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Nau Mai, Haere Mai
Mā te pohewa mā te auaha hoki, ka whakapuaki ngā kura e huna ana. With imagination and creativity a hidden jewel can be revealed. Welcome to Toi Ōtautahi.

Nau Mai, Welcome to Toi Ōtautahi – The virtual arts office for Ōtautahi, Christchurch.

Christchurch has produced some of this country’s best known and most celebrated artists and artworks, and Ōtautahi continues to be a place where innovation and radical creativity flourishes. We are unapologetic supporters and champions for the significant role the city and its creatives have played, and continue to play in Aotearoa.

We want this site to celebrate all that is creative in the city and its wider environs and we want you to be part of it. Whether you’re a creative, an organisation, an audience member, a supporter or a visitor to this city, let us know what we can do to help make Ōtautahi the best city for creativity in Aotearoa.

Latest News
Exhibition

Mono – Kulimoe’anga Stone Maka at Jonathan Smart Gallery

The mono is a small patch on tapa. It covers holes, tears and remarries seams. Mono is also the title of Kuliemoe’anga Stone Maka’s new show at Jonathan Smart Gallery.
Pasifika, Visual Arts
Events & Exhibitions
Reception Space Sound Installation
In celebration of the wider sonic arts this NZ Music Month, Toi Auaha is hosting two sound exhibitions in May…
Music
Opportunities & Proposals
TinyFest Call for Artists
Do you want to be part of TinyFest 2026? This June, we are so excited to arrive at the Bus Interchange:…
Workshops
Accessibility 101 – A 2026 Toi Ōtautahi Arts Presentation
Arts Access 101 in Ōtautahi Interested in accessibility but don’t know where to start? Want to take your accessibility to…
Arts Access
Events & Exhibitions
He Wāhanga nō te Kōrero at Te Whare Tapere
Te Whare Tapere invites you to their first curated exhibition of the year: He Wāhanga nō te Kōrero.
Ngā Toi Māori
News
Isla Huia Receives Arts Foundation Springboard Award
Congratulations to poet Isla Huia who is the recipient of the Arts Foundation Springboard Award.
Literature
News
Christchurch’s Performing Arts’ Precinct Unites for Landmarks Schools Initiative
Isaac Theatre Royal leads Creative Connections – a groundbreaking collaboration bringing world-class performing arts experiences to Christchurch secondary students
New Zealand Music Month
News

NZ Music Month – Our Sounds, Our Spaces

The New Zealand Music Commission is gearing up to celebrate the 26th NZ Music Month this Month…
Music
Events & Exhibitions
Reception Space Sound Installation
In celebration of the wider sonic arts this NZ Music Month, Toi Auaha is hosting two sound exhibitions in May…
Music
Gigs
Feather Shaw on Echo Chamber at the Darkroom
A group of local musicians are busy learning songs by other local artists ahead of the sixth annual Christchurch Echo Chamber,…
Music
Festival, Gigs
Go Live Festival 2026
Now firmly established as a cornerstone event on the Christchurch cultural calendar, Go Live Festival brings generations of fans together…
Music
Workshops
Free Artist Development Seminar – Music Royalties at Darkroom
Darkroom’s Free Artist Development Series is back and our guest speaker for this month is Mike Hall, the NZ Director…
Music
Calendar of Events
13.04 2026

Textile Club with Mirabel Oliver 

6:00 PM – 9:00 pm
Join others in a warm and welcoming environment to work on your textile projects, hosted by a skilled craftsperson for…
Toi Auaha, 5 Worcester Boulevard
14.04 2026

Wellbeing for Creatives

6:30 PM – 8:30 pm
Wellbeing for Creatives is a free monthly peer-supported space for Ōtautahi artists, makers and creatives of all kinds. It offers…
Toi Auaha, 5 Worcester Blvd
02.05 – 28.06 2026

Home Studio at Objectspace

10:00 AM
Home Studio explores the blurred boundaries between domestic and working spaces, bringing together artists who produce work from, within, or for…
Sir Miles Warren Gallery
06.05 2026

Accessibility 101 – A 2026 Toi Ōtautahi Arts Presentation

5:30 PM – 6:30 pm
Arts Access 101 in Ōtautahi Interested in accessibility but don’t know where to start? Want to take your accessibility to…
Toi Auaha, Worcester Boulevard
14.05 2026

Auricle Listening Lounge

6:30 PM – 8:30 pm
The Auricle Listening Lounge at Toi Auaha is a relaxed, welcoming space for anyone with an interest in sonic art,…
Toi Auaha Lounge, Toi Auaha, Rolleston Avenue

SPOTLIGHT ON: Ōtautahi in the News

SPOTLIGHT ON: Ōtautahi in the News

An Artist’s Mid-Century Christchurch Home Enters a New Era

The Spencer-Bower house was originally designed by D.A Cowey & McGregor in 1968 for prolific New-Zealand based artist Olivia Spencer-Bower.

Over the years since Olivia’s passing, the Christchurch-style house suffered damage, and its floor plan became less conducive to modern family living (having been originally designed for one person).

Johnstone Callaghan Architects were brought on to rectify these issues through a mostly internal refurbishment, creating a more open floor plan in a sympathetic palette. Read Amelia Barnes’s story here in The Design Files. And drool over Sam Hartnett’s photograph’s while you’re at it!

Opportunities
Opportunities & Proposals

TinyFest Call for Artists

Do you want to be part of TinyFest 2026? This June, we are so excited to arrive at the Bus Interchange: a place of waiting, crossings, and chance encounters, and we are inviting artists to activate it through performance!
Opportunities & Proposals
Sculpture Festival 2026 – Call for Exhibiting Artists
Applications are now open for exhibiting artists at Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre’s annual Sculpture Festival 2026.
Sculpture
Opportunities & Proposals
Auditions Now Open for ‘One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest’
Auditions are now OPEN for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest at CentreStage Rolleston. 
Theatre
Opportunities & Proposals
2026 Gasworks Residency for an Artist from Aotearoa New Zealand – Call for Applications
Applications are now open for an early-career artist based in Aotearoa New Zealand to undertake an eleven-week, fully funded residency…
Opportunities & Proposals
Casting Call for Student Film
Actors wanted for Honours Student film to be shot in July….
Opportunities & Proposals
Otago University Arts Fellowships Open
Otago University is pleased to invite a range of talented artists to apply for several prestigious Fellowships.
Opportunities & Proposals
Expressions of Interest for Pasifika Production Internship Pilot
The Court Theatre and Creative NZ are calling for expressions of interest for the Pasifika Production Internship Pilot, running from…
Pasifika
Education and Courses
Courses and Classes

Genius Textural Canvas Art

Immerse yourself in this 2-session course on textural painting at Blooms & Brushes art studio in Rangiora.
Visual Arts
Courses and Classes
Drawing & Portraiture with Nina Cook
This welcoming class is suitable for beginners through to mid-level artists – hosted by Nina Cook at WEA
Visual Arts
Courses and Classes
Life Drawing Classes with Hannah Beere
Hannah Beehre will lead you through how to observe and create the human form in line, form and shading.
Visual Arts
Courses and Classes
Circability Circus Classes
Join a weekly circus class and discover the delight in the joy and connection circus brings to people’s lives!

The Big Idea’s Toi Ōtautahi Dispatch – April

The Big Idea’s Toi Ōtautahi Dispatch – April

Toi Ōtautahi Dispatch is a new monthly column and partnership with The Big Idea. Each month we will bring you a roundup of what’s happening in the arts across Christchurch.  What’s going on, what’s been going on, and what’s coming up in our awesome city this month!

Click here to read the April edition.

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