Artwork information

This is the first photograph that Adams made in Rotorua. Intrigued by Adams’ photographs of George Ihaka Brown’s painted carvings, Rotorua Art Gallery Director John Perry invited Adams to Rotorua to create a new body of work for an exhibition. He believed the Rotorua region, with its complex and highly visible histories of Māori and Pākehā interactions and strong carving traditions, would likely appeal to Adams. This photograph shows a car parked up outside Te Āo Marama, for many years the home of the Māori Arts and Crafts Institute. Painted text cautions, ‘KEEP CLEAR’.

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Sarah Farrar, Mark Adams: A Survey | He Kohinga Whakaahua, 2025