Centre of Contemporary Art

The Canterbury Society of Arts was established in 1880, the first organisation in New Zealand to collect and display artwork. This gallery, built in 1967-8 to a design by Minson, Henning-Hansen & Dines, provides a substantial exhibition space. However the growing collection became bigger than the space and the CSA started an innovative picture-hire scheme. A period of financial instability in the 1990s, the relocation of the Christchurch Art Gallery next door and then the Canterbury earthquakes all challenged the organisation.

Extensive fundraising and rebuilding have brought the Centre for Contemporary Art back to full strength, complete with new Maori title 'Toi Moroki'(Continual Art). It reopened in 2016, the brutalist architecture still dominating, as well as a strong mission, to be 'The radical, the reactionary'.

There is an active exhibition programme and art works remain available for hire. The board, cultural advisory panel and staff are very upfront about the direction and ambition for the gallery, calling it a centre for artistic and cultural innovation. Visitors will find free entry, free wifi, and a cafe called Lux Espresso.
Long Live the Modern p165.