Christchurch – Watch This Space

A Home Away From Home – Jay ‘Daken’ Skelton at Ronald McDonald House

For over 20 years, Ronald McDonald House Christchurch, located on Cashel Street, has provided a ‘home-away-from-home’ for families travelling to Ōtautahi for medical treatment. A welcoming space for whānau to find respite from hospital rooms, Ronald McDonald House provides warm hospitality in tough times, a truly vital service that removes further stress for families already dealing with so much.

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.

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…

Yarnarchy ’25 – An Interview with Kate Finnerty

Gap Filler’s Yarnarchy is a unique part of Ōtautahi’s urban creative scene — a festival dedicated to yarn-bombing and craftivism that celebrates both the power of urban intervention and the ability of urban craft to engage a diverse audience and community of artists — turning those with a passion for craft into street artists! Founded by Gap Filler’s Play Programme Coordinator Kate Finnerty, Yarnarchy is a vibrant activation and reconsideration of the city that is now into its fourth year. Growing and evolving over the last three festivals, 2025 is now in full swing, with an array of surprising artworks installed and a special collaboration with the amazing Jolt Dance — a local organisation that empowers people through the accessibility of dance. We chatted with Kate about Yarnarchy, the roots of the event, its evolution and why it is such a powerful experience…

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.

Prints and Beats – Dark Ballad x Gothic Crash @ Flying Nun Records

On Friday 18th June, Ōtautahi’s ‘master of the dark arts’ Dark Ballad will present a range of new works, including prints and one-of-a-kind hand-printed tees, in an exhibition at Flying Nun Records’ new store at 143 Tuam Street. Alongside the visual works by Dark Ballad, DJ Crash Gothic will also spin a musical set – making this a perfect way to warm up in the midst of a Christchurch winter! Dark Ballad has been building his reputation as a visual force, with his striking print work, from posters in the streets to gallery pieces and record covers, recognisable for their strong graphic qualities and evocative imagery. This presentation of new work, including a range of collaborations with local creatives, is sure to be fire!

Prints and Beats – Dark Ballad X Crash Gothic @ Flying Nun Records, 5pm-7pm, Friday 18 June, 2025

Chromatic Oscillations – An Interview with Drez

Good things take time – that’s what they say, anyway. It’s hard to believe that it was mid-March when we sat down with Melbourne artist Drez to reflect on his whirlwind visit to Ōtautahi for the Flare Street Art Festival, where does the time go? With a lot going on, it has taken us a while to finally publish our conversation (conducted in a car in Phillipstown just before Drez departed for the airport!), but we know it is worth the wait! After getting to know Drez as he painted his striking mural on St Asaph Street, it was a privilege to take the chance to dive a bit deeper into his practice, his influences and the comparative cultural and historic landscapes of Aotearoa and Australia. A thoughtful and reflective presence, Drez reveals the importance that he places on his work’s ability to engage its audience through colour and form, eliciting a direct connection between art and experience…