Experience New Zealand’s artistic soul
New Zealand’s art scene is a vibrant melting pot of innovation, creativity and culture. New Zealand is home to theatrical spectacles, immersive installations, traditional craftsmanship and cutting-edge technology; the country offers artistic experiences that captivate and inspire travellers worldwide.
At Aroha Luxury NZ Tours, we specialise in crafting personalised private guided tours for travellers seeking to experience New Zealand through its artistic expressions. Our guides take you beyond the crowded, over-sold tourist routes to uncover the heart and soul of New Zealand’s creative landscape, facilitating intimate encounters with the country’s most compelling artistic destinations.
North Island
Hundertwasser Art Centre & Traditional Māori Carving
In Whangārei, the Hundertwasser Art Centre and Wairau Māori Art Gallery offer a memorable blend of European expressionism and indigenous artistry. Designed by Austrian-born artist and architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser, this building is a work of art with curved lines, bright mosaics, rooftop vegetation, and sustainable design principles that mirror the artist’s philosophy of harmony with nature. New Zealand’s first dedicated public gallery for contemporary Māori art offers a platform for indigenous voices.
Māori carving (whakairo) is one of New Zealand’s most profound artistic traditions, connecting visitors and tourists to centuries of Māori cultural heritage. These traditional carvings in wood, bone, and stone feature symbols rich in meaning and storytelling power. Master carvers (kaiwhakairo) work primarily with native timbers like kauri and totara, creating intricate designs that record history and genealogy.
Traditional patterns draw inspiration from the natural environment, including spider webs, fish scales, and unfurling fern fronds. This artistic practice continues to thrive with spiritual and cultural significance today, particularly in the country’s meeting houses (whare whakairoa). This experience offers insight into the relationship between art, identity, and artistic expression in contemporary New Zealand.
Gibbs Farm
Located in Kaipara Harbour north of Auckland, Gibbs Farm presents an extraordinary collection of large-scale outdoor sculptures that engage with New Zealand’s dramatic landscape. This private sculpture park features commissioned works from some of the world’s most significant contemporary artists, including Anish Kapoor, Andy Goldsworthy, and Richard Serra.
What makes Gibbs Farm unique is the scale, both of the sculptures and the setting itself. The Kaipara Harbour rules over the western horizon, creating a challenging environment where artists must contend with the gravitational pull of the landscape as mountains roll into hills and slope down towards the expansive harbour.
Sculptureum: Art brought to life
Just north of Auckland in Matakana, Sculptureum redefines the conventional gallery experience with its dynamic approach to art presentation. This extraordinary collection is scattered by pathways through beautifully landscaped gardens and five distinct galleries, showcasing vibrant, unexpected, and engaging art. Founder Anthony Grant created Sculptureum to challenge the perception that art galleries are places “where art goes to die,” instead offering visitors surprising encounters with works made from unexpected materials.
The collection mingles works by international masters like Picasso, Warhol, and Chagall with contemporary pieces that challenge and delight. The Garden of Creative Diversity features whimsical sculptures alongside resident animals, while the Pink Snail Garden showcases oversized sculptures made from recycled materials. No visit is complete without experiencing the Dale Chihuly Room, housing the finest glass art on public display in the Southern Hemisphere.
Auckland Art Gallery
Auckland at Toi o Tāmaki is the country’s most extensive public art gallery on the edge of Albert Park; the gallery houses over 17,000 works. You’ll find powerful expressions of Māori identity, Pacific heritage, and European influence, alongside New Zealand’s Colin McCahon and Ralph Hotere pieces. If you’re enticed by historical treasures or thought-provoking contemporary art, this gallery sets the stage for understanding New Zealand’s visual culture.
L’Arté Café and Gallery
In Taupo’s beautiful Acacia Bay, L’Arté Café and Gallery offers a multisensory artistic experience that combines visual art, garden design, and culinary excellence. Voted Lonely Planet’s top café pick for the Central North Island in NZ, set in a magical art-filled garden with an outdoor mosaic living room. At L’Arté Café and Gallery, art lives beyond gallery walls.
The gallery features the distinctive ceramic work of artist Judi Brennan, whose innovative and quirky creations transform the space into a dystopian world. Visitors can glimpse Judi’s creative process in the attached working pottery studio while enjoying exceptional coffee, New Zealand wines, and fresh, locally sourced produce.
3 Mirage Immersive Experience
3 Mirage in Rotorua is the region’s first immersive and interactive art experience. 3 Mirage combines audio-visual technologies with creative expression to create a transformative multi-sensory journey. Visitors will experience 360-degree immersion in a world of colour and light across seven unique exhibition rooms, each of which is designed to evoke different emotions through awe-inspiring visuals, audio, and tactile elements.
The experience transcends traditional art viewing by inviting participants to become part of the artistic narrative, engaging with installations that respond to human presence and movement. 3 Mirage exemplifies how New Zealand continues to push artistic boundaries by embracing technological innovation while creating meaningful emotional connections.
South Island
Weta Workshop Experiences
Wētā Workshop is a testament to New Zealand’s influence on the global film industry. Since 1987, this creative powerhouse has brought to life treasured characters and special effects for celebrated blockbusters such as The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Avatar, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
In Wellington, visitors can explore the creative base where movie magic happens, learning about prop-making, creature design, and costume creation while getting hands-on with unique pieces and watching artists at work. The Auckland experience, Wētā Workshop Unleashed, offers an interactive adventure into fabricated movie projects. Visitors can experience movie-making up close, seeing everything from robots to monsters to dinosaurs in beautifully crafted sets.
Te Papa Tongarewa, The Museum of New Zealand
Wellington’s Te Papa Tongarewa, which means “container of treasures”, offers visitors the chance to explore New Zealand’s bicultural roots. Te Papa Tongarewa showcases New Zealand’s natural history, art, and cultural fabric. The collection includes work by leading New Zealand artists and incorporates Māori perspectives. Te Papa is a must for travellers looking to understand how art mingles with history, land, and identity.
The World of WearableArt
The World of WearableArt (WOW) has transformed the landscape of artistic expression in New Zealand since 1987. What began under a rain-soaked marquee in Nelson has evolved into an international phenomenon that attracts thousands of spectators annually to Wellington. WOW challenges designers to transcend traditional boundaries by taking art off gallery walls and onto the human body.
Christchurch Art Gallery: Te Puna o Waiwhetu Resilience and Revival
In Christchurch, Te Puna o Waiwhetū, the water star’s spring, represents the city’s cultural strength and a centre for contemporary artistic dialogue. Following the 2011 earthquakes, the gallery has emerged as a resilient cultural institution and a dynamic space that reflects and challenges the region’s evolving identity. Anticipate daring exhibitions, interactive installations, and a focus on local artists making their mark on the global stage.
The Lodge at The Hills: Art amidst luxury
In the stunning landscape near Queenstown, The Lodge at The Hills offers an exceptional marriage of luxury accommodation and significant art. This exclusive retreat features a carefully curated collection of paintings and sculptures selected by Sir Michael and Lady Christine Hill for their enjoyment and that of their guests.
Beyond the lodge, visitors can explore the renowned private sculpture park integrated throughout the Hills golf course. This unique setting allows guests to encounter important works by New Zealand and international artists within one of the country’s most spectacular landscapes and premier golf experiences. The mixture of luxury accommodation, fine dining, golf, and art creates a multifaceted experience that appeals to collectors and connoisseurs seeking the finest New Zealand.
Colin McCahon: A national icon
Colin McCahon, known as one of the country’s most influential artists, spans abstract landscapes, pertains religious symbolism, and bold typographic canvases that wrestle with faith, place, and personal reflection. His pieces often feel like visual prayers, rooted in Aotearoa’s land and spiritual terrain.
Personalising your artistic journey
Are you a serious art collector, a creative seeking inspiration, or an appreciator of artistic beauty? Let Aroha Luxury NZ Tours be your gateway to experiencing the creative heart of Aotearoa New Zealand, where traditional knowledge meets contemporary expression in ways that will transform your understanding of art and its place in our world. Aroha Luxury NZ Tours creates experiences tailored to your interests and preferences. We will handle all the logistics, organising premium accommodations and gourmet dining experiences that complement your artistic explorations.
Veronika Vermeulen
Veronika Vermeulen is Director of Aroha New Zealand Tours Ltd. Aroha New Zealand Tours Ltd. has been offering 100% tailored journeys and private guided luxury experiences in New Zealand since 2000.
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An artist friend of mine is always telling me that art is everywhere and the way that New Zealand is displaying art in so many places goes to prove her point. I can see her giving the example of Wearable Art as an example to make her case.
Hi Maggie, it was hard for us to decide which of the projector galleries to include, as our country has so many diverse displays. There are so many artists, painters, photographers, and designers.
You’ve reminded me that I took A Level art long ago when I was at school. When we next visit New Zealand I’ll have to see if visiting any of these places can rekindle any artistic talent that I may once have had.
If that doesn’t do it, I don’t know what will as there are so many different artistic venues listed here.
I feel this, too. The colours of the sky, land, and seas are so spectacular that many have found their old inner self. I’m too busy with my company, but I hope to take it up again in retirement.
That line that galleries and museums are places “where art goes to die” probably isn’t as true as it was 30 years ago.
It was certainly true in my childhood when a school trip to a stuffy art gallery was seen by us pupils as more of a punishment than a treat.
I’ve been to some galleries recently which have been very zingy and full of creativity. Nice that there are some artists in New Zealand who want to bring art to life.
Even in our smallest museums, you connect to art through the people you meet and hear their stories, or the displays encourage you to engage.
Seeing some whakairo must be a great way of understanding some of the Maori traditions.
Māori art is a spiritual journey; it takes people deep into their own or others’ past and makes us think and connect. As the Māori had no written language, they told their stories of their ancestors and their families via carvings and music.
When Auckland Art Gallery has over 17,000 art works surely there must be something that even the most sceptical will like?
Keeping track of and cataloguing all those works must be a challenge for the gallery staff.
Hi Nevzat, I often wonder who decides what will be displayed and why.
Although I haven’t been to New Zealand for many years and although I’m in no way an artist, of all the countries I’ve been to I get why New Zealand has prompted so much great art. Also what comes through in this article is that it inspires artists who work in such diverse media.
I think two primary reasons for this approach are our historical background. Māori culture is embracing and progressive, while on the other hand, we are a new nation that was very isolated and had no restrictions on thinking freely.
Yeah – I think I did the overcrowded tourist route. I’ll know better next to time.
Hi Jess, you are not the only one. We try hard to get people to experience more personal, immersive experiences, often in even better locations, away from the mainstream, which is dictated and influenced by extensive coach tours. So many places locals use as our vacation spots are not on foreigners’ lists of places to visit.
My daughter is always playing about making little films on her phone. A visit to the Weta Workshop would be very exciting for her.
Although she’s still young I get the feeling that she may want to work in the movie industry.
It’s this sort of experience at a formative age that give a little bit of encouragement at just the right time. Like many children she likes to copy the work of movie-making maestros.
Getting young people engaged in authentic, applicable experiences can often influence many. I think it’s great parenting. This comment does not concern art, but I take many families into our geothermal areas as a local guide. Usually, children ask questions when faced with real nature and want to know suddenly chemistry and physics to understand active geothermal fields.
A piece digging deep into New Zealand’s artistic soul was such a lovely idea for a post. It would be nice if some of the other A Luxury Travel Blog writers could follow in your example and give us an insight into other countries’ artistic soul.
It’s not hard to find the artistic soul in cities such as Barcelona, London, New York and Paris. Other cities which are flying beneath the radar could surprise us. I visited Basel a few years ago and was overwhelmed by the art around.
Dear Martin, What a nice response! I am pleased you like our post. It’s always great to know we are reaching some travellers, and it’s even better if you enjoy reading it! Thank you!!
When I read about the immersive art experience it makes me start thinking about what art will be like in the future?
At the moment we’re probably in the early days of using lights and technology to create our art and with all due respect to the current artists we may still be waiting for the first da Vinci or Rembrandt to come along with their genius.
When it comes to immersive art I think it’s probably a matter of watch this space!
Fascinating thoughts.
The same has to be said with the visual space of avatars, etc. What are we going to use in the future to visualise art?
Once I would have travelled to New Zealand for the bungee jumping, climbing, skiing, whitewater rafting. Now it’s the art that calls me. Getting old is a funny thing.
I always laugh at myself. When I got to New Zealand 30 years ago, I thought people who went on bird tours were extraordinary. Now, I look out for them and enjoy watching them myself. This has much to do with aging, but also maybe with more experiences and a broader spectrum of exposure.
All this great art has to be the icing on the cake. We finally hope to get to New Zealand … when we finally retire. Whenever that is. When I’ve only got 24 day days of annual leave I couldn’t face blowing most of it on one trip. When we go to New Zealand we’re going to take our time and do it all – art, adventure, cuisine, wildlife – the works.
Sounds like a big trip for your lifetime. New Zealand sure delivers on all of it: art, adventure, cuisine, and wildlife.
Wherever I travel to I always look to shoehorn some art stops into my itinerary. Taking a look at the local art deepens my understanding of the people and place that I’m visiting.
I like that approach; it’s genuinely a great way to gauge the depth of cultural identity.