Opens 15th August 2026 (closing date TBC)

A landmark exhibition is coming to Hui Te Ananui a Tangaroa the New Zealand Maritime Museum

Our Ocean of Islands brings together the Indigenous knowledge and practices of 24 Moana Oceania island nations, including Tangata Whenua and all 17 island nations with diaspora communities in Aotearoa.

Developed alongside key contributors from each island nation, the exhibition celebrates the connections between peoples, lands, seas and skies through ancestors, cultural traditions, stories, creative expressions, and Indigenous voices.

Whether you have personal connections to Moana Oceania or are discovering something new, Our Ocean of Islands invites you to explore the diversity, creativity and living knowledge that continue to shape life across our ocean of islands.

Featuring 24 island nations:

• Aotearoa | Indigenous Australia | Belau/Palau | Cook Islands | Fiji | Hawai‘i | Lamoireg, Federated States of Micronesia | Marshall Islands | Naoero | New Caledonia | Niue | Pitcairn | Papua New Guinea | Rotuma | Samoa | Solomon Islands | Tahiti | Taiwan | Tokelau | Tonga | Tungaru/Kiribati | Tuvalu | Vanuatu | West Papua

Our Ocean of Islands was devised and led by Lagi-Maama Academy & Consultancy in partnership with Hui Te Ananui a Tangaroa New Zealand Maritime Museum.

Founded by Toluma'anave Barbara Makuati-Afitu and Kolokesa Uafā Māhina-Tuai, Lagi-Maama work involves mediating at the intersection of Indigenous communities and institutional settings to create a harmonious time and space by embedding different ways of knowing, feeling, seeing and doing.

Make sure you check the museum website for exhibition dates and visiting times.

Related Links:

• Hui Te Ananui a Tangaroa New Zealand Maritime Museum website

• Hui Te Ananui a Tangaroa New Zealand Maritime Museum Instagram

• Lagi Maama website

• Lagi Maama Instagram

3rd - 9th October 2026

Organised by Arts Council Nelson, Nelson Clay Week is a biennial celebration of ceramics that brings together potters, artists, makers, and educators from across Aotearoa and overseas to share skills, ideas, and a passion for clay. Through exhibitions, workshops, demonstrations, talks and community events, the festival transforms Nelson into a vibrant hub of creativity and connection.

The impact of Nelson Clay Week reaches far beyond the studio. The influx of visitors and participants energises the city, supporting local businesses while creating opportunities for people of all ages to engage with ceramics in new and inspiring ways.

Now in its third edition, Nelson Clay Week continues to strengthen its place within Aotearoa's clay community. As a gathering point for established artists, emerging makers, and curious newcomers alike, it plays an important role in fostering collaboration, sharing knowledge and techniques, and ensuring ceramics continues to thrive as a craft, an artform, and a living industry in New Zealand.

24th October - 15th November

Bagurrk Murrup – Kotahitanga is a groundbreaking exhibition bringing together contemporary Māori and Indigenous Australian wāhine (women) jewellers for the first time. Presented in Naarm (Melbourne) as part of Radiant Pavilion 2026 at Blak Dot Gallery.

Grounded in the principles of kotahitanga and whakawhanaungatanga, this kaupapa centres Indigenous ways of knowing, making, and being. Through adornment, each artist carries stories of whenua, whakapapa, and identity — activating jewellery not only as wearable form, but as a vessel for memory, resistance, and cultural continuity. Together, these works form a layered dialogue that speaks across generations, geographies, and lived experience.

Representing Aotearoa are Dr Areta Wilkinson, Gina Matchitt, Neke Moa, Turumeke Harrington, Tiahuia Arapeta, and Keri-Mei Zagrobelna — a collective of wāhine whose practices are grounded in mātauranga Māori and contemporary adornment. Their work reflects deep relationships to material, ancestral knowledge, and the ongoing evolution of Māori visual language.

They are joined by Aboriginal artists Maree Clarke, Molly Mahoney, Lisa Waup, Juanita McLauchlan, and Carly Tarkari Dodd. Together, these artists bring powerful practices grounded in Country, cultural revitalisation, and intergenerational knowledge. Their work spans jewellery, adornment, and installation, often activating traditional techniques alongside contemporary materials to assert presence, resilience, and sovereignty.

Bagurrk Murrup – Kotahitanga marks a significant moment of Indigenous exchange — one that not only acknowledges shared histories of colonisation and survival, but also celebrates the strength, innovation, and leadership of wāhine artists working today. This exhibition creates space for visibility on an international stage, while nurturing relationships that extend beyond the gallery context.

At its core, this is a kaupapa of connection — honouring where we come from, standing in who we are, and shaping the creative futures of Indigenous adornment.

Radiant Pavilion showcases contemporary jewellery and object practice from Naarm/Melbourne and around the world. Since 2015, it has grown over five editions to become an important point of connection for the creative community, offering opportunities to meet, collaborate, and present work in new ways. With a focus on making and exhibition practice, the program spans technical to conceptual work and traditional to experimental forms of presentation.

Radiant Pavilion 2026 runs from 24th October to 1st November.

Related Links:

• Bagurrk Murrup – Kotahitanga on Facebook

• Blak Dot Gallery website

• Radiant Pavilion website

5th - 15th November 2026

The 2026 Craft + Design Canberra Festival celebrates Canberra as a creative city of design, showcasing the work of more than 500 artists, makers, designers and creative thinkers. Over ten days, experience more than 130 activations, including events, exhibitions, markets, open studios, performances, public artworks, symposiums, talks, tours and workshops across the city.

Responding to the theme of Dissent, the Festival explores how craft, design and creative practice can question what exists, challenge convention and imagine different ways forward. Discover work engaging with environmental and social impact, sustainability, wellbeing, accessibility and the future of Canberra.

Celebrating the handmade and locally made, the Festival recognises the skills, stories and material knowledge held within our creative communities. Together, the program considers craft, design and art as practical tools for responding to the challenges of our time and shaping more sustainable, equitable and imaginative futures.

The program is now live, full of free and ticketed events for young and old. Tickets are available through their website. The Festival also provides six Itineraries, allowing visitors to enjoy a more tailored experience to suit their interests.

Related Links:

• Craft + Design Canberra Festival website

• Craft + Design Canberra Festival Instagram

• Craft + Design Canberra Festival Facebook

• Craft + Design Canberra website

October 2027 (Final dates TBC)

The Indian Ocean Craft Triennial (IOTA) is a not-for-profit arts organisation based on Noongar Country in Western Australia that connects artists, curators and communities across the Indian Ocean region through contemporary craft.

Launched in 2021, the Triennial presents a major international exhibition in partnership with Western Australian institutions, alongside an international conference, and a statewide festival of community exhibitions and events. Through residencies, exchanges and public programs, IOTA builds cultural links between Australia and countries across the region.

The third installment of the Indian Ocean Craft Triennial is returning in 2027, and plans are already underway including the announcement of the theme:

“When you look at the ocean, you see the sky”

When you look deeply at one element, you encounter another.

This in-between space mirrors the world of craft: a threshold between tradition and innovation, body and spirit, local knowledge and global exchange.

Craft is intercultural and often being remixed. Here, unity is not sameness but interconnection; every element shapes and is shaped by another.

The Indian Ocean is a space of plurality, where local and global, tradition and innovation, individual and collective are reflected.

You can stay up to date as planning unfolds by following IOTA on Instagram and Facebook, and you can sign up for their newsletter via their website.

Related Links:

• About IOTA

• IOTA Instagram

• IOTA Facebook