Te Manu Atua is an art installation project, celebrating the Māori new year on Karangahape Road. Kites were believed to be messengers, and like birds, they were considered to have spiritual connections with the gods. The community are invited to write down their own messages to the Atua and loved ones in this interactive installation.

The event is on daily to 6pm and closes on Sunday 14 July.

You and your toddler can learn rhymes, action songs and finger plays to share in a friendly and relaxed environment at Rhyme Times at Te Manawa.

Suitable for children aged 2 to 4  years, but all welcome.

Every Friday there are two 30 minutes sessions, one at 9.30am and the next at  11am during school term. 

Note this event is not on in the school holidays.

Mandela My Life: The Official Exhibition is on at the iconic Eden Park, where in 1981 flour bombs were dropped in protest at the Apartheid regime and the ongoing imprisonment of the future South African president.

The exhibition will provide visitors with a glimpse into the extraordinary personal life of Nelson Mandela. Produced by iEC Exhibitions, Museums Victoria, and TEG Live in full collaboration with The Nelson Mandela Foundation based in South Africa, this brand-new world class exhibition arrives direct from the prestigious Melbourne Museum, exhibiting in Auckland as part of a 5-year worldwide tour.

Expertly curated by a team of Museums Victoria staff headed by iEC Exhibitions’ Samantha Heywood, Mandela My Life: The Official Exhibition features over 200 original artefacts, documents, personal items and artworks from The Nelson Mandela Foundation and Nelson Mandela’s private collection. This is the most comprehensive collection ever to be shown outside of South Africa.

Book online, or purchase at box office on the day

The exhibit is open from 10am to 4pm each day until Sunday 4 August 2019*

*Hours may be subject to change due to private events, so please check with the organiser before you go to make sure it is open on the day you want to go..

The Delicate Balance of Wobbling Stars is an exhibition by nationally renowned weaver, Maureen Lander, to celebrate Matariki 2019. Lander uses woven stars to represent Te Iwa o Matariki, and explores the astronomical phenomenon of “wobbling stars”, star motion that can be seen amid constellations.

Exhibition suitable for all ages. The exhibition is on daily from 6th June to the 19th July, apart from Sunday’s when the museum is closed.

Children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult.

Have fun exploring cutting-edge science in this inspiring new family exhibition at MOTAT

Hands-on interactives will help visitors get to grips with the science of photonics, advanced materials and nanotechnology.

How do you bend light? How small is nano? How are advanced materials being used in our everyday lives? This thought-provoking exhibition aims to inspire kids to engage with STEM subjects and have fun along the way.

Mighty Small Mighty Bright is the result of an exciting partnership between MOTAT, The Dodd-Walls Centre for Photonic and Quantum Technologies, The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, and Otago Museum.

Recommended for families with children aged 8 to 12 years.

Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki presents Frances Hodgkins: European Journeys, a major exhibition of work by one of New Zealand’s most influential artists.

The exhibition which is FREE for children is open from 10am to 5pm daily until Sunday 1 September 2019.

Frances Hodgkins: European Journeys is the culmination of a significant international project that brings together artworks from New Zealand and around the globe to explore the artist’s place in 20th-century art. The exhibition traces Frances Hodgkins’ creative and peripatetic life through France, Morocco and Spain to her final days in England, examining the influence of location on her development as a modernist painter and the notion of travel and journeying as a source of artistic inspiration.

Born in Dunedin, Frances Hodgkins (1869–1947) left for Europe in 1901 and, by the late 1920s, had become an important figure within British Modernism, exhibiting with avant-garde artists such as Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore. With a professional life that spanned almost six decades, the two World Wars, and periods of massive social and cultural change, Hodgkins caught the spirit of a new age. Today, she is celebrated as one of New Zealand’s most successful expatriate artists of the 20th century, and has an ongoing legacy in both Europe and this country.

The exhibition includes more than 150 artworks produced between 1901 and 1946: from early watercolour travel sketches of the French Riviera, Morocco and Venice, through to her first contact with modernism in Paris, and oil paintings from her later life in Britain.

Dedicated to exposing discrimination in the art world, in politics and in the film and music industries, the Guerrilla Girls is an anonymous collective of feminist activist artists. Formed as a collective more than 30 years ago, the Guerrilla Girls’ gorilla-mask costumes, bold visual language and frank, humorous messages have rendered them iconic in the history of art and as part of wider social movements. Guerrilla Girls: Reinventing the ‘F’ Word – Feminism! follows the collective’s artistic practice from 1984 until 2016 and explores how they employ bold, fun and provocative poster art to criticise ongoing biases in art and society.

The exhibition is recommended for teenagers aged 13 years plus as there is some mature subject matter relating to oversexualisation of Hollywood and reproductive rights. 

The exhibition is open daily from 10am to 5pm until Friday 11 October 2019.

Image credits: Guerrilla Girls © George Lange 1990

Carried Away: Bags Unpacked showcases over 150 individual bags from Auckland Museum’s collection, many on display for the first time.

Every bag has a history, a story to tell – from haute couture fashion to cultural traditions. Bags can convey social standing, practical needs or be a statement of art.

From curious creations such as an albatross foot purse and bear gut bag with fur trim, to taonga imbued with Māori and Pacific cultural values such as kete and bilum, the exhibition explores the stories associated with their creation and the people who used them.

Carried Away: Bags Unpacked exhibition is on until 1 December 2019 in the Special Exhibition Hall.

The Aotea Square Ice Rink and Ice Slide are back!

Enjoy an exciting variety of special events including themed parties, skating lessons and much more.

Take a spin or a slide on the ice in the heart of the city and experience the magic of your very own winter playground.

Helmets and skating frames for beginners are available for hire.

Open from 10am to 11pm daily until Sunday 28 July 2019. Skating time limit is 90 minutes.

This year’s host iwi for Matariki Festival, Waikato-Tainui, have created a stunning display featuring te whetuu tapu o te tau hou Maaori (the sacred star of the Maaori new year) on the Auckland Harbour Bridge. Interweaving history, genealogy and storytelling, this stunning light show presents the stories of Taamaki Makaurau from a Waikato-Tainui perspective. Vector Lights for Matariki Festival is also part of Elemental AKL. The accompanying soundtrack features songs that have been composed specifically for this time of year and can be accessed from the Vector Lights website.

The show runs for 8 minutes every half hour.

Catch the popular Matariki Dawn show, a Stardome production that looks at the cultural and astronomical aspects of Matariki, a group of spectacular stars. From the comfort of your reclined seat under the 360-degree theatre dome, you’ll fly out to Matariki, learn the Maori names of the seven visible stars, find out why we see Matariki at certain times of the year and discover why the lunar calendar is important.

Not only do you experience a Matariki flyby using the planetarium technology, the show also includes three beautifully animated Maori legends. First, watch the tale of Ranginui, the Sky Father and Papatuanuku, the Earth Mother and how their son, Tanemahuta, pushed them apart to bring light into the world. Then, listen to the story of how the shadows on the Moon came to be in the tale of Rona and the Moon. Lastly, follow the journey of Tama Rereti and The Great Waka and discover how he created a beautiful string of stars in the night sky.

Recommended for family viewing, ages 6 years plus.

Bookings essential.

Big band night is back for one evening of great music, the show will feature four High School Big Bands from Eastern suburbs: Edgewater, Howick, Pakuranga ad Sancta Maria Colleges. The bands will play a variety of popular jazz styles such as swing, Latin and funk as well as classic standards from Count Basie and Duke Ellington.

Tight passes. Soft touches. Hustle out there and mark your man. Every Saturday, nine teenage girls come together to train and play soccer. They’re high achievers and burnouts, insiders and outsiders, best friends and vicious bullies and – often – they’re all of the above, all at once.

Bristling with confidence and ferocious energy, Sarah DeLappe’s barnstorming, Pulitzer Prize-nominated debut is a frank and hilarious portrait of nine young warriors – messy, mean and full of compassion – working out who they are and the battles they’ll have to fight.

For the first time in Silo’s history, the company casts a powerhouse ensemble of teenage performers.

Recommended for teenagers aged 14 years plus and adults.

Duration: 90 minutes