Waikato Museum and Gallery Te Whare Taonga o Waikato director Rachael Davies said they were excited to showcase the two exhibitions.
“These exhibitions are a powerful example of what regional audiences can experience close to home.
“Together, the exhibitions reveal both the national significance of Dame Robin White’s practice and the strength of the Waikato collection.
“Visitors can experience iconic works that have shaped New Zealand art history alongside lesser-known pieces that show the remarkable breadth of her career.”
Te Papa’s curator of contemporary art, Hanahiva Rose, said the exhibition celebrates a contemporary New Zealand artist whose imagery continues to shape the country’s national identity and a sense of place.
“Dame Robin urges us to look with new eyes at the world around us,” Rose said.
“From the local fish and chip shop in Maketū, to maneaba in Kiribati, or the intimate interior of a living room in Lautoka, her work pulls people and place into sharp focus.
“Her work, increasingly made in collaboration with other artists, demonstrates her commitment to learning and capacity for transformation. It is a pleasure to bring this exhibition to Aotearoa’s regional centres and celebrate the environments that have influenced her work.”
At Home With Us further explores these themes through works including White’s Place, Raglan, documenting her family’s connection to the Waikato region, as well as landscapes, portraits, prints and collaborative Pacific works that trace the evolution of her artistic practice.
White was born in Te Puke in 1946.
She graduated from Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland in 1967, where she was taught by Colin McCahon.
Dame Robin White in 2025. Photo / Michael Craig
After three years as an art teacher at Mana College in Porirua, White moved to the Otago Peninsula where she began working fulltime as an artist.
White left New Zealand in 1981 to settle in Kiribati and adapted to her radically different Pacific atoll environment, producing woodcut prints depicting island life in her village.
After returning to New Zealand in 1999, White has continued to work with Pacific artists, bringing together their different ideas and methods to create works that reflect the concept of unity in diversity that is central to the artists’ Bahá’í beliefs.
In 2013, White was made a distinguished companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
Robin White: Tuituia | Something is Happening Here and Robin White: At Home With Us runs until November 11 at Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum and Gallery, Hamilton. Entry is free.