"Light out of Darkness: Paintings to the poetry of the Rig Veda" was a series of paintings by the Manawatū artist Paul Harvey, that draws on the Rig Veda - a visionary poetic text of ancient India, to address the relevance of the Vedic spiritual tradition to contemporary consciousness. The expressionistic form of these paintings carried a symbolist content in the Vedic gods, who stand for both cosmic forces and qualities in human consciousness.

As well as being an historical archive of New Zealand's rural past, Steam Machines revealed the unexpected aesthetic of the Steam Traction Engine, which industrialized farming in New Zealand at the beginning of the 20th century. The use of horse power was forever overtaken by these mammoth beasts of metal, which revolutionized agricultural production. Run on nothing but fire and water, these cumbersome machines possess a poetry of motion and sound, their gears and pistons rhythmically pulsing like a heartbeat.

This exhibition showcased the highest achieving secondary school students in the Manawatū region in last year’s NCEA level 3 Visual Arts external examination.

Your body is a machine! How does it work? Why do we smell and feel? What is behind our senses? How do our muscles work? What happens when we work out? A lot of answers were revealed in this body focused exhibition.

Paper01 was a rare chance to examine and enjoy a diversity of drawing media and styles from the Te Manawa art collection. This exhibition included works by Colin McCahon, Gordon Walters, Eileen Mayo, Michael Smither, Carl Sydow, and Elizabeth Berry.

In 2012, Gareth Morgan led a group of 50 New Zealanders on a journey to the Southern Ocean. Their goal was to bring back images and stories of this unknown territory to inspire New Zealanders about this vast area.

An exhibition by Wairarapa artist Kirsty Gardiner, which presented fictitious species of vanished birds inspired by fantastic creatures found in a cabinet of curiosities. A portmanteau (derived from portmanteau luggage, which has two compartments) generally fuses the sound and meaning of two or more words to create an entirely new meaning. Similarly, every object in the exhibition told a story, genuine or not, by combining two seemingly incongruous things.

A collection of guitars - some dating back to the 1940s were on display in the atrium.

A selection of European fine prints from the collection of Bishop Ditlev Monrad, Danish statesman, who lived in New Zealand between 1866 and 1868, bringing much of his library and art collection with him. On leaving New Zealand, he gifted much of his collection to this country, and it forms the founding collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. For much of his New Zealand sojourn, Monrad lived at Karere, in Manawatū.

This exhibition explored the virtual worlds of ‘video games’. From static concept graphics to playable telephone apps to role-playing immersive games, some ‘hot off the keyboard’. Arcade showcased the game development process and highlighted the creative flair and ingenuity of New Zealanders in the gaming industry. Exhibition toured by The Dowse Art Museum.

During Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week) rangatahi (youth) from Highbury Whanau Centre, Kelvin Grove and Dannevirke Alternative Schools expressed their opinions about the NZ Constitution through artworks and video.

A highly interactive exhibition that allowed visitors to journey back in time to discover the life, the culture, the determination and the engineering genius that carved the Roman Empire between 52BC and 476AD. Many Roman inventions or their refinements of older technologies are familiar to us in our lives today. Visitors could interact with 30 hands-on recreated machines and experience virtual reality displays, reconstructed scale models, recreated artwork and frescoes, and participate in an amazing events programme, including catapult shooting competitions! Stunning authentic Roman objects were borrowed from Whanganui Regional Museum to augment the recreated touring models. Exhibition developed and toured by Artisans of Florence Pty. Ltd.

IHC invites visitors to take a moment to get to know people with intellectual disabilities and hear what they have to say. Using photographs and video, visitors see the reality of intellectual disability – the dreams, the loneliness, the talents and the sadness. This exhibition showcases the everyday lives of this group of Kiwis. Creative Journeys, a group that runs art-focused day programmes at Te Manawa for unique artists in the Manawatū, created work that was displayed in association with this exhibition. Exhibition toured by IHC.

In this, her first solo museum exhibition, photographer-writer-artist Fleur Wickes created a mini-studio in the museum foyer, and worked on site for several days over the course of her exhibition.

A selection of 60 ink wash original drawings from Sarah Laing’s recently published novel Fall of Light, an innovative blend of contemporary NZ fiction-writing interspersed with her black and white drawings.

Co-curated with Te Manawa Art Society, this was the second of two exhibitions looking into the works on paper collection at Te Manawa, and followed Paper 01 – drawings from the collection. It explored the various types of printing techniques and featured 85 prints from artists such as Rembrandt van Rijn, A Lois White, E Mervyn Taylor, Pat Hanly, Philip Clairmont, Gordon Walters, Richard Killeen, Ralph Hotere, John Drawbridge and Barry Cleavin; and series of prints by Colin McCahon and Tony Fomison.

A kiss? A cross? An ‘x marks the spot’? XO was an engaging and light-hearted look at works from the Te Manawa art collection. The use of X and O in one form or another is the common link between these works. Just as X and O can represent an abundance of things, the works in this exhibition invited multi-layered readings.

This exhibition provides an opportunity for the world to see and recognise the talent emerging from UCOL’s Bachelor of Applied Visual Imaging (BAVI) programme. Works on display included photography, website design, illustration, design, animation and video.

A tribute to the joy and energy of World of WearableArtTM where the designers see the body as a blank canvas on which they can develop any idea that appeals to them. Exhibition toured by the World of WearableArtTM

For over 10 years Te Manawa has had the privilege of hosting the exhibition Matatau which showcases a selection of work by the undergraduate and post-graduate students from Te Pūtahi a Toi, the School of Māori Art, Knowledge and Education at Massey University. This year Matatau featured the work of four undergraduates; Shayna Paku-Rimene, Mark Te Hau, Joshua Campbell and Arpege Taratoa as well as new work by masters’ student, Rongomaiaia Te Whaiti. The selection of works range across various disciplines including painting, installation and digital media and explore themes of ‘mana tangata’ (human rights or empowerment).

Te Ao Mārama included works by John Bevan Ford, Kura Te Waru-Rewiri, Albert McCarthy and Michel Tuffery from Te Manawa art collections and supported Te Manawa’s art education programmes on colour and light.

Interdisciplinary artist and acclaimed film-maker Vincent Ward explores the space between moving image and painting and this exhibition reflects his ongoing concerns with metamorphosis and human vulnerability; capturing the body floating, falling and ascending.