Wellington City Alive - 50 Years

Ans Westra

Courtenay Creative
49 Courtenay Place, Wellington

17 September – 4 October 2026

Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 4pm 

{Suite} and the Ans Westra Estate are delighted to present this exhibition marking the 50th anniversary of the publication of Wellington: City Alive. A celebration of both the book and Ans Westra’s remarkable photographic record of Wellington, this exhibition is the second annual showing of Ans Westra works at Courtenay Creative, timed to coincide with the World of WearableArt.

Published in 1976, Wellington: City Alive brought together Westra’s distinctive photography and the words of writer Noel Hilliard to create an intimate portrait of New Zealand’s capital. Rather than presenting Wellington simply as a city of landmarks and architecture, Westra turned her camera towards the people who gave the city its character: commuters, workers, families, passers-by and those encountered in the everyday life of its streets.

Westra spent around two years photographing Wellington for the project. Fifty years on, Westra and Hilliard’s Wellington: City Alive reminds us that a city’s vitality is not measured only by its prosperity, but by the life lived in its streets and the people who call it home. This exhibition celebrates what remains at Wellington’s heart: its people, character, creativity and sense of place. Buildings, streets and fashions may have changed, but Westra’s observations of the city remain immediate, revealing and remarkably alive.

The location of this exhibition - Courtenay Creative - is the former site of the National Bank. Designed in the style of Chicago-esque neo-Classical architecture, the National Bank operated here for 67 years after opening in 1928.

Directly below the bank chamber is the vault, which has been home for Ans’ work and archive since her passing in 2023. On display there is a library of publications featuring Ans’ images, her cameras, material and paraphernalia related to her art practice and life.

While the exhibition is showing, there will be a limited number of public tours to the Ans Westra Vault. To register to attend a tour please click here