Having surpassed its visitor target of 350,000 visitors in its first year, Te Papa’s new art gallery Toi Art has welcomed 670,346 visitors since opening, making it the most attended art gallery in the country.
Charlotte Davy, Te Papa Head of Art says that the new art gallery is a place to have fun with art. “Toi Art has truly become a place for conversation, learning, storytelling, performance and creative response. Art is for everyone, and we are thrilled that the public is seeing more art, more often at Te Papa.”
The art gallery has been a hub of activity with over 30 public programmes featuring performance, dance, fashion, film, and music.
Toi Art: By the numbers
• 2 levels of art
• 10 new artworks made for the opening
• $8.4 million investment in the new art gallery
• 3,980m2 floor area of Toi Art
• 35% more space for art
• 40,000 artworks in the national art collection
• 74 km wall length needed to display entire national art collection (direct flight from Wellington to Blenheim)
• 150,000 photographs in Te Papa’s collection
• 45 natural materials in Tiffany Singh’s new work Indra’s bow – including dried plums, rosebuds, dragon’s blood and blue peas
Image: Pacific Sister Ani O’Neill leads Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern into Toi Art, 2018. Photograph by Kate Whitley. Te Papa (101867)