The 2024 Wellington Art Show brought contemporary art from across Aotearoa to Tākina, the city’s new events centre.
Presented by Art Shows Across Aotearoa, the event extended a format already established in Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin and Queenstown.
An art fair built around direct contact
The show combined wall-based work, sculpture, jewellery, ceramics, textiles and object art.
A central feature was the presence of exhibiting artists themselves. Visitors could discuss working methods directly with makers and watch live demonstrations during the event.
The format placed commercial activity alongside public engagement, with artworks available across a wide price range and services designed to help buyers transport purchases.
A national platform for contemporary practice
Awards formed another part of the programme, including a People’s Choice award and the national Stuff Art Aotearoa Award.
The organisers also used the Wellington edition to connect the city with a wider circuit of annual exhibitions around New Zealand.
For Tākina, the event demonstrated how a recently opened venue could host a large-scale contemporary art gathering involving artists, collectors and general audiences.
The Wellington Art Show was less a conventional museum exhibition than a broad snapshot of current artistic production, with direct access to the people making the work at the centre of the experience.