Exhibition three: 13 February – 13 March 2026
Wendelien Bakker
Milk and Honey
Milk solids, beeswax and bamboo, 2026
According to journalists Andrea Vance and Iain McGregor “the ‘corner dairy’ traces its history back almost two centuries, when small ‘dairy produce sellers’ were the only shops permitted to sell milk, butter, cream, cheese and eggs.” From the 1940s they were uniquely able to open late and on the weekend, evolving into the quintessential corner dairy we now know.
Bakker’s work responds to these 19th century origins of the NZ dairy – a place where you could buy our own quality produce and explores how that underpins a prevalent understanding of New Zealand as a place of abundance, a colonial land of of milk and honey.
In 2026 dairies don’t really sell locally sourced produce, instead they retail a range of packaged, mass produced, imported and even GE products and New Zealand’s abundance is more myth than reality.
Wendelien Bakker is from the Netherlands and Ōtautahi, currently residing in Tāmaki Makaurau. Her practice is project-based and conceptually driven, navigated through a DIY approach and a strong reliance on the individual and the environment.