Papaioea Piano Trio
2025-07-20 14:00 - 15:00 (Pacific/Auckland) | Helen Smith Room, Pātaka Art + Museum, 17 Parumoana Street, Porirua City, Wellington, 5022, New Zealand
In this, the first concert in the Friends Winter Music Series 2025, the Papaioea Piano Trio, with Guy Donaldson (piano), Elizabeth Patchett (violin) and Robert Ibell (cello), present a beautiful programme of music including Beethoven’s ‘Ghost trio’. All three musicians are well known nationally, and Robert and Elizabeth have performed with the NZSO. Enjoy an afternoon of sublime music!
This concert is FREE FOR FRIENDS and children; non-members are welcome – $5 at the door.

Kevin & Fran
2025-07-27 14:00 - 15:00 | Helen Smith Room, Pātaka Art + Museum, 17 Parumoana Street, Porirua City, Wellington, 5022, New Zealand
In this, the second concert in the Friends Winter Music Series 2025, Fran Barton and multiple award-winning pianist Kevin Clark present a melange of music from their 54 years of performing and recording together. From jazz to pop to razzmatazz, humour and everything in between.
This concert is FREE FOR FRIENDS and children; non-members are welcome – $5 at the door.

Hobnail
2025-08-03 14:00 - 15:00 | Helen Smith Room, Pātaka Art + Museum, 17 Parumoana Street, Porirua City, Wellington, 5022, New Zealand
Hobnail photoshoot at Plimmerton Boat Club in Plimmerton, New Zealand on Sunday, 26 May 2019. Photo: Dave Lintott / lintottphoto.co.nz
Hobnail have criss-crossed NZ for 30 years now, making toes tap, feet dance and hearts soar with their “illustrious blend of Celtic, folk, country and rock”. In this, the second concert in the Friends Winter Music Series, dazzling instrumentation, award winning songwriting, and “vocals so tightly knit they could be family” add up to a truly memorable performance.
This concert is FREE FOR FRIENDS and children; non-members are welcome – $5 at the door.

Mana College Music students
2025-08-10 14:00 - 15:00 | Helen Smith Room, Pātaka Art + Museum, 17 Parumoana Street, Porirua City, Wellington, 5022, New Zealand
In this, the last concert in the Friends Winter Music Series 2025, talented young Year 11 musicians from Mana College: a vocal duo singing a variety of duets and solos; and a drum and guitar duo performing various light rock and pop songs.
This concert is FREE FOR FRIENDS and children; non-members are welcome – $5 at the door.

Gallery talk on Jasmine Togo-Brisby's ‘ungeographic’ exhibition
2025-09-14 11:00 - 13:00 | Main Galleries, Pātaka Art + Museum, Parumoana Street, Porirua
SPEAKER: Pātaka’s Lead Curator Ioana Gordon-Smith.
This talk is a special event for Friends of Pātaka and Friends of Te Papa, The Dowse and Toi Mahara Galleries, with whom Jasmine has a longstanding connection.
Jasmine Togo-Brisby‘s art practice is pivotal in raising awareness of Australian South Sea Islanders, the Australian-born descendants of people brought to Australia as “indentured labourers” from over eighty Moana nations between 1847 and 1904.
Ioana Gordon-Smith is a wonderful speaker and, having worked with Jasmine for almost a decade and curated this show, she will share behind-the-scenes insights to Jasmine’s art. This collection has a powerful and emotional message.
Please join us for refreshments afterwards.
Numbers are limited. Please RSVP before Sunday 14 September by emailing patakafriends@gmail.com with the subject UNGEOGRAPHIC TALK, your name and the Friends organisation of which you are a member. An early response is appreciated.

Floor Talk: Frances Hodgkins and British modernism
2025-11-27 11:00 - 12:00 | Toi Mahara Gallery, Waikanae
Frances Hodgkins, Painting class on the beach

Toi Mahara have kindly organised a special floor talk for Friends of Pataka in association with their current Frances Hodgkins exhibition.

Discover the rich artistic legacy of Frances Hodgkins with curator Vicki Robson. Explore how this pioneering New Zealand artist helped shape British modernism in the 1920s and early 1930s, and learn more about her connections to the changing art world of the time.

Victoria Robson is Curator and Collections Manager at Toi MAHARA. She has a long-standing relationship with Toi MAHARA, especially with regard to Frances Hodgkins and the Field Collection.

This event is for members only and an invitation has been sent out.

Special talk for Friends of Pātaka at Te Puna Foundation Gallery, National Library
2026-04-14 11:00 - 12:00 | Te Ahumairangi, National Library, corner Molesworth and Aitken St, Thorndon, Wellington
A special curator talk on the ‘Future Proof: Paintings in Perpetuity’ exhibition in the Te Puna Foundation Gallery, National Library has been organised especially for Fiends of Pātaka. The Future Proof exhibition asks: what does it take to preserve an artwork in perpetuity?  In this talk, Jennifer Cauchi, Team Leader Conservation, will discuss her work co-curating the exhibition and sharing insights into why these significant oil paintings were selected for conservation, what the preservation treatments were and some of the stories behind the paintings.
This fascinating talk combines history, art history, artworks, and preservation to maintain the historical record for research – and will appeal to both history lovers and appreciators of historical artworks.
The Library has a collection of over 130,000 artworks – this exhibition gathers a small handful, most on display for the first time, which have been recently conserved to ensure they can be shared, studied, and enjoyed for years to come.
Location: Te Ahumairangi (ground floor), National Library, corner Molesworth and Aitken St, Thorndon, Wellington. Meet at reception.

Friends of Pātaka AGM 2026
2026-04-22 14:00 - 15:30 | Helen Smith Room, Pātaka Art + Museum, 17 Parumoana Street, Porirua City, Wellington, 5022, New Zealand
Come to this year’s AGM and hear from Pātaka Art+Museum’s Director Ana Sciascia.

Ana is an excellent and compelling speaker who will no doubt share fascinating insights on Pātaka’s vision and commitment to the arts in Porirua and beyond, and hopefully enlighten us on some of what goes on behind the scenes at our amazing Museum + Gallery.

The relevant documents for the meeting are below.

The AGM will be followed by light refreshments. We look forward to seeing you there!

https://friendsofpataka.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/FOP-AGM-2026-Agenda.pdf
https://friendsofpataka.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/fop-annual-report-2026.pdf
https://friendsofpataka.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/fop-performance-report-2025.pdf
https://friendsofpataka.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/FOP-AGM-2025-Minutes.pdf

Talk on taonga from the collection: a Greg O'Brien painting
2026-05-27 11:00 - 12:00 | Main Galleries, Pātaka Art + Museum, Parumoana Street, Porirua
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.

Bishop Viard College Niu Choir – CANCELLED
2026-07-19 14:00 - 15:00 | Helen Smith Room, Pātaka Art + Museum, 17 Parumoana Street, Porirua City, Wellington, 5022, New Zealand
THIS CONCERT HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO THE ILL HEATH OF MANY IN THE CHOIR ON THEIR RECENT RETURN FROM SINGING IN SYDNEY.
OUR SINCERE APOLOGIES FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE THIS MAY HAVE CAUSED.

Te Hau Trio
2026-07-26 14:00 - 15:00 | Helen Smith Room, Pātaka Art + Museum, 17 Parumoana Street, Porirua City, Wellington, 5022, New Zealand
In this second concert of the Friends of Pātaka 2006 Winter Music Series, we have Te Hau Trio, a celebrated chamber ensemble formed by principal woodwind players from Orchestra Wellington: Karen Batten on flute, Nick Walshe on clarinet and Preman Tilson on bassoon. The trio brings a uniquely flexible and dynamic approach to classical chamber music. The combination of flute, clarinet, and bassoon creates an agile yet surprisingly rich sonic texture and is so unusual the trio adapts music from across the centuries. For their performance at Pātaka on Sunday 26 July, the trio will present an eclectic mix, ranging from lighthearted classical suites to contemporary and folk-inspired works, all tailored to showcase the distinct timbres and virtuosity of each musician.
This concert is free for Friends f Pātaka and children; $10 at the door for others Eftpos will be available.

New Zealand Swing Quartet
2026-08-09 14:00 - 15:00 | Helen Smith Room, Pātaka Art + Museum, 17 Parumoana Street, Porirua City, Wellington, 5022, New Zealand
In this third concert of the Friends of Pātaka 2006 Winter Music Series, the New Zealand Swing Quartet features an all-star lineup of Wellington jazz musicians which specialises in traditional New Orleans, vintage swing, and gypsy jazz – soulful, vibrant and joyous. Theirs is music made famous by Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet and more, blended with an Oceanic flair. The group frequently performs sell-out shows at popular local venues, music festivals, and swing-dancing events across the country.
This concert is free for Friends f Pātaka and children; $10 at the door for others Eftpos will be available.

Klezmer Rebs
2026-08-16 14:00 - 15:00 | Helen Smith Room, Pātaka Art + Museum, 17 Parumoana Street, Porirua City, Wellington, 5022, New Zealand
In this fourth and last concert of the Friends of Pātaka 2006 Winter Music Series, the Klezmer Rebs world/ethnic music band returns to Pātaka offer a rollicking set of authentic Yiddish and European folk that will have you shake your tuchases (Yiddish for ‘booties’). Mixing delicate slice-of-life tales from the old country, intricate harmonies, and wild wedding dance music , it’s a unique cultural experience.
The Rebs world music appeals to everyone. While many of songs are sung in Yiddish (of German origin), they also perform partisan songs from Italy, Russian folk tunes, French chansons, Latin cowboy love songs, Argentine Yiddish tangos and 1940s swing vocal songs. Their own quirky, politically charged multi-lingual originals are some of the most popular crowd tunes.
This concert is free for Friends f Pātaka and children; $10 at the door for others Eftpos will be available.
