The daughter of one of New Zealand's most prolific photographers is honoring her mother's artistic legacy with a special exhibition housed in an extraordinary location. "Washday at the Pa, A Survey" marks the first in what will become an annual series of exhibitions showcasing the works of Ans Westra, held in a historic former bank building on Wellington's Courtenay Place.
The exhibition space tells its own remarkable story. Directly beneath the old bank chamber lies a vault that once safeguarded cash and gold, and even served as an air raid shelter during World War II in 1943. Since Westra's death in 2023, this secure underground space has become the permanent home for her extensive photographic archive and personal belongings.
Lisa van Hulst, Westra's daughter, explained the deeply personal significance of preserving her mother's workspace in such a unique setting. "She was an eccentric person, so it was nice to be able to keep part of that personality alive," van Hulst told reporters. "It's really comforting to have somewhere that we know, part of her spirit still exists." The vault now houses an impressive collection of treasures including Westra's personal diaries, cameras, contact sheets, and even her dining table, creating an intimate glimpse into the photographer's creative world.
The exhibition focuses on never-before-seen images and materials from Westra's personal scrapbook, particularly highlighting her controversial early work. Van Hulst chose to showcase all the images her mother took for the notorious school journal "Washday at the Pa," believing it provided "a really good starting point" for understanding Westra's impact on New Zealand photography. The contact sheets displayed represent "part of an art form that people don't experience anymore with digital cameras," van Hulst noted.
The original "Washday at the Pa" journal, first published in 1964 by the Department of Education, documented a day in the life of a rural Māori family but sparked significant controversy. Wellington City Council's Māori arts and events facilitator, Suzanne Tamaki, explained that the Māori Women's Welfare League in the 1960s was deeply upset because they felt the publication portrayed Māori people in a negative light. The backlash was so severe that all 38,000 copies of the school journal were ordered to be sent to Wellington and destroyed, a decision that generated public and academic debate for decades to follow.
Despite the controversy surrounding her early work, Westra's photographic contributions to documenting New Zealand life are now widely recognized. Tamaki acknowledged that while the images were problematic in their original context, "the photos did provide a small snapshot of 1960s rural New Zealand." She praised Westra as "an incredible photographer" who "did capture place and time, and things really were like that for some people."
Throughout her career, Westra continued to document daily life across New Zealand and the Pacific region, amassing an estimated 320,000 photographs over several decades. Her unique approach to photography earned admiration from those familiar with her work. "She's right there, in the middle of it, almost invisible, like she's just capturing these gorgeous moments," Tamaki observed, highlighting Westra's ability to blend into her subjects' environments and capture authentic, unguarded moments.
"Washday at the Pa, A Survey" will run until October 5, offering visitors a rare opportunity to explore both Westra's controversial early work and her broader artistic legacy. The exhibition includes a limited number of public tours that provide access to the Ans Westra Vault, giving art enthusiasts and photography lovers a chance to experience this unique memorial space and gain deeper insights into the life and work of one of New Zealand's most significant documentary photographers.
