New Exhibition Opens At Waitangi Treaty Grounds On 13 December

The Waitangi Treaty Grounds is opening a new photographic exhibition Kupe Sites: Ngā tapuwae o Kupe | Landmarks of the great voyager. The exhibition features a series of stunning black and white photographic images depicting the landmarks and places associated with the ancestor and early voyager Kupe.

Kupe is regarded by many iwi as the tupuna or ancestor who discovered this country. Some tell the story of Kupe setting out from his homeland Hawaiki in pursuit of Te Wheke-a-Muturangi, a giant octopus. Others recount how Kupe, in love with his nephew’s wife, took her husband fishing, left him out at sea to drown, then fled from the family’s vengeance.

Curatorial Manager, Owen Taituha says “This is a particularly significant exhibition for the Waitangi Treaty Grounds to be hosting as Kupe is a central figure for Northern iwi. Kupe’s story features prominently throughout the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, and is seen as the tekoteko figure at the top of Te Whare Rūnanga.”

‘We also welcome Ngā tapuwae exhibition as it continues a theme of representing historical landscapes we began 12 months ago with Cora-Allan’s exhibition, Encountering Aotearoa.’

This new exhibition has been developed by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and celebrates a great Polynesian voyager’s connections with Aotearoa New Zealand. Ngā tapuwae presents these stories through photographs of places from four areas that have strong traditions of links to Kupe–Northland, Wairarapa, the Wellington region, and the top of the South Island. Award-winning photographer Michael Hall and Te Papa researchers visited four areas and collaborated with iwi there to capture these powerful images.

The Waitangi Treaty Grounds is excited to be opening Kupe Sites: Ngā tapuwae o Kupe | Landmarks of the great voyager to the public on 13 December 2025. We would like to acknowledge the support of Te Papa in enabling us to stage this exhibition. It will exhibit in Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi Exhibition Gallery and run through until 13 February 2026.

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