A Decade in Motion: 10 Years of the Len Lye Centre
Celebrate with us as we mark ten years of the Len Lye Centre – an international destination for experimental film and kinetic art.
The Len Lye Centre, part of the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, is an international destination for experimental film and kinetic art. It houses the collection and archive of pioneering twentieth century artist, filmmaker, sculptor, painter and poet Len Lye, whose extraordinary body of work gives us a unique view into Modernism and offers a rich vein for inspiration and insight.
Read more about the genesis of the Len Lye Centre
August 30th | Celebrate a Decade in Motion
We're beginning the Len Lye Centre's anniversary year with a full day of sound, celebration and sensation for the whole whānau. At the heart of Saturday, August 30th, experience the sonification of the Len Lye Centre’s shimmering steel and concrete structure into a new commission, A Score for the Len Lye Centre, performed in the gallery it was written for, with players from the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Discover artmaking, tour the Centre with its architect, and hear from A Score for the Len Lye Centre artist Mia Salsjö in curator-artist conversation. Discover the entire programme below.
Free entry for all | Nau mai, haere mai!
Photo by Patrick Reynolds.
If the Len Lye Centre could sing, what would it sound like?
Experience the dynamic intersection of architecture, contemporary art, and sound, as Mia Salsjö's score comes to life with players from the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. A homage to 20th-century luminary Len Lye, A Score for the Len Lye Centre transposes the shimmering contours of Aotearoa’s most iconic architecturally designed art museum into a musical score on its 10th anniversary.
A Score for the Len Lye Centre by Mia Salsjö
Performed by players from the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
Saturday August 30
Three Performances | 11:00–11:20AM | 1:00–1:20PM | 2:30–2:50PM
Contribute to a uniquely collaborative visual response to Mia Salsjö's work for Direct Bodily Empathy-Sensing Sound. Watch the Learning Studio transform over the weekend, with a growing body of work by young people for young people. Suitable for tamariki, all materials provided.
After Mia Salsjö: A Score by Young People for the Len Lye Centre
Saturday 30 August and Sunday 31 August (Toi Mā te Whanau | Family Art Special Session)
10:30AM - 12:30PM
Mia Salsjö , A Score for the Len Lye Centre, 2025. pen, pencil, paper, Perspex, Pattersons Associates Architects architectural plans, two-channel audio recording, performance, duration 15 mins. Govett-Brewster Art Gallery Collection. supported by Govett-Brewster Foundation Donors and Members. supporting Partner, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Photo: Bryan James.
Great architecture goes fifty-fifty with great art. Len Lye, 1964
Like a Lye sculpture, the shimmering stainless steel façade is a striking and provocative expression of movement. The curtain-like exterior is seemingly fluid as the curved steel reflects and transmits light, activating the spaces within and without. It is a modern-day temple, reinterpreting Lye’s fusion of ancient and modern concepts, and his proposition for a ‘temple of art’.
Architect's Tour with Andrew Patterson
Saturday 30 August
11:30AM - 12:00PM
Can architecture be a musical score?
Join exhibition curator Anna Briers alongside artist Mia Salsjö as they unpack the creative process behind A Score for the Len Lye Centre, a major commission which transposes architectural plans and the legacy of Len Lye into 1000 graphic scores and a performance by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
In conversation: Curator Anna Briers with Artist Mia Salsjö
Saturday August 30
1:30pm – 2:10pm
Installation view, Mia Salsjö, A Score for the Len Lye Centre, 2025. pen, pencil, paper, Perspex, Pattersons Associates Architects architectural plans, two-channel audio recording, performance, duration 15 mins. Govett-Brewster Art Gallery Collection. supported by Govett-Brewster Foundation Donors and Members. Supporting Partner, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Image: Cheska Brown.
Join an intimate and personal conversation about the role of private investment and collaboration in realising the ambitious vision of the Len Lye Centre.
Panel Discussion: Making it Happen
Saturday 30 August
3:00PM - 4:00PM
Photo: Patrick Reynolds.
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