This spring, The Lightship returns with First Light, a year-long programme that opens with new works by three leading wāhine Māori artists.
In September, Australasia’s largest public art lightwall will once again illuminate Auckland’s waterfront as The Lightship launches its 2026–27 curatorial programme, First Light.
Presented by Port of Auckland and curated by Simon Bowerbank, the programme will bring six new contemporary artworks to Bledisloe Wharf over the coming year. The first commissions are by Ashleigh Taupaki, Ana Iti and Nova Paul, each exploring language, whenua, whakapapa and ecology through sculpture, moving image, film and research.
First Light centres on the idea of arrival. The programme reflects on what it means to come to Aotearoa, and the relationships that shape that experience—between harbour and city, land and sea, mana whenua and manuhiri. Across six works, welcome and belonging are explored as gestures, signals, protocols, invitations and challenges.
The setting lends these questions a distinct scale and visibility. The Lightship stretches 110 metres along Bledisloe Wharf and rises 13 metres high, its 8,500 LED lights woven into the working port. Over six years, it has hosted works by 24 artists from Aotearoa and Australia, forming an evolving intersection of contemporary art, industry and the public waterfront.
“Arrival is one of Aotearoa’s defining experiences, and First Light asks what it means to arrive in a place — physically, culturally and emotionally,” Simon says. “Each artist approaches those ideas in a unique way, creating works that speak to whenua, whakapapa, language and ecology while offering audiences new ways of seeing Auckland’s waterfront.”
The programme opens on 1 September with multidisciplinary artist and writer Ashleigh Taupaki (Ngāti Hako, Sāmoan). Working across sculpture, drawing and research, Taupaki’s practice explores the relationships between people, whenua and the more-than-human world, drawing on mātauranga Māori, ecology, memory and iwi narratives.
From 1 November, Walters Prize recipient Ana Iti (Te Rarawa, Ngāi Tūpoto, Ngāti Here, Pākehā) will take over The Lightship. Her work moves between sculpture, moving image, sound and text, examining how language, landscape and personal experience shape our sense of history.
Artist, filmmaker and researcher Nova Paul (Te Uriroroi, Te Parawhau, Ngāpuhi) follows from 1 January 2027. Grounded in kaupapa Māori approaches to image-making, Paul’s practice explores whenua, whakapapa, language and time, with a focus on the material possibilities of analogue film.
Three further artist commissions will be announced in early 2027, completing the six-part programme.
First Light opens at The Lightship, Bledisloe Wharf, on 1 September 2026.
