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Aperture and Attitude: Writing through the lens

Join poet Helen Rickerby for a writing workshop in response to the exhibition Slow Burn: Women and Photography | Ahi Tāmau: Māreikura Whakaahua.

When | Āhea

Sat 17 Oct 2026, 10.00am–12.00pm

Where | Ki hea

Slow Burn | Ahi Tāmau, Hīnātore, and Espresso, Level 4

Cost | Te utu

$40 (includes High Tea), with museum entry

Accessibility

  • Workshop is wheelchair accessible

  • Seating available for Curator Talk

For any other accessibility requirements please contact LPTeam@tepapa.govt.nz

Book now

In association with VERB Wellington, join us for a day of photography and writing. Start the day in the Slow Burn | Ahi Tāmau exhibition as Curator Photography Lissa Mitchell delves into the stories behind the dynamic photographs.

Then, join poet Helen Rickerby to create your own written works of art inspired by the exhibition. Finally, finish with a Slow Burn-themed high tea to connect with other writers.

Limited to 15 participants. Booking essential. 

Helen Rickerby lives in a cliff-top tower in Aro Valley, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. She has published five and a half collections of poetry, most recently My Bourgeois Apocalypse (Auckland University Press, 2026), and How to Live (2019), which won the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry at the 2020 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. She’s co-organised poetry conferences and literary events, and single-handedly ran Seraph Press – a boutique but significant publisher of New Zealand poetry. She earns a crust as an editor and technical writer.

Brian Brake Lens on the World exhibition opening. Photo by Kate Whitley. Te Papa (55689)

Kōanga After Dark 2024. Photo by Jo Moore. Te Papa (249784)

Eat Your Art Out high tea at Te Papa, 2026. Photo by Beeline Creative. Te Papa (279559)

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