Courtenay Place light boxes

A New Zealand first, the Courtenay Place light boxes form a highly public exhibition space in the midst of Wellington’s central city environment.

The eight 3-metre high steel and glass LED light boxes were designed as an integral part of Courtenay Place and were unveiled in May 2008.

The light boxes encourage people to reflect on this busy and diverse urban centre, even if just for a minute.

Each exhibition lasts for four to six months.

These light boxes are located at 77-97 Courtenay Place - view on Google Maps.

Current exhibition

Ko Te Reo ō Ngā Tāngata | The People’s Voice

Ko Te Reo ō Ngā Tāngata / The People’s Voice

Artist: Wellington City Council City Housing tenants with Mark Amery, Anna Brown and David Cook

Until Sunday 4 June 2023

Ko Te Reo ō Ngā Tāngata | The People’s Voice is the new outdoor exhibition installed in the Courtenay Place Light Boxes, featuring text, images, and art, in a long column-style broadsheet format, from Wellington City Council City Housing tenants.

Tenants, mainly from Granville Flats, Central Park, Newtown Park, and Te Ara Hou Flats, have written stories, created artworks, and taken photographs that express life in City Housing which presents a counter-narrative to the often negative stereotype of social housing.

Over 30 tenants from a wide range of cultural backgrounds worked with facilitators David Cook (photography and art), Mark Amery (writing editor), and Anna Brown (designer) on the independent art project.

The project also includes the contributions in a citizen’s newspaper with creative writing, columns, stories, photography, artwork, and even crosswords, to be printed by the Dominion Post in late March and distributed as an insert and by hand around City Housing facilities.

“Ko Te Reo ō Ngā Tāngata provides the voices of those living in social housing. The exhibition and newspaper provide tenants’ views on some immediate issues that affect them, and demonstrates the connectedness and creativity of our social housing communities,” says facilitator David Cook.

The project is created with the support of the Wellington City Council Public Art Fund, Toi Āria: Design for Public Good, Toi Rauwhārangi, College of Creative Arts Massey University, and the Dominion Post.

Read more about Ko Te Reo ō Ngā Tāngata / The People’s Voice.

How to exhibit

For info on how to have your work exhibited in the lightboxes, see our exhibition opportunities page.

Previous exhibitions

View information and images from past projects. 

Contact us

Eve Armstrong, Senior Arts Advisor

Mobile: 021 227 8207

Email: eve.armstrong@wcc.govt.nz