Visitors to NPDC’s Govett-Brewster Art Gallery will hear the voices of tuna (eels) for the first time in Whiria ko te iwi tuna, a new exhibition opening on 28 February.

This extraordinary four-year collaboration by artist collective Toiaa Taiao – Tihikura Hohaia, Alex Monteith and Maree Sheehan will immerse audiences in the lifeworld of
Te Whanganui, a central Taranaki stream, through evocative underwater footage and delicately recorded soundscapes.

The installation gives voice to native species including tuna (eels), iinanga and kooaro (whitebait), and piharau (lamprey), revealing the rhythms of life beneath the surface and invites audiences to experience the waterway as a living, communicating presence.

The project brings attention to the ongoing legislative failures that enable the exploitation of waterways and undermine hapū authority in enacting kaitiakitanga.

“This project marks the first time the voices of tuna from Te Whanganui have been recorded and made audible as voices in their own right,” says artist Maree Sheehan, the widely celebrated composer and sound artist recognised by the Royal Society of New Zealand as Māori researcher of the year in 2024.

“By amplifying these submerged communications, Whiria ko te iwi tuna positions tuna not as passive indicators, but as active agents speaking for their own sovereignty.”

A newly published essay by Rachel Buchanan (Taranaki iwi, Te Ātiawa, Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika), supports and extends the exhibition, situating it within “a whakapapa of care and protest” in Taranaki, honouring generations of hapū and community-led efforts to protect waters from industrial ruin, and affirming the inseparable relations between Taranaki’s waters and its people.

Also opening on 28 February is Pause, act, void, event, a dynamic exhibition of beloved and newly acquired works from the Govett-Brewster collection.

Anchored by a spectacular room-spanning work by Debra Bustin, last seen at the Gallery in 1982, the exhibition will also feature works by Billy Apple, d harding, Ralph Hotere, Corita Kent, Tom Kreisler, Ziggy Lever & Lucy Meyle, Peter Peryer and Pauline Rhodes.

Both exhibitions are on until 19 July 2026.

Opening day programmes include:

• 11am-12pm: The Voice of Te Whanganui manga: Opening day artist talks
• 2pm – 3pm: Telling / Listening: A tour with artists and curators.

Find out more at govettbrewster.com

At a glance:

• Opened in 1970, the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery was founded through a bequest from local visionary Monica Brewster (nee Govett).
• The Gallery has earned major architectural and design awards, recognised globally for bold, innovative and inclusive exhibition programming.
• Owned and operated by NPDC, the Gallery welcomed over 79,000 visitors last year, with one in four coming from outside the district (BERL 24/45 survey).
• The Gallery generated a $24.8m economic impact, $13.7m GDP (BERL 2025).
• It also operates an art and design store, an art-house cinema, and offers vibrant education and public programmes.
• Located at 42 Queen Street, New Plymouth. Open daily 10am-5pm.

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