New Zealand’s First National Register Of 20th Century Public Artworks Goes Live

Public Art Heritage Aotearoa New Zealand’s new website publicart.nz was officially launched last night at Parliament at a gathering hosted by The Minister for Art, Culture and Heritage, Hon Carmel Sepuloni.

The website is a New Zealand first, providing a single place for New Zealanders to gain knowledge of 20th Century public artworks located in towns and cities across Aotearoa, including works that have been hidden, lost, destroyed, or deaccessioned.

At launch the register contains over 380 works which can be searched by information about each of the artworks, the artists, and their locations.

The register will be an invaluable resource for researchers, the arts community, local communities, and tourists as well as local authorities, schools, hospitals, churches, and other public-facing organisations.

Public Art Heritage Aotearoa New Zealand (PAHANZ) is a research initiative based at Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts, Massey University Wellington, and was established to find, document, and protect what remains of Aotearoa’s 20th century public art. Dr Bronwyn Holloway-Smith, co-director of PAHANZ said today: “Sadly, many 20th Century works have already been destroyed, hidden, or simply lost, while others remain undocumented and at risk due to a lack of public knowledge of their significance and cultural value. Through this initiative, we’re hoping to change that.”

Dr Holloway-Smith and co-director Sue Elliott have spent the past six years researching and documenting these artworks with the aim of sharing their research to help promote and protect these works of significance.

Sue Elliott said: “During the 20th Century and particularly post World War II, many of Aotearoa’s most talented artists turned their attention to enriching public space, often hand -in-hand with leading architects. As a result, some of the largest and most ambitious artworks in the country were placed in publicly accessible sites throughout urban and regional centres.

“Many of these works are hiding in plain sight or have fallen victims to privatisation, and/or contemporary fashion trends among interior designers and architects of the 21st century. PAHANZ has been established to ensure that future generations of New Zealanders have knowledge of, and access to these cultural treasures.”

Many household names are among those listed on the website: such luminaries as: Rita Angus, Tanya Ashken, Jim Allen, John Bevan Ford, Russell Clark, Roy Cowan, Neil Dawson, John Drawbridge, Fred Graham, Pat Hanly, Ralph Hōtere, Molly Macalister, Paratene Matchitt, Colin McCahon, Guy Ngan, E. Mervyn Taylor, Dame Robin White, and Cliff Whiting to name but a few.

Holloway-Smith said: “Our ultimate goal is to build a comprehensive database of Aotearoa’s 20th Century public artworks, whether they are still publicly accessible, lost, hidden, or destroyed. Each of the works on the site at present has been researched, audited, and documented, but this is just the start. There are hundreds more that still require this attention, and we plan to continue growing this resource in the future. We are also working with Toi Māori Aotearoa to establish relationships with Māori artists, whānau and kaitiaki of artworks on our register, alongside our own work developing connections with the remaining artists, families, estates, and owners. Happily, responses have been overwhelmingly positive to date.”

Hon Carmel Sepuloni said at the launch: “It is inspirational to see the contribution these artists have made throughout Aotearoa New Zealand, and how important this initiative will be in safeguarding these artworks which are much loved by their communities. I am proud the Government was able to assist in helping make this important initiative possible.”

At the time of launching, the website database comprises PAHANZ’s first set of audited works: approximately 380 that are spread throughout the country. But this is just the beginning: PAHANZ currently have a further 900 works recorded that still require research, auditing, assessing, and uploading.

“The site will be organic as we continue our research, but we are also calling on members of the public to assist in building the register and protecting these important 20th century public artworks,” Holloway-Smith said. “We are constantly discovering more works that fall in our scope, through our research and by learning of them from members of the public who contact us with their information about works.”

PAHANZ will be working with Heritage New Zealand and Regional District Councils to gain heritage listings for works of national significance. “We are also pursing the restoration and reinstallation of significant works that have been neglected or removed, and the installation of plaques near unlabelled works of significance to ensure local audiences are made aware,” Holloway-Smith said.

“We were fortunate to have received funding from the Ministry for Culture & Heritage, Manatū Taonga’s Te Tahua Āki Auahatanga Innovation Fund to develop the website and the register launched today.

“This is an important milestone, and it was fitting that it took place beneath John Drawbridge’s work in the Beehive’s Banquet Hall: a work that is both on the register, and one of the very few 20th century public works that already has a heritage listing. PAHANZ also began work four years ago to have the large Joan Calvert/Guy Ngan textile hanging, Forest in the Sun, reinstated in the Beehive entrance foyer. The work was commissioned specifically for the site, and thanks to Te Papa and Parliamentary Services, it was returned to its original site last week,” Elliott said.

PAHANZ is seeking the public's help to continue building the register and assist in the protection of these important 20th Century public art works. You can find the register at: https://publicart.nz

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