Exhibitions and events

Regular tours at the Hocken

A rear view: Behind the scenes tours

Every Thursday at 11am (tours are 50 minutes)

Join one of our friendly guides and learn about the Hocken. Check out the amazing materials in our archives, ephemera, maps, music/AV, photographs, pictures and published collections. Bookings not required. Limit of 10 people per tour. Tour starts at Hocken reception.

What's in store? Art! – not currently offered

First Saturday of each month at 11am-12pm

Did you know that the Hocken has one of this country's most important collections of modern and historic New Zealand art including works by leading artists such as Rita Angus, Ralph Hotere, Robin White and Colin McCahon? Hocken staff will take you into the pictures store-rooms to see some of these art treasures.

Bookings are required:
Tel +64 3 479 8868

Limit of 10 people per tour. Tour starts at Hocken reception

Upcoming talks

Growing Heritage at Special Collections with Published and Special Collections Liaison Curator Alexander Ritchie

Friday 6 October – Three tour times available: 11-11:45am, 3-3:45pm or 5:30-6:15pm

Highlights will include a Book of Hours from the Middle Ages, an early English book on salad greens, and some colourful poems from across the centuries. The tour will highlight the generosity of three generations of a notable Dunedin family.

A family-friendly event that is free to attend. Meet on the ground floor of the University Central Library beside Ask Otago. Numbers are limited to 10 people per tour and booking is essential: +64 3 479 8868 or hocken@otago.ac.nz.

Guided Tour of Fortune - Hocken Gallery

Saturday 7 October, 1-1:30pm

Join Hope Wilson, Curator Art, for a 30 min tour of Fortune by Bev Moon, a family feast lovingly made from knitted wool.

Auckland-based artist Bev Moon (Cantonese, Taishanese) explores cultural constructs through drawing, sculpture, painting, and textiles. Moon's work is exhibited alongside archival material from the Hocken Collections, the New Zealand Chinese Heritage Research Charitable Trust, and private collections.

Bookings not required.

A public play-reading of ‘Establishment’ by Emily Duncan

Saturday 7 October, 2–3:30pm

Hocken Collections Seminar Room, 90 Anzac Ave

A reading of this new play researched and written by Dunedin playwright and dramaturg Dr Emily Duncan. ‘Establishment’ explores and celebrates a range of 20th century food venues and the people who dined and worked there.

This project has been made possible by the Friends of the Hocken Collections Award 2022.

In addition to the Hocken Collections, Dr Duncan has consulted Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, the McNab Room at Dunedin Public Library, and the National Library. Free to attend but bookings essential.

Register at this link: https://www.southernheritage.org.nz/event-details/establishment-public-reading-2

Tour of the Hocken art stack

Friday 13 October, 11-11:30am

Hope Wilson, Curator Art, offers a behind-the-scenes tour of the Hocken's art collection. Tour starts at the Hocken Collections reception. Free to attend but bookings are required. Please contact the Hocken Collections on 03 479 8868 or email hocken@otago.ac.nz to reserve a spot.

Current exhibitions

Fortune

Bev Moon

Saturday 12 August – Saturday 21 October 2023

A family feast lovingly made from knitted wool will be revealed when the exhibition Fortune by Bev Moon opens on Saturday 12 August at Hocken Collections. Moon's work is exhibited alongside archival material from the Hocken Collections and New Zealand Chinese Heritage Research Charitable Trust. Auckland-based artist Bev Moon (Cantonese, Taishanese) explores cultural constructs through drawing, sculpture, painting, and textiles.

Bev Moon | Fortune (a knitted yum cha for my mother’s 90th birthday), 2021-2022, Mixed media, on a table with central rotating Lazy Susan, Photo: Richard Ng.