From architecture to literature, festivals are still on

The music festival season might be over in Christchurch, but that doesn't mean festivals themselves are taking a break: autumn and winter in Ōtautahi usher in a whole new range of festivals from architecture to literature. Open Christchurch, which has become more and more popular over the last few years has just released its programme and as always there are some real gems for architecture aficionados to salivate over including the new One NZ Stadium, along with fifty-two other buildings to explore. From the iconic Sugarloaf Transmission Tower to the unique commercial 200 High Street building, the programme spans a rich variety of buildings, landscapes and experiences. Open Christchurch 2026 covers 165 years of residential architecture, celebrates unusual and unexpected gems, explores architectural styles and shines the spotlight on design excellence in recreation and sustainability.

Speaking of architecture – the Christchurch City Council has been preserving over 4,500 plans for some of the city's most significant buildings, including for the iconic Christchurch Town Hall, New Regent Street, and many of the city's theatres. The plans have been digitised are now available for the public to search online or in person in the archives.

WORD, our annual literary festival, cost $119,000 more than it earned in 2024, but Executive director Steph Walker confirmed to The Press that the trend has thankfully been reversed. She presented to the city council’s annual plan hearings on the weekend, advocating for sustained arts funding – including for the festival. Its too early to know how it was received, but either way, the festival is back in September.

Ariana Tikao's Pepeha Portal 

Arts Laureate, Ariana Tikao, is launching her keenly anticipated poetry collection, Pepeha Portal, this month at Scorpio Books. Rooted in Kāi Tahu identity, the collection chronicles a homecoming and offers a moving account of memory, place and belonging. Pepeha Portal considers how language, whakapapa and whenua act as portals to belonging. The book is released on 16 April.

Congratulations are in order

Big congratulations to Gavin Bishop whose book Taniwha has won the NZ Booklovers Award for Best Children's Book of 2026. Judges said about the book, “It's another must have from a superbly talented author-illustrator at the peak of his powers.” We couldn't agree more. 

And artist Miranda Parkes has been awarded the Zonta Ashburton Women's Premier Art Award. The awards celebrate emerging and mid-career artists working in Waitaha Canterbury.  Miranda's work, dreamchaser,  “stood out from the beginning with its vibrancy and depth,” said judge Anna McLean. 

Miranda is also opening a new exhibition this month at Jonathan Smart Gallery entitled, rewinder.

Have you seen these works?

The Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū is on the hunt for missing Robyn Kahukiwa works. Preparations are underway for the first major survey exhibition of Kahukiwa's extraordinary five-decade long career, but curators Chloe Cull and Matariki Williams, are trying to track down several significant works to add to the show. 

“Some of the pieces we're looking for haven't been seen in decades,” says Cull. “They could be hanging in someone's hallway, stored under a bed, or tucked away in an office.” The curators are hoping to be able to source the works for the opening of My Ancestors are Always With Me - which will open in February 2027. 

Jolt Dance Company is offering an inclusive dance training workshop this month, to help teachers and teacher aides, parents, support workers and creatives gain confidence in working with the disabled community and grow their own inclusive artistic practice – the workshop happens on 16 April.

Wellbeing for Creatives happens on the second Tuesday of each month, and is designed to offer a supportive environment for creative people to nurture resilience, inspiration and a sense of belonging together. Through guided reflection, shared conversation and gentle wellbeing practices, participants are supported to recognise their strengths, broaden their resources and build meaningful community. The workshops are facilitated by Jennifer Maghzal.

Unchatter x Fidgetie Fingers: An Artsy Connection Experience is an experience that brings a beautiful blend of science and creativity. Participants can expect hands-on art therapy exercises with a sprinkle of psychology research that will help you create and connect. It all happens at Toi Auaha on 12 April. 

The call is now open for artists to be part of Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre’s annual Sculpture Festival 2026. The festival brings together emerging and well-known artists from around Aotearoa New Zealand and this year is aiming to offer over 200 works for sale, across a full range of scales and materials. Works will be showcased in the Great Hall daily across the festival dates of 10-26 October 2026 with larger outdoor sculptures placed throughout the North Quad.

Textile artists from anywhere in the motu are welcome to apply for the Changing Threads National Contemporary Textile and Fibre Awards run by Arts Council Nelson. The supreme award comes with $5,000, and there is no entry fee.

The Centre of Contemporary Art Toi Moroki (CoCA) is looking for an archivist for a six-month project. The Canterbury Society of Arts archive, held at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, includes records, photographs, exhibition documentation, catalogues, audiovisual materials, and administrative files spanning the CSA/ CoCA’s long history as a foundational arts institution in Aotearoa. They are looking for a skilled Project Archivist to lead a six-month project to assess, organise, preserve, and document these archive.

Pasifika on show

Also happening at the Christchurch Art Gallery is Made in the Pacific: A Collection of Tāoga – which is a celebration of the enduring significance of Pacific art and craft practises and the strong connection with contemporary artists and artmaking. 

And at Fibre Gallery, a collaboration between Tāmaki Makaurau artists Latamai Katoa and Sione Tuivailala Monū opens. The show, no place like home, looks at state housing in Aotearoa as more than just shelter, and considers how state housing has shaped the idea of who belongs, who is deserving and who is watched. 

Art as proof of life

You can rely on Eastside Gallery  to host super interesting exhibitions, and this April is no exception. 11 local artists are showing in Art as Proof of Life – which centres on themes of compulsion, obsession and insistence. These are the works that keep the artists up at night – works that are pulled from the depths and heights of emotions. The show runs until 24 April.

Nature on show

Stoddart Cottage presents Cycles of Return, featuring local Lyttelton artist Wendy Clarke and Ōtautahi artist Sarah Rowlands. Both artists explore photographic processes and presentations to present the viewer with interpretations of the natural environment as seen through two distinct lenses.

And at Chamber Gallery, Rangiora, Nature is also on show with Marilyn Rea Menzies exhibition, Natures Symphony. The show features tapestries, paintings and drawings based on the Menzies walks in natures. “I am always blown away by the details, the lichens, the forest floor, the fungi and the epiphytes growing on many of the large trees. It is hard to take it all in as there is so much to see. My camera goes pretty much everywhere with me and my photographs are often the starting point for my work.” 

Rita Angus in Rolleston 

Selwyn Libraries are presenting Rita Angus: He Haereka ki Cass | The Trip to Cass. This exhibition explores the impact of our dramatic alpine Selwyn landscapes on the art history of Aotearoa New Zealand, through the trip made by three women artists to Cass in 1936. This 10-day excursion by Rita Angus, Louise Henderson and Julia Scarvell resulted in a body of work which included Rita's iconic Cass, voted New Zealand's greatest painting in 2006. As well as showcasing the artworks produced on the trip, the exhibition also explores the many facets of the Cass area – as a mahinga kai, railway hub, and place of environmental research and artistic inspiration.