Whangārei’s Wairau Māori Art Gallery is the first public art gallery dedicated to Māori art and the advancement of Māori arts professionals.
Operated, staffed and governed by Māori, the gallery joins a select group of public indigenous art spaces internationally. Join the Gallery's inaugural director Larissa McMillan in conversation with Trustee Nigel Borrel to discover the origin of the gallery, its Kaupapa, and its work alongside the Hundertwasser Art Centre.

The Wairau Māori Art Gallery is the first dedicated public Māori art gallery in Aotearoa and opened on 19 February 2022. It celebrates and showcases the best of contemporary Māori art and customary practice in Aotearoa. Wairau Māori Art Gallery is based in Whangārei along the bustling Hatea marina.

Blessed by the hapū Te Parawhau, one year later, nearly 90,000 visitors have embraced Māori art and the unique programming that the Gallery provides.

The Wairau Māori Art Gallery offers opportunities for both Māori artist and Māori curators to present ideas that foster Māori visual arts development.  Through exhibition making, publications and education programmes, the Gallery presents a distinct Māori voice and position. It maintains an inter-generational philosophy to support Māori visual art from a kaupapa Māori world view.

The Gallery is a space for all Māori, indigenous peoples, and national and international audiences to celebrate Māori visual culture. What will the future of Māori art look like? What role does a Māori art institution play both locally, nationally, and internationally, and how does that institution thrive?

Curator and Wairau Māori Art Gallery Trustee Nigel Borell, MNZM (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi, Te Whakatōhea, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Apakura) and Director Larissa McMillan (Te Parawhau, Ngāpuhi) shall share in a discussion on these questions and the journey of the Wairau Māori Art Gallery.