A Celebration Of Unseen Artists: ‘Worn’ – Prisoners’ Shoes and the Stories They Tell

‘Worn’ – Prisoners’ Shoes and the Stories They Tell

Created and toured by The Learning Connexion
At LAB Gallery – The Learning Connexion
182 Eastern Hutt Road, Taita, Lower Hutt
17 March – 28 April, 2026

An exhibition celebrating the work of unseen artists in prisons across Aotearoa is now on at the LAB Gallery until April 28.

This exhibition showcases how prisoners express their creativity through the programmes delivered by The Learning Connexion in partnership with Ara Poutama Aotearoa Dept of Corrections.

These programmes are a vital service successfully delivered over the last 19 years within Corrections facilities nationally, and providing a creative outlet to give prisoners purpose, qualifications, self-worth and improved well-being.

Using a plain white canvas shoe, literally a ‘blank canvas’, more than 50 artists reveal their personal stories and share with us the journeys they are making towards recovery and rehabilitation.
Presented together, these shoes invite you to reconsider assumptions about incarceration and creativity. They serve as poignant reminders of art’s power to restore agency, communicate resilience, and foster connection. The exhibition is not only a celebration of artistic talent within restricted circumstances, but the reclamation of an everyday object reframed as a canvas for hope and renewal.

“Coming from living the life of a criminal and ex-con to a proud Māori tane, rich in my culture and Māoridom. Knowing who you are helps who you want to be.” – Tama Anewa

Exhibition on now at LAB Gallery, 182 Eastern Hutt Road, Lower Hutt – until 28th April.

Exhibition at Whirinaki Whare Taonga

An exhibition celebrating the work of unseen artists in prisons across Aotearoa opened at Whirinaki Whare Taonga on Saturday 1 November, for three months.