Reuben Woods – Watch This Space

CHOMP – the Paste-ups of Earwig Magazine @ CoCA, 21 February – 29 March

Entering its final few days, don’t miss out on CHOMP at CoCA, an exhibition of the paste-ups of Earwig magazine curated by Ōtautahi-based graphic designer Claudia Long.

EveryBody – A Group Exhibition @ 192 St Asaph Street, 19-29 March, 2026

Presented by Curators Chamber and Kyla K Design, EveryBody is a group show “celebrating the human form in all of its diverse expressions – strength, identity, vulnerability and desire.” Spotlighting twenty artists from diverse backgrounds, EveryBody is a sprawling collection of work that reflects a broad range of responses to the figurative thematic framework. The body is, of course, a constant but complex concept within creative practice, raising questions around identity, physicality, autonomy, representation and connection.

The Duke Festival 2026, Carve and Stoked — From Surf to Street Art

For ten years The Duke Festival has celebrated surf and skate culture through the lens of community and inclusion, as well as cultural and artistic events — most notably for us, the Stoked exhibition and Carve street art installation. Both of them feature familiar and emerging names, connecting the festival with the worlds of street art and graffiti as well as broader artistic worlds. For any event, especially one with the scale of The Duke, to thrive for a decade, it takes a lot of work behind the scenes — securing funding, bringing ideas to life, managing artists and participants, promoting and more — and on the bustling opening night, we were lucky enough to chat with two of the figures (and Watch This Space friends) who have tirelessly worked to bring The Duke’s artistic events to reality: head of the festival’s arts programming and Stoked curator Georgia Harmon, and Carve organiser Dark Ballad.

Klaudia Bartos – Cut Outs @ Absolution – March 13 – April 3, 2026

Over the last several years, Klaudia Bartos has produced a constantly evolving body of work, her twisted characters exploring a wide range of material forms and locations, from her plaster ‘clone’ heads found across the city to exhibitions of layered textile creations. For her latest show, Cut Outs at Absolution, Bartos continues to reframe her approach, exploring digital sketches and three-dimensional collage pieces. We sat down with the artist on opening night to discuss the collection, the process of putting together a show and how her work all connects.

Corners of Christchurch: Documenting Where Urban Art Meets the City

Corners of Christchurch’s vibrant pictures of Ōtautahi urban art have been unmissable on Instagram – the striking saturation adding an intensity to the presence of murals, graffiti and smaller interventions across the city’s terrain and providing a gripping juxtaposition with the blue skies, textured surfaces and physical layers of space. It is clear that these images are captured with thoughtful care and an eye for the wider context of art in public spaces. That care was made even more evident in the words Corners of Christchurch provided as an introduction to their photo essay – an earnest expression of the attraction, intrigue and community built around the city’s urban art.

Offline – An Interview with Sam Emerson

“Your favourite artist’s favourite artists” – it might seem braggadocious as a tagline, but in the case of Sam Emerson of Offline Collective, it reflects the way his work amplifies other creatives – from providing the atmospheric and evocative backdrops for musicians and festival stages, to his collaborations with artists in an increasing number of public projection-based installations. Deeply immersed in his craft and constantly exploring new ideas, Emerson continues to evolve his work technically and thematically, from audio reactivity to expressions of cultural identity. His recent public works, Hurihanga, produced with Flare Ōtautahi Street Art Festival and The Christ Church Cathedral, and Ruruku, produced with graffiti artist Drows for Tīrama Mai 2025, have suggested new possibilities for urban art, transforming architecture with striking sound and moving image, alternately beautiful and fiery. Discussing these works and his career trajectory, our conversation with Sam Emerson was wide-ranging and revealing of art’s ability to transcend defined parameters…

We Are Still Here – Pim van Duin @ The Art Hole

We Are Still Here is a simple concept — a figure dressed in a rudimentary sheet-slash-ghost costume photographed in locations around Ōtautahi. Yet in all its simplicity, Pim van Duin’s collection of striking black and white photographs is one my favourite exhibitions of 2025 — simultaneously charming, playful, evocative and haunting. Much like the ghost costume used in the project (also on display alongside the photographs and publication), We Are Still Here is layered. Surveying and inspecting the photographs, all shot in the existing lighting of the after-dark locations, it was hard not to be gripped with a sense of bittersweet whimsy, like looking at those creepy old Halloween photos, where the line between terrifying and cute is hard to locate. Stopping by The Art Hole, we spoke with Pim about We Are Still Here‘s origins, the process and the unexpected poignancy that a ghost costume can add to an environment…

TUNE! with Jonny Waters

We welcome Ōhinehou Lyttelton based artist Jonny Waters as our latest contributor to TUNE! Jonny is one of the founding figures behind Ōtepoti Hip Hop Hustle – a celebration of the culture’s various realms, and can sometimes (maybe) be found spinning tracks at a certain port village spot, so it is no surprise music is a vital ingredient in his creative profile. But it isn’t just hip hop – like his visual art practice, Jonny’s musical influences extend beyond beats, into the energy of punk, the atmosphere of indie, and a selection of classics. Read on to discover his album selections as our artist-created playlist continues to grow…

Roll Call – A Survey of Ōtautahi Urban Art and Artists

Watch This Space, in partnership with Art Walls Christchurch and The Welder is excited to present Roll Call – A Survey of Ōtautahi Urban Art and Artists – a huge group show featuring more than 60 local creatives and bringing the energy of the streets to the walls of The Welder!

The Little Street Art Festival 2024 – A Recap of Aotearoa’s Most Unique Street Art Festival!

With the countdown now beginning for the 2025 Little Street Art Festival, we thought it was a perfect time to recap the 2024 incarnation of the little festival with a big heart! Staged in December 2024 (which in itself is hard to fathom in the midst of our grey, bleak winter), the 2024 Little Street Art Festival was the second staging of the event, and presented a new roster of artists and activations – bringing fresh ideas around urban creativity to Ōtautahi – expanding the discourse around how art can exist in our streets, a reminder that small can be impactful and artists need not be restricted solely to the 2D format of muralism. Avoiding a curatorial theme, the 2024 Little Street Art Festival embraced diversity of narratives and materials, opening up new possibilities for artists and exposing audiences to fresh uses of urban space.