Step inside the black disc circled by neon light. Look up at the ceiling. See the other disc, crossed by a neon line, on the ceiling high above?

You’re standing in an artwork.

This is VOID, made by artists Bill Culbert and Ralph Hotere. This installation is in the ihonui, or core, of Te Papa. It suggests an invisible shaft is passing through the building – and going beyond it.

In Māori, ‘void’ can be translated as Te Kore. This is the beginning of all Māori creation stories. From this emptiness came the darkness, then the light.

VOID transforms an empty space into a place of possibilities.