Ans Westra | Washday at the Pa, a Survey: Courtenay Creative
18 September - 5 October 2025
  • Open daily (except Mondays) from 10am - 4pm, 49 Courtenay Place, Wellington. {Suite} and the Ans Westra Estate are pleased...

    Open daily (except Mondays) from 10am - 4pm, 49 Courtenay Place, Wellington.

     

    {Suite} and the Ans Westra Estate are pleased to present, for the first time, the entire series of photograhps made by Ans Westra in Ruatōria in 1963 for Washday at the Pa. 

     

    First published by the Department of Education in 1964 and distributed as a school journal, Washday at the Pa describes a day in the lives of a rural Māori family with nine children. The family was given the fictitious name ‘Wereta’ to protect their identity, and their location was given as ‘near Taihape’, not Ruatōria. The images showed the joy of childhood in a large loving family, however, their living conditions were seen as poor and their rural home rundown. The title was also deemed to be misleading, as the family did not live in a pa, but in a private dwelling. 

     

    Soon after publication, the Māori Women’s Welfare League raised concerns that the images would lead readers—impressionable children—to see the family and their living conditions as representative of all Māori. The League claimed that the book would have a “detrimental effect” on Māori people – and that the living conditions portrayed were atypical.

  • In August 1964, at the request of the League, the journal was withdrawn by order of the Minister of Education....

    In August 1964, at the request of the League, the journal was withdrawn by order of the Minister of Education. All 38,000 copies of the school journal, and unsold copies stocked in the Government Bookshops chain, were ordered to be sent to Wellington and destroyed. This decision led to public and academic discussion over censorship in the following decades.

     

    Later in 1964 Washday at the Pa was republished privately by the Caxton Press in Christchurch. A third edition was published in 2011 that included photos from a subsequent project Washday at the Pa Revisited where Westra had photographed some of the same whānau again in 1998.

     

    The location of this exhibition - Courtenay Creative - is the former site of the National Bank. Designed in the style of Chicago-esque neo-Classical architecture, the National Bank operated here for 67 years after opening in 1928.

     

    Directly below the bank chamber is the vault, which has been home for Ans’ work and archive since her passing in 2023. On display there is a library of publications featuring Ans’ images, her cameras, material and ephemera related to her art practice and life. The Ans Westra Vault also serves as secure storage for Ans’ print archive, albums and proof sheets.

     

    While the exhibition is showing, {Suite} will host a limited number of tours to the Ans Westra Vault. To register to attend a tour please click here.

     

    Archival pigment prints of the images in this exhibition are for sale and part of an edition of 25, 380 x 380 mm image size, $2,500 incl. GST plus framing (use the enquire button next to individual images).  To view other works available by Ans click here.

     

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