Kermadec is produced and toured by The Pew Environment Group in association with Voyager Maritime Museum and Tauranga Art Gallery. 

In May 2011, the Kermadec Initiative of the Pew Environment Group invited nine contemporary artists to travel together to the Kermadec region of New Zealand aboard the HMNZS Otago, voyaging from Auckland to Raoul Island then on to Tonga. The exhibition Kermadec showcases art works that were inspired by this voyage.

The Kermadec artists are inter-media artist Phil Dadson, documentary filmmaker Bruce Foster, leading Australian sculptor and installation artist Fiona Hall, text-based artist Gregory O'Brien, photographer Jason O'Hara, Niuean-born John Pule, painter John Reynolds, Wellington-based sculptor Elizabeth Thomson and one of New Zealand's most acclaimed artists, Dame Robin White.

The Kermadec Initiative is a project of the Global Ocean Legacy programme of The Pew Environment Group. This initiative seeks to raise awareness about one of the greatest, least known natural wilderness areas on the planet.

In 2010, the National Geographic Society and Census of Marine Life declared the Kermadecs one of the "last pristine sites left in the ocean". The long-term goal for the initiative is to ensure the creation of a Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary, which would afford protection to the entire Kermadec region and would be the world’s largest marine reserve.

Kermadec Speaker Series

Hear the story behind the expedition and exhibition at these Kermadec Speaker Series events. 

The Kermadec Region - a living legacy
Thursday 31 May, 6.30pm
Speaker: Bronwen Golder

Experiencing the Kermadecs - documentary screening
Thursday 28 June, 6.30pm
Speakers: Bruce Foster and Jason O'Hara

Watch the documentary with the artists themselves, then discover the stunning collection of contemporary art in the Edmiston Gallery.