Established in 2004, Te Wai Ngutu Kākā is a not-for-profit contemporary art and design gallery based at Auckland University of Technology, Tāmaki Makaurau. It operates three gallery spaces on the City Campus within the School of Art and Design, and an additional outdoor projection space which operates nightly on St Paul St.
The Gallery is dedicated to the development of contemporary art and design through a curated programme of exhibitions, events, symposia and publications focused both locally and internationally. Te Wai Ngutu Kākā embraces one of the primary instructions for universities in the New Zealand Education Act (1989), that they ‘accept a role as critic and conscience of society.’ Through our programmes we also interrogate the proposition that the arts have a particular capacity to speak critically about society.
The Gallery is staffed by Stephen Cleland (Curator and Manager), Eddie Clemens (Gallery Technician), and Mitchell McGrath (Gallery Assistant).
The Name
The Gallery operated as ST PAUL St Gallery from 2004 – 2023. This title was revisited in 2019, and in 2023 a new name was formally gifted to the Gallery by Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei.
Our new title is the namesake of an endemic shrub, which draws its name from the distinctive shape of its flowers which resemble the ngutu (beak) of the kākā (a native parrot). Ngutu kākā is believed to have grown prominently in the vicinity of the gallery in proximity to many puna wai (springs) which ran along the ridge line. While the Gallery’s first title, ST PAUL St, followed a convention of naming which literally aided audiences in locating the Gallery, our new title, Te Wai Ngutu Kākā, establishes a deeper connection to place by succinctly evoking a natural ecosystem which existed for thousands of years prior to European settlement.
For further information, please refer to the exhibition guide for the 2023 identity launch exhibition.