Author Talk: Botanical illustration and art
26 May 2026 - 26 May 2026
5:30–6:30 pm
Region(s): Wellington
Type(s): presentations
A free free author talk that delves into the beautiful world of botanical illustration and art.
Come along to this event that will take a deep dive into the history, significant figures and contemporary developments in botanical art and illustration. Explore the fascinating and stunning visual pages of Flora: celebrating our botanical world and Groundwork: The Art and Writing of Emily Cumming Harris, with authors Rebecca Rice and Catherine Field-Dodgson.
About the speakers
Dr Rebecca Rice
Dr Rebecca Rice is Senior Curator Art at Te Papa. In her curatorial practice and research, Rebecca is committed to rethinking the legacies of Aotearoa New Zealand’s colonial visual archive. She brings her historical knowledge to bear when also writing on and speaking about modern and contemporary art. Her current research focuses on nineteenth-century women botanical artists, the visual culture of the New Zealand Wars, and the impact of impressionism on New Zealand artists at home and abroad.
Rebecca is co-author with Matariki Williams of Ngā Tai Whakarongorua | Encounters, awarded AAANZ Best small exhibition catalogue in 2021, and co-editor of Te Ata ō Tu: The Shadow of Tūmatauenga ӏ The New Zealand Wars Collections of Te Papa, shortlisted for the Ockham New Zealand's Best Illustrated Non-fiction book, 2025.
Catherine Field-Dodgson
Catherine Field-Dodgson (Rongowhakaata, Ngāi Tāmanuhiri, Te Aitanga a Mahaki) is the author of a 2003 Master’s thesis that included the first detailed study of Emily Harris’s exhibiting practices. She is active in community and environmental organisations and a beginner learner of te reo Māori. She is currently researching her great-great-grandmother Keita Halbert/Wyllie/Gannon and her connections to Tūranga.
Location: Ngā Pou Ruahine (Lvl 2), Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui Central Library, Wellington.
For more information: www.wcl.govt.nz/news/author-talk-botanical-illustration-art-tues-26-may/.
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Activity ideas
Let’s look at flowers uses hand-on observations of flowers to identify different parts of a flower and understand their functions. Plant parts relate commonly eaten foods to different parts of the flowering plant life cycle.
Labelling the parts of a pua/flower – bilingual and English versions for students to use online and/or paper based to identify and label parts of a pua/flower.
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