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Auckland Art Gallery��has had the largest opening weekend for a ticketed exhibition in a decade and��gallery��visitor numbers this year are expected to exceed pre-pandemic levels.����

The Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera: Art and Life in Modern Mexico��exhibition opened last weekend to much fanfare.����

It was the highest-attended opening weekend for a ticketed exhibition since the building re-opened in 2011, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o��Tāmaki��Director Kirsten Lacy said.��

“We had queues going all the way down the street and around the corner with 200 people through the doors in the first 10 minutes and nearly 3000 people through on��[the]��opening weekend.”��

After a difficult winter with very low attendance, Lacy said they’re astounded.����

“It’s a huge relief because it's just been swings and troughs really,” she said.����

Since July 1, more than 100,000 people have come through the gallery and projections have it on track��to hit the visitation target of 420,000 people this year, if not more.����

The figures are higher than pre-pandemic numbers and the gallery is anticipating a bigger year than 2019.��

“We haven’t seen those kinds of numbers at the gallery for actually over three years, so we’re very excited,” Lacy said.����

Most visitors are from the Auckland region and throughout the North Island, but there have also been international visitors returning, particularly from Australia.����

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“I think the weather and wellness of people has a lot to do with it but also the content, exhibition,��and public programmes are��driving visitation as well,” Lacy said.����