Curated by the National Library, Cast in Light offers a glimpse into Waiuta’s golden days in the early 1930s, when over 500 people—mostly miners and their families—called the West Coast town home.
This exhibition features a stunning selection of Divis’ photographs, taken between 1931 and 1935, capturing the essence of life in a prosperous New Zealand mining town.

Joseph Divis (1885-1967), a Bohemian immigrant who arrived in New Zealand in 1909, made his living as a gold miner and photographed the mining communities where he lived and worked. His work is now housed at the Alexander Turnbull Library, where it continues to be celebrated for its historical significance and artistic quality.