Feb 26, 2025, 8:43 AM
Continue to the full article to see the events that will be taking place at the National Library
Tēnā koe
On Wednesday 19 March, we are hosting the Te Awhi Rito New Zealand Reading Ambassador address. Alan Dingley is Aotearoa New Zealand’s second Te Awhi Rito Reading Ambassador, which was established to support and champion the importance of reading in the lives of young Aotearoa New Zealanders, their whānau and communities. Come along and hear his reflections as he nears the end of his term.
There is a fantastic opportunity to explore Aotearoa New Zealand’s photographic histories in our Focus on Photography event series this month.
Discover A Different Light—now in store! Plus, explore our latest collection of stunning New Zealand photography books.
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Venue: Te Ahumairangi Ground Floor
Join historian Paul Diamond (Ngāti Hauā, Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi) for a closer look at a photograph album, held in the Alexander Turnbull Library, which reveals how the Māori economy was wiped out following the invasion of the Waikato region in 1863.
Date: Wednesday 5 March 2025
Time: 12:10pm to 1pm
Cost: Free
Venue: Taiwhanga Kauhau Auditorium, Lower Ground Floor and Online - Zoom
Celebrate International Women’s Day with a tour of He Tohu. Hear about the wāhine who signed te Tiriti o Waitangi and the women who paved the way for Women’s Suffrage in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Date: Friday 7 March 2025
Time: 10am to 10:45am
Cost: Free
Venue: Te Ahumairangi Ground Floor
Celebrate International Women’s Day with a tour of He Tohu. Hear about the wāhine who signed te Tiriti o Waitangi and the women who paved the way for Women’s Suffrage in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Date: Friday 7 March 2025
Time: 3pm to 3:45pm
Cost: Free
Venue: Te Ahumairangi Ground Floor
During the colonial period, property matters brought women to court. Civil legal records highlight the commercial and economic relationships formed through these transactions. Dr Elizabeth Bowyer will discuss women’s court appearances under civil law in colonial Aotearoa New Zealand in her presentation.
Date: Thursday 13 March 2025
Time: 5:30pm to 6:30pm
Cost: Free
Venue: Taiwhanga Kauhau Auditorium and Online - Zoom
Join an online talk with photographic curators Anna Petersen, Natalie Marshall, Shaun Higgins and Louise Garrett to hear more about the impact and influence of early photography in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Date: Tuesday 18 March 2025
Time: 12pm to 1pm
Cost: Free
Venue: Online - Zoom
Join us at this special event to hear Alan Dingley’s reflections as he nears the end of his term as Te Awhi Rito New Zealand Reading Ambassador.
Te Awhi Rito New Zealand Reading Ambassador advocates for and champions the importance of reading in the lives of young New Zealanders, their whānau and communities. As a national reading role model, they build visibility and awareness of reading across all sectors in Aotearoa New Zealand, helping to create a nation of readers. They make connections between the many organisations involved in reading, literacy, literature and the wellbeing of young people.
Date: Wednesday 19 March 2025
Time: 5:45pm to 7pm
Cost: Free - RSVP required
Venue: Taiwhanga Kauhau Auditorium, Lower Ground Floor
In this month’s Public History Talk, Helen McCracken will speak about the evacuation of the national cultural collections during World War II, providing an insight into the people and institutions who undertook this logistical feat.
Date: Wednesday 2 April 2025
Time: 12:10pm to 1pm
Cost: Free
Venue: Taiwhanga Kauhau Auditorium, Lower Ground Floor and Online - Zoom
Join Professor of History Angela Wanhalla (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe) and Shaun Higgins, co-curator of the exhibition A Different Light, as they explore the production and reception of photographs both of and for mana whenua in the context of settler colonialism in Aotearoa.
Date: Thursday 3 April 2025
Time: 6pm to 7:30pm
Cost: Free
Venue: Taiwhanga Kauhau Auditorium, Lower Ground Floor and Online - Zoom
Explore our exciting range of recorded events any time you wish!
National Library exhibition
A Secret Tear / Adam Maclay Photographer distils a selection of affecting images from the studio of Christchurch photographer Adam Maclay (1873–1955), whose collection was given to the Turnbull Library by his sisters in 1956.
The photographs show both studio and outdoor settings in which weddings, families, children, picnics, social gatherings, sport, and the impact of WWI are evident.
A Secret Tear is accompanied by an exhibition on the Lower Ground Floor, of photographs by Steffano Webb, a contemporary of Adam Maclay in Christchurch. Together the exhibitions provide an intimate and expansive view of the city and its population over a fifty-year period.
Time: Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm; Saturday 9am to 1pm. Showing now until Saturday 15 March 2025.
Cost: Free
Venue: Te Puna Foundation Gallery, Te Ahumairangi Ground Floor
National Library exhibition
Explore a selection of photographs and a screen presentation of images taken by Steffano Webb between 1880 and 1920, on display in the lower ground floor foyer.
Time: Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm; Saturday 9am to 1pm. Showing now until Saturday 15 March 2025.
Cost: Free
Venue: Tiakiwai Foyer, Lower Ground Floor
Exhibition at the Adam Art Gallery
Step into A Different Light: First Photographs of Aotearoa and explore the captivating evolution of photography in 19th-century New Zealand. Delve into the advances that took photography from its beginnings for an exclusive few in the mid-1800s, to being a part of daily life by the turn of the century.
Experience the 19th-century studio as you pose for your own digital Victorian portrait, and explore the wonder of this new technology that irrevocably changed the way we saw ourselves.
Featuring precious, original photographs from Auckland Museum, Hocken Collections and the Alexander Turnbull Library, this exhibition offers a unique glimpse into our visual heritage.
Keep an eye on the Adam Art Gallery and National Library websites for upcoming events.
Time: Tuesday to Sunday, 11am to 5pm. Showing now until Sunday 15 June 2025.
Cost: Free
Venue: Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery, Victoria University of Wellington
Permanent exhibition
He Tohu is a free permanent exhibition of three iconic constitutional documents that shape Aotearoa New Zealand: 1835 He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni – the Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand; 1840 Te Tiriti o Waitangi – the Treaty of Waitangi; and the 1893 Women’s Suffrage Petition – Te Petihana Whakamana Pōti Wahine.
Time: Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm; Saturday 9am to 1pm
Cost: Free
Venue: Te Ahumairangi Ground Floor
To open the month, Paul Diamond (Ngāti Hauā, Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi) looks closely at the Alexander Turnbull Library’s Urquhart Album, which reveals how the Māori economy was wiped out following the invasion of the Waikato region in 1863. For Connecting to Collections Online, A Different Light curators Anna Peterson, Natalie Marshall and Shaun Higgins, along with Turnbull Photographic Curator Louise Garrett, will discuss key themes of the show and explore the significance of some of the works on display. And on Thursday 3 April, Angela Wanhalla (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe) and Shaun Higgins look at how photographs both of and for mana whenua were produced and received in the context of settler colonialism in Aotearoa.
A Different Light: First Photographs of Aotearoa is open Tuesday–Sunday, 11am to 5pm, at Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery, Victoria University of Wellington, and showcases early photographic collections from the Alexander Turnbull Library and our friends Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum and the Uare Taoka o Hākena Hocken Collections.
Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery is also hosting a series of lunchtime talks which bring contemporary lens-based artists into dialogue with A Different Light. The series, Through a Contemporary Lens: Artists in Response, opens on Thursday 13 March. Keep an eye on the Adam Art Gallery website for this series of events.
As well as other great events, the Library has a wide range of online resources so you can connect with us remotely, such as our blogs, our recorded events and our collections.
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