HĪKOI O TE TAOKA
March of the Treasure
CAMPAIGN RECAP
Our first annual Hīkoi o te Taoka | March of the Treasures campaign was a huge success. Run from December 2025-May 2026, this campaign was a powerful public art activation with a purpose — to prevent extinction, preserve Aotearoa’s most endangered wildlife and their habitat, and protect them from existing and future threats.
Our journey began with the hoiho – the yellow-eyed penguin, an iconic hero of the Otago Peninsula and surrounding coastlines. It is also the rarest penguin on Earth.
Through bold, artist-designed statues placed in high-profile locations across Southern New Zealand, we blended art and conservation in our inaugural ART IN ACTION campaign to tell the story of the hoiho. It is a story of desperate hope, urgency, and survival.
The campaign ignited real impact by helping to fund critical research, predator control, and habitat restoration. The effect was immediate, but the legacy will endure, hopefully for generations.
Much more than just an art trail — the Hīkoi o te Taoka | March of the Treasure was a visual protest against extinction, a catalyst for change, and a chance for families, visitors, and locals to take part in saving some of Aotearoa’s precious species that may very soon be gone.
People's Choice Winner 2026
We are thrilled to announce that the People’s Choice winner of the Hīkoi o te Taoka campaign is the stunning Aurora-inspired hoiho, created by Ōtepoti Dunedin artist Claire Rye. This beautiful Art in Action hoiho statue is now permanently on display at Tuhura Otago Museum for all to enjoy.
Votes were cast in three ways.
1. By voting to donate online from supporters near and far.
2. Through cash deposited into the platforms while the statues were on location around the lower South Island in Dunedin, Oamaru, Wānaka, Arrowtown, and Queenstown.
3. And finally, through the coloured dot votes during the Hīkoi o te Taoka exhibition at Tuhura.
Every single vote counted, and together the community collective voice was unanimous! Claire’s luminous, aurora and flora decorated hoiho captured hearts across the board.
Claire Rye is a Dunedin-based artist originally from England, who works with a combination of spray paint and other external mediums. She is known for weaving together diverse motifs — music, text, creatures, landscapes and vibrant colour — into striking, joyful murals. Deeply passionate about community engagement in public art, Claire is the co-founder of the South Dunedin Street Art Trail, which has been raising funds for large-scale murals in South Dunedin since 2022.
Claire’s hoiho is a fitting tribute to the hoiho, a luminescent brightness against the dark, a daily reminder to all who visit Tuhura of the beauty and fragility of the hoiho – yellow-eyed penguin – and of why we must keep fighting for their future.
Ngā mihi nui to all who voted and donated to help us help them and forge a brighter future for this precious and rare penguin.
Hīkoi o te Taoka Charity Auction
The Otago Shore & Land Trust and The Wildlife Hospital held a special art in action for conservation auction of custom designed hoiho statues on May 17th at Tuhura Otago Museum.
The 1.5 meter tall statues were uniquely designed and rendered by a local 3D artist and meticulously hand crafted by a local Dunedin fibreglass specialist. The statues were then lovingly painted by established and emerging artists from across New Zealand.
The Auction was conducted online and live and all the statues, with the exception of the winner of the ‘People’s Choice’ Hoiho were won by enthusiastic bidders and are currently on their way to their forever homes across the country.
While the auction and the ART IN ACTION campaign may be over for this year, we invite you to take a look through the Auction Catalogue and view our Wildlife Guardians and Artists from the inaugural campaign to see what can be accomplished when creativity and conservation join forces for good!
Make sure you are following us @otagoshoreandlandtrust to learn more about our upcoming campaigns and how you can be part of the journey.
Our Wildlife Guardians and Artists
Conservation, preservation, and regeneration is only possible with the support of people and organisations who believe that they can make a difference. The Hikoi o te Taoka | March of the Treasures is testament to the dedication of the organisations, individuals, and artists committed to saving the hoiho (yellow-eyed penguin). Offering their time, expertise, and resources, these are the heroes who are helping us share this urgent message of survival.
Their collaboration is the key in bringing this critical conservation campaign to life. Their contribution is vital in helping us to raise awareness, in making a real difference. They are our Wildlife Champions, our Hoiho Heroes.
Help us help them
P.O Box 383, Dunedin Central, 9054 New Zealand
Email: info@otagoshoreandland.co.nz
Phone: +64 21 030 9750
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