrah and Tirohanga by Bridget Reweti is major exhibition of two artists reflecting on our relationship to the ocean and land.

25.05.2016

- 07.08.2016

Vertigo Sea

Vertigo Sea by John Akomfrah and Tirohanga by Bridget Reweti is major exhibition of two artists reflecting on our relationship to the ocean and land.

25.05.2016

- 07.08.2016

North Gallery Activiations – Fika Writers

From June to August 2016, members of Fika met once a week in the gallery space provided by CoCA.

25.05.2016

- 07.08.2016

North Gallery Activiations – Faultline Poetry Collective

CoCA and Faultline Poetry Collective were thrilled to present a unique workshop and performance opportunity for young writers in Ōtautahi.

25.05.2016

- 07.08.2016

North Gallery Activiations – Blue Whale Vertebrae, 1908

Courtesy of Canterbury Museum

14.02.2016

- 08.05.2016

Precarious Balance

A group exhibition of work by New Zealand and international contemporary artists. CoCA is a space for new art and new experiences.