Te Tuhi’s history can be traced back to the early 1960s with the formation of the Pakuranga Arts Society. Founded by a group of forward-thinking creative women, the Arts Society held their first meetings in a garden shed before going on to open New Zealand’s first purpose-built arts centre in 1975. In the decades that followed, Te Tuhi created a legacy of supporting the careers of New Zealand’s most accomplished artists.
Te Tuhi has worked with many nationally and internationally established artists such as The Otolith Group, L. Budd, Phil Dadson, Julian Dashper, Tehching Hsieh, Dieneke Jansen, Maddie Leach, Alex Monteith, Kate Newby, Tom Nicholson, Michael Parekowhai, William Pope.L, James Richards, Ann Shelton, Santiago Sierra and Artur Zmijewski. In recognising emerging artistic talent, Te Tuhi has also been influential in the careers of artists such as Sonya Lacey, Louise Menzies, Sorawit Songsataya, Shannon Te Ao, Luke Willis Thompson and Kalisolaite ‘Uhila amongst many others whose artworks commissioned by Te Tuhi have been nominated for national and international art awards or acquired for significant collections and exhibited in galleries and museums around the world.
