Programmes

How is our natural world being damaged by people and how can we help make things better?

We tour Te Au: Liquid Constituencies to discover how artists address these patai.

In the Learning Centre we identify a creature at risk, represent its voice and create a sculpture of its home from flotsam and jetsam.

The kaupapa of this learning experience connect with pest control, global warming and plastic pollution.


At school:

Find out more about Ghost Nets.

As a class brainstorm how humans are damaging the earth.

List ways you and your whānau could improve your school or community’s environment and get started!

Find out how others show kaitiakitanga.

Schools working with their local awa, wetland or coastline, this session is for you!

Visit Te Au: Liquid Constituencies and Ko te Kihikihi Taku Ingoa to learn how art and science actions can support and heal nature.

We design messages with biochar and experiment with DIY water filters. With extra time classes can visit Huatoki Plaza or arrange follow-up visits to school by Gallery educators.

At school:

Find out more about Biochar.

Visit your nearest water environment and use it to inspire an environmentally friendly artwork.

What science experiments can you do to learn about water?

Research a karakia that speaks of the importance of water or caring for our taiao.

Engage with your local nearby Awa and research the name and significance.

Learn about the life cycle of water.

Taking a taonga as a starting point we work back to discover the history and significance that it holds.

Touring Te Au: Liquid Constituencies and Ko Te Kihikihi Taku Ingoa we discover how artists combine traditional and contemporary practices to express customary knowledge such as protection and traditional harvesting of Tohora / Paraoa (Whale).

In the learning centre we experiment with koru and tapa techniques to show what Kaitiakitanga means to us.


Kaitiakitanga: refers to protection and care. It is an approach to environmental management that is founded on the Māori worldview. In a moment of cultural and environmental renewal, Kaitiakitanga today conveys traditional ideas. Iwi and ‘Apū aim to preserve both their culture and ecology. The idea and practise of kaitiakitanga address numerous contemporary problems and concerns.

W’akapapa: We are connected to our Taiao through w'akapapa, which is genealogy and a line of succession from past to the present. All things are related and connected. W'akapapa is the lineage of where something or someone originates. 


At school:

Research the pūrākau of the Kauri and the Tohora.

Find out how much of your body is water?

Immerse yourself in Len Lye’s art through the exhibition Atomic Power and Sky Snakes collecting creative ideas by sketching and moving.

In the Leaning Centre bring this inspiration to life and fashion your brainy ideas into crazy head gear.


At school:

How did Len Lye get inspired by nature and movement?

Use your artwork to inspire a group dance.

Research Len Lye here.

What can we learn from Len Lye?

Experience Len Lye's multi-sensory exhibitions Atomic Power and Sky Snakes through interactive activities adaptable to your students’ learning needs and level.

Find out how Len Lye came up with his ideas and what made his art special. Then create your own Len Lye inspired artwork.


At school:

Find out about Len Lye here

How did old school animation work? What makes Len Lye’s films still cool today?

We go to the ‘flicks’ to discover how image, movement and sound are combined to create an illusion. Students analyse animation techniques and use gallery zoetropes (animation viewing devices) to create their own moving image.

See: Atomic Power

BYO your class video camera, phone or ipad to record students’ animations.

At school:
Google Slide: Len Lye Style Flip Book

Click below to view Len Lye films online:
Tusalava
A Colour Box
The Birth of a Robot
Free Radicals

Films supplied by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. Please respect the integrity of Len Lye’s artwork by not copying his films.

Download the Len Lye: Animation Resource

A compilation DVD entitled Colour Box: 19 Films by Len Lye is available from the Govett-Brewster Shop

E ono ngā kaupapa:

1. Orokohanga / Creation
2. Te Waonui ā Tāne / Realm of Tānemahuta
3. Wai / Water
4. Karakia / Waiata
5. Papatūānuku / Land
6. Ko wai koe / Who are you


Kaupapa include:

Pēpēha: A way of identifying and introducing who we are and where we come from.

• We find hononga (connections) and create art that symbolises our Mounga, Awa, Moana, Marae, Iwi, Hapu and Waka. Discuss places and landmarks that we identify with or that are significant to us. 

• We connect with our homeland and the vessel that brought our people to this land both tangata wēnua and tangata tauiwi. 

Whakapapa: Whakapapa is genealogy, a line of descent from tūpuna down to the present day and links people to all other living things. Everything comes from somewhere. The story of where something or someone comes from is whakapapa.

• We explore family relationships and dynamics to create art works that complement our kōrero and findings.

• Gain an understanding of tikanga Māori relating to whakapapa.

• Explore whakapapa stories such as Ranginui and Papatūānuku or Te Wānau Matariki.

Create - Family Art activities online:

These quick, fun activities are based on Family Art sessions in the Gallery (10.30 – 12.30am Sundays), a selection are now available online to share in school or as links for home learning. Found in the ‘What’s on’ section of the Gallery website Create: Online Art Activities, Instagram posts, or as Google slides for classroom use.

Tai Moana Tai Tangata virtual tour:

Visit the Gallery’s website and take your class on a virtual tour of the monumental exhibition by Brett Graham (Ngāti Koroki Kahukura, Tainui) Tai Moana Tai Tangata. This virtual tour was developed for schools and aims to bring local history to life through art. Accompanying lesson plans available by request.

Eco mural:
Tour New Plymouth's CBD murals with us then head up to the Gallery to design a school mural with an environmental message, or create chalk masterpieces in Huatoki Plaza.

Marae-based learning:
Gallery educators join in with classes at their local marae to learn about ngā toi.