Pairidaēza,
Paradise is a walled garden

Jo Bragg (he/they)
Ngāti Porou

Display Garden, Botanic Garden ki Paekākā

1- 30 September 2026 
6.00am to 6.00pm

'Pairidaēza, paradise is a walled garden' is an audio-visual activation of the Botanical gardens by still- and moving- image-based visual artist, poet and arts writer Jo Bragg (he/they, Ngāti Porou).

Inspired by Disney’s animated musical anthology Fantasia (1940), the writing of Janet Frame, Margaret Mahy and Meryl Streep reading the 'Velveteen Rabbit' by Margery Williams (1985). 'Pairidaēza' is a fairytale, a love story to seasons change, a poetic-fiction told from the perspective of the garden and its inhabitants.

FREE

Jo Bragg (Ngāti Porou) is a still- and moving- image-based visual artist, poet and arts writer. A co-founder of the artist-run initiative and gallery Meanwhile, his practice is informed by a Master of Fine Arts degree with a Major in Gender and Transfeminist Theory from Monash University.

Bragg’s photographic works feature in the collections of both the Wellington City Council Te Kaunihera o Pōneke and Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu.

'Frisk', Bragg's first collection of poetry will be published and released by Āporo Press in August of this year.

Jo Bragg artist portrait, Scott Hardy (2022)