FIRST LIGHT: AUSTRALASIA’S LARGEST PUBLIC ART LIGHTWALL RETURNS

Australasia’s largest public art lightwall will once again illuminate Auckland’s waterfront this spring, with three leading wāhine Māori artists launching First Light – The Lightship’s 2026/27 curatorial programme.

The opening programme features new commissions by Ashleigh Taupaki, Ana Iti and Nova Paul – three leading wāhine Māori artists whose practices explore language, whenua, whakapapa and ecology.

Presented by Port of Auckland and curated by Simon Bowerbank, First Light brings six newly commissioned contemporary artworks to The Lightship across a year-long public art programme.

Stretching 110 metres across Bledisloe Wharf, standing 13 metres high and illuminated by approximately 8,500 LED lights, The Lightship has become one of Auckland’s most distinctive public art experiences over the past six years, transforming working port infrastructure into a free outdoor gallery where art, industry and public life meet.

First Light Opening Artists //

First Light explores one of Aotearoa’s defining experiences: arrival. Through six newly commissioned works presented across the year, the programme reflects on welcome, belonging and connection to place, considering the relationships between harbour, land and city, and between mana whenua and manuhiri.

Ashleigh Taupaki, Ana Iti and Nova Paul will present the first three opening commissions in First Light.

Taupaki is a multidisciplinary artist and writer, Ana Iti is the recipient of the Walters Prize, and Nova Paul is an internationally recognised artist and filmmaker whose work has screened at the Sundance Film Festival.  Together, their practices explore language, whenua, whakapapa and ecology through sculpture, moving image, film and research.

Three further artist commissions will be announced in early 2027, completing the six-part First Light programme.

First Light launches on 17 September 2026 and is free to experience every evening from dusk until dawn at The Lightship, Bledisloe Wharf.