They Covered the House in Stories

Te Tuhi is celebrating 50 years of exhibiting contemporary art (1975–2025) with the release of a full-colour, 384-page hardcover publication. The publication traces Te Tuhi’s evolution from an idea born in a garden shed into a leading contemporary art space. It is a history that has influenced the careers of Aotearoa’s most respected artists and engaged diverse audiences with art from around the world.
Edited by Bruce E. Phillips and Marie Shannon, this richly illustrated book looks at Te Tuhi’s history of more than 700 exhibitions. It highlights key exhibition-making ideas, practices and curatorial perspectives that have guided our storytelling over five decades.
The publication features nine commissioned essays offering contemporary perspectives on Te Tuhi’s exhibition history, with contributions from Zara Stanhope, Balamohan Shingade, Erena Shingade, K. Emma Ng, Susan Ballard, Karl Chitham, Andrew Clifford, Caroline Vercoe, Martin Patrick, Eu Jin Chua and Peter Derksen.