22 October 2026 — 17 January 2027
Karl Fritsch and Gavin Hipkins:
Die Ausgrabung
Artists’ Talk • Thursday 22 October • 4:30 - 5:15PM
Opening Celebration • Thursday 22 October • 5:30 - 7:30PM
Die Ausgrabung (2014) is a multidisciplinary collaboration between leading Aotearoa artists Karl Fritsch and Gavin Hipkins.
The project was initially exhibited in conjunction with a joint artists’ residency at the Dunedin School of Art, Otago Polytechnic. This is the first showing of Die Ausgrabung in Tāmaki Makaurau.
Karl Fritsch and Gavin Hipkins, Die Ausgrabung, 2014 (detail). Image courtesy of the artists.
The German phrase Die Ausgrabung translates literally as ‘the excavation’. Comprising multiple elements, the installation presents image and object fragments that contribute to a holistically atmospheric viewing experience in which no part is more important than any other. This intentional democratisation of parts reflects the project’s conceptual underpinnings, which reference an imaginary excavation and the resultant artefacts presented for display. The exhibition explores a multi-layered approach to land as a contested site, particularly its historic and contemporary uses, including mining. The presentation of Die Ausgrabung at The Arts House Trust revisits a pertinent discussion of land care and resourcing at a time when ‘fast-track’ mining projects threaten ecologies in balance.
The artists acknowledge the generous support of Dunedin School of Art and Hamish McKay. With special thanks to the artists’ galleries: Hamish McKay, Lett Thomas (Gavin Hipkins), Season Aotearoa, Fingers, and The National (Karl Fritsch).
About the artists
Karl Fritsch
Karl Fritsch is a Pōneke-based artist. He has exhibited extensively nationally and internationally. His rings reference traditional goldsmithing techniques, yet they dramatically reframe their expressive range, making him one of the most influential contemporary jewellery makers.
His work is held in the collections of leading museums and public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, and Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington.
Gavin Hipkins
Gavin Hipkins is an award-winning Tāmaki Makaurau-based artist. He has exhibited widely over the last three decades. His photography and moving image works interrogate how images create meaning through fragmentation and circulation. His work explores the nation state, particularly in colonised countries in an era of re-imagined communities and ideas of social and political utopia. His practice engages film as a cinematic art that blurs conventional genres of essay film, documentary and experimental narrative structures.
His work is included in public collections including the Queensland Art Gallery, the Auckland Art Gallery, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and George Eastman Museum of Photography and Film, New York. He is an Associate Professor at Te Waka Tūhura Elam Fine Arts, the University of Auckland.
Events & Public Programme
Artists’ Talk • Moderated by Sarah McClintock
Thursday 22 October • 4:30 - 5:15PMOpening Celebration
Thursday 22 October • 5:30 - 7:30PM