Ngāi Tahu artist to represent NZ

Fiona Pardington has been chosen to exhibit her art at the Venice Biennale next year.

Pardington – Kāi Tahu, Kāti Mamoe, Ngāti Kahungunu, and Clan Cameron of Erracht – says being announced as New Zealand’s La Biennale di Venezia 2026 artist is an unexpected and extraordinary moment in her career. 

“I am deeply honoured and humbled by this incredible opportunity,” she says.

“I am profoundly grateful that my work is appreciated like this and for all the people furiously paddling the waka, who have brought me to this point. Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini.”

After rising to prominence in the 1980s as part of a group of women artists, who challenged photography’s social documentary aesthetic, Pardington’s work has continued to evolve. Her focus often operates within, and extends, the still-life genre. Her evocative photographs of taonga and other objects from museum collections are sharply attentive to context and history while retaining an elusive quality.

Known for her images of the now extinct huia, Pardington’s works interrogate death and its relationship with preservation.

She has been recognised through multiple fellowships and awards including being made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Pardington was also named a Knight (Chevalier) in the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres) by the French Prime Minister in 2016. She is the first New Zealand visual artist to receive this honour.

Creative New Zealand appointed Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū as its delivery partner for Aotearoa New Zealand’s national pavilion at the Venice Biennale.

Gallery director Blair Jackson says Pardington is renowned for the emotional intensity of her photographs and is responsible for some of the most memorable images in contemporary New Zealand art.

“Her ability to convey the intangible makes viewing her works a powerful and exhilarating experience,” he says. 

More information about what Pardington will exhibit in Venice is going to be shared later this year.

Artist Fiona Pardington (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Ngāti Kahungunu, Māori, Clan Cameron, Scottish)

Fiona Pardington, Portrait of a Female Huia, 2024, South Canterbury Museum, Purchased with support of the artist and Starkwhite, 2024. 

Fiona Pardington, A69170, Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū; purchased 2019

Fiona Pardington, D63.30 Whakai-o-tama, Temuka, Tuaki, Rapaki, Mactra ovata Grey, 1843, Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū; purchased 2007