Talk on taonga from the collection: a Greg O’Brien painting

In March 2026, Pātaka launched a new initiative: a revolving exhibition wall devoted to displaying a taonga or artwork from the collection.  From 21 May, Ode to an Abandoned Whaling Station. a painting by the very well-known Greg O’Brien will be on display.

On Wednesday 27 May, Friends are invited to gather around the painting for a talk to introduce this space.  The talk will be in two parts: an introduction to the painting and the artist by Lead Curator Ioana Gordon-Smith. Then Registrar Lotte Kellaway, who manages the collection, will give us behind the scenes insights into her role, what’s in the collection, the collecting policy and the intended cataloguing/digitisation project.

Gather just behind the Ngāti Toa Mutumutu ki Mukukai exhibition. Chairs will be available.

For any queries please contact patakafriends@gmail.com.

About the artist and this painting

Gregory O’Brien is a poet, painter, curator and writer who often brings a literary sensibility to painting, combining vivid colour, strong line and storytelling. His works often explore memory, history and Te Moananui-a-Kiwa, where land, sea and culture intersect.

 Between 2011 and 2014, O’Brien followed the migratory routes of whales and seabirds across vast areas of the Moana, creating what he described as “acts of devotion” to remarkable places and their natural histories. This journey informed his 2015 poetry collection Whale Years, which traces whale-roads, islands, environmental crises and layered Pacific histories.

 That research influenced this painting. Its title was later repurposed for O’Brien’s 2016 solo exhibition at Bowen Galleries, suggesting its importance within his practice. An ode is traditionally a poem of praise or reflection; here it turns toward a deserted industrial site marked by both human ambition and environmental loss. The painting reflects on what remains after industry fades: traces in the landscape, memory, and the changing health of the ocean world.