about te tuhi

Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts is the public art gallery for Manukau City.

Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts is a nationally significant art gallery presenting exhibitions and projects by local and international artists. Te Tuhi works actively within the community of Manukau City, providing a conduit for audience engagement and participation in the visual arts, underpinned by innovative exhibitions, education and associated programmes. In addition, the Centre serves as a focal point for the community as an events venue and meeting place for our many users and community groups.

History

Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts was created in a partnership between the Fisher Gallery and the Pakuranga Community and Cultural Centre, the latter formally a Manukau City Council facility.

The Fisher Gallery had been created in the early 1980's by a dedicated and energetic group of local art lovers, who had decided that the area, only recently subdivided for residential use, needed an arts venue. The Fisher Gallery took its name from the Fisher family, who farmed the area prior to its suburbanisation and Iris Fisher, who was an original member of the Pakuranga Arts Society and the driving force behind the effort to build the new institution.

The name Te Tuhi was generously conferred on the institution by the Ngai Tai Iwi. The name refers to the legend of the ancestor Manawatere, a Maori voyager and explorer who arrived in the Hauraki Gulf prior to the arrival of the Tainui waka. Landing at the beach at Howick's Cockle Bay, he made his tuhi, or mark, on a pohutukawa tree located on the foreshore, using karamea, a red ochre. This was his sign to those who would follow, that this was the place he had chosen - 'Te Tuhi a Manawatere'. The tree still stands today, although the tuhi has since disappeared.

Te Tuhi is administered by the Eastern Manukau Arts Trust in conjunction with the Pakuranga Arts and Cultural Trust.

Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts is generously supported by the Manukau City Council

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Located in the Te Tuhi foyer, the Te Tuhi Café serves a great range of fresh, delicious food baked and prepared daily on the premises, as well as wonderful Allpress Espresso coffee.

The café is open weekdays 9.00am to 3.30pm and 10.00am to 3.30pm Saturdays. The kitchen closes daily at 2pm.

For all reservations and catering enquiries please contact Lorraine at the Te Tuhi Café on (09) 577 4044.

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