Auckland Art Gallery has had the largest opening weekend for a ticketed exhibition in a decade and gallery visitor numbers this year are expected to exceed pre-pandemic levels.
The Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera: Art and Life in Modern Mexico exhibition opened last weekend to much fanfare.
It was the highest-attended opening weekend for a ticketed exhibition since the building re-opened in 2011, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki Director Kirsten Lacy said.
“We had queues going all the way down the street and around the corner with 200 people through the doors in the first 10 minutes and nearly 3000 people through on [the] opening weekend.”
After a difficult winter with very low attendance, Lacy said they’re astounded.
“It’s a huge relief because it's just been swings and troughs really,” she said.
Since July 1, more than 100,000 people have come through the gallery and projections have it on track to hit the visitation target of 420,000 people this year, if not more.
The figures are higher than pre-pandemic numbers and the gallery is anticipating a bigger year than 2019.
“We haven’t seen those kinds of numbers at the gallery for actually over three years, so we’re very excited,” Lacy said.
Most visitors are from the Auckland region and throughout the North Island, but there have also been international visitors returning, particularly from Australia.
“I think the weather and wellness of people has a lot to do with it but also the content, exhibition, and public programmes are driving visitation as well,” Lacy said.
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