The Aotea Centre is a performing arts and events centre in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Located at the western edge of Aotea Square, off Queen Street, the centre provides a cultural, entertainment and conventions venue space in the heart of the city, and is managed b
Auckland Unlimited
(which also operates the

Auckland Town Hall Auckland Town Hall is an Edwardian building on Queen Street in the Auckland CBD, New Zealand, known both for its original and ongoing use for administrative functions (such as Council meetings and hearings), as well as its famed Great Hall and ...

and The Civic, both in the vicinity of the Square). The origin of its name is Motu Aotea, the

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

name for

Great Barrier Island Great Barrier Island ( mi, Aotea) lies in the outer Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand, north-east of central Auckland. With an area of it is the sixth-largest island of New Zealand and fourth-largest in the main chain. Its highest point, Mount Hobson ...

, which is the largest offshore island of New Zealand and approximately 90 km from downtown Auckland. The main construction of the centre was finished in 1989, having cost NZ$128.5 million. The centre officially opened the following year. Designed by the City architect Ewen Wainscott in 1974, the building was not actually built until more than a decade later. It won the NZIA Silver Medal award. Costs escalated greatly during construction resulting in several features being omitted. Due to poor acoustics, the main auditorium required a refit in the mid-1990s and underwent refurbishment in 2012. In the wake of this, the theatre won the inaugural Best Medium Venue at th
Entertainment Venues of New Zealand (EVANZ)
awards in late 2013. The Centre provides a range of foyers, gallery spaces, and function rooms as well as the 2,139 sea
Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre
(formerly ASB Theatre, renamed in 2019) and the much smaller, 186-sea
Herald Theatre
which is mainly used by small independent theatre companies. In 2000 a design competition was held for the Aotea Precinct, and the winner was the landscape architecture-urban design team consisting of Ted Smyth, Rod Barnett and Dushko Bogunovich. In 2011, an upgrade o
Aotea Square
also included a major facelift of the public stairs in front of the Centre, including creating a cafe space
The Terrace Café
under a large veranda open to the Square. The Centre has hosted the 2023 FIFA Womens World Cup to be held in Australia and New Zealand. Several significant New Zealand artworks are on display in the foyers of the Aotea Centre, including the acclaimed digital work,
Ihi
', by

Lisa Reihana Lisa Marie Reihana (born 1964) is a New Zealand artist. Her video work, ''In Pursuit of Venus nfected' (2015), which examines early encounters between Polynesians and European explorers, was featured at the 2017 Venice Biennale. Early life ...

, or the very artistic Aotea Cartouche by Dennis O'Connor made from Eritrea marble and Mt Somers limestone. Out front they have a huge attraction, Waharoa. ‘Waharoa’ is a seven metre high gateway and stands at the entrance to Aotea Square, transforming it into a marae or meeting place. The Aotea Centre also holds Terry Stringer's sculpture of

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Dame Kiri Jeanette Claire Te Kanawa , (; born Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron, 6 March 1944) is a retired New Zealand opera singer. She had a full lyric soprano voice, which has been described as "mellow yet vibrant, warm, ample and unforced". Te ...

, made of bronze, this statue sits on Level 3 of Aotea Centre, adjacent to Door D into the Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre and was unveiled by

herself. Finally we have Taula, the Anchor Stone. Donated from the people of the

Pacific Islands Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of se ...

This was given to

at the 1998 Pacific Vision Conference and places itself by the level 2 stalls at the front of the Aotea Centre, The arrow points to the north-east, in the direction of central Polynesia. The arrangement also suggests Aotearoa New Zealand’s North and South Islands. There have been many shows and concerts at the Aotea Centre. They have a very wide variety, from cultural shows to DJ's. The acclaimed Nepal Festival was held at this venue in previous years.

References

External links

Photographs of Aotea Square
held in Auckland Libraries' heritage collections. Buildings and structures in Auckland Theatres in Auckland Arts centres in New Zealand Convention centres in New Zealand Tourist attractions in Auckland 1980s architecture in New Zealand Auckland CBD {{NewZealand-struct-stub