New Zealand returns to the Venice Biennale in 2025 with Fiona Pardington’s solo exhibition *Taharaki Skyside* at the Istituto Provinciale per l’Infanzia Santa Maria della Pietà. The show features 17 large-scale photographic portraits of taxidermied birds from the South Canterbury Museum Timaru’s collection, including the extinct whēkau (laughing owl) and the critically endangered kākāpō. Pardington, an artist of Māori and Scottish descent, draws on Māori cosmology in which birds serve as spiritual messengers, and her work continues a long-standing photographic investigation of objects that hold “mana” (power) for Māori people.
The presentation marks New Zealand’s return to the Biennale after skipping the 2024 edition, reaffirming the country’s commitment to showcasing its contemporary art on the world stage. By foregrounding Indigenous perspectives on ecology and extinction, Pardington’s project contributes to a growing discourse within the Biennale around decolonization, environmental crisis, and the role of traditional knowledge in art. The work also highlights the cultural significance of museum collections and the ethical questions surrounding the display of taxidermied specimens.