Men protesting the 1981 South African rugby tour - they are wearing motorcycle helmets, holding signs that say 'Stop the Tour'.

PROTEST - TOHE

In 1981, South Africa’s Springbok rugby team toured New Zealand. TOHE | PROTEST is an exhibition that explores how the escalating tensions between activists, the police, rugby fans and politicians were presented by both government broadcasters and activist filmmakers.

The definitive protest documentary of the anti-tour protest movement was 1983’s PATU! To mark the 40th anniversary of the tour, Ngā Taonga created a new digital preservation copy of the film. Hear from the team about technical challenges they encountered and how they worked with kaitiaki to honour the original vision of the filmmakers. We also talk to some of our team, who share their memories of the tour.

Hero image: Still from the film 'PATU!' - New Zealand Film Commission