Mark Adams: A Survey | He Kohinga Whakaahua
Mark Adams
Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū
Corner Worcester Boulevard and Montreal Street
Ōtautahi Christchurch
7 March – 26 July 2026
Mark Adams 25.05.1988. Rapanui. Shag Rock. Ōpāwaho-Ōtākaro hapua. Heathcote-Avon Rivers mouth. Ōtautahi Christchurch. Te Waipounamu South Island 1988. Silver bromide print. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, purchased 2011
For more than 50 years New Zealand artist Mark Adams has photographed Aotearoa New Zealand – its land, peoples and complex, multilayered histories. Over the decades he has sustained a deep and ongoing engagement with whakairo Māori (Māori carving), the work of celebrated tufuga tatatau (master tattoo artists) in Samoan communities in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, the places where Captain James Cook and his crew came ashore, and the locations where Te Tiriti o Waitangi was signed. His practice explores cross-cultural exchanges in Aotearoa and across the globe — within landscapes, taonga (treasures), museums, and the practice of photography itself.
This exhibition is the first comprehensive survey of his work. Bringing together black-and-white and colour photographs made decades apart, the exhibition examines Adams’s compelling and distinctive approach to image-making in Aotearoa.
Exhibition developed and toured by Auckland Art Gallery.
Art Bite
Mark Adams 13.11.2000. Hinemihi. Clandon Park. Surrey. England. Ngā tohunga whakairo: Wero Tāroi, Tene Waitere 2000.
Friday 12 June 2026 / 12pm
Meet in the exhibition
Join volunteer guide Gail Anderson as she discusses Mark Adams' photographs of Hinemihi in Mark Adams: A Survey | He Kohinga Whakaahua on the ground floor.
Art Bites are 30-minute lunchtime presentations on a single work on display, presented by our staff, guides and guest speakers.