Govett-Brewster Art Gallery / Len Lye Centre

The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery is one of New Zealand's leading contemporary art museums, with a national collection and an ambitious programme of temporary exhibitions. Next door is the Len Lye Centre, a striking stainless steel building designed to house the works of the New Zealand-born kinetic artist. Lye's sculptures — spinning discs, writhing steel rods, flashing ribbon machines — move and sound in ways that are unlike almost anything else in contemporary art.

The two spaces together make for a genuinely memorable cultural visit. The Govett-Brewster has a strong commitment to Pacific and Māori art alongside its international programme. The Len Lye Centre's kinetic works are best experienced on weekends when staff run demonstrations. Free entry for the permanent collection; charges apply for some temporary exhibitions.

things to do museum
A story
Len Lye was a New Zealand-born artist who spent most of his life in New York, where he pioneered direct animation by painting and scratching images onto film stock rather than drawing them first. He bequeathed his entire estate to New Plymouth on the condition that a dedicated gallery be built for his kinetic sculptures — a surprising gift to a city in rural Taranaki, but one that has transformed its cultural profile.