What is a Pacific life? Visit Stars start falling and discover how three Pasifika artists use art to show their challenges, memories and feelings. We use colours, textures, movements and other senses to make paintings that express a unique home.

How to make art that’s from the earth and good for the planet?  Visit There is no before to find out how Australian indigenous people use nature in art. In the learning centre we experiment with natural pigments on upcycled surfaces to give environmental messages.

Discover where Len Lye got his ideas. Experiment with Surrealist art making techniques then dream up surprising dye and resist costume designs.

At school:
Find out about where Surrealist artists got their ideas – dreams, games and other automatic or random processes, give it a go at school.

- Discuss - Are dreams real?
- Make a Sunprint (cyanotype) photo experimenting with the shadows of objects
- Draw or write combinations that show juxtaposition
- Write a strange poem using Te Papa’s Surrealist exhibition website

Visit the Swallowing Geography exhibition and find out how art can tell us stories about our land and what was before. We create our own clay tile artworks to tell a story about our whenua and how we can protect it.

At school:

- Walk around school and nearby (in bare feet?). Describe what’s under your feet.
- Talk about a picture that shows what your town looked like in the olden days.
- How can you care for special places near you?

Visit the Swallowing Geography exhibition and discover different ways art can help us learn about the past. Using historic pā sites in our local area as starting points we utilize upcycled everyday items, drawings and collaged maps to construct 3D artworks. These sculptures show both the historic functions of pā and how they appear today.

At school:

- Find out about pā sites near your school
- Visit Puke Ariki to research local history

What can we learn from Len Lye?

Experience the multisensory exhibitions 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. See Len Lye: Rainbow Dance and Len Lye: Wand Dance

At school:

- Find out about Len Lye here

We introduce students to the Gallery. Discover the many personalities of contemporary art and the creative processes behind them. Create your own quick artwork inspired by Len Lye and friends.

At school:
Find out about the Gallery’s exhibitions
Class brainstorm your ‘before’ and ‘after’ feelings about visiting the Art Gallery.

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 Len Lye: Tangibles 1963 -1969 and Len Lye: Wand Dance.

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