Always Song in the Water is a moving and poetic exhibition at the New Zealand Maritime Museum, inviting visitors to explore the oceanic imagination that connects Aotearoa New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, and Japan. Inspired by Gregory O’Brien’s book of the same name, the exhibition sets out on a lyrical voyage — beginning in Northland and drifting outward across the Pacific. Through art, sound, and text, it celebrates the deep relationships between land, sea, and the people who inhabit Moana Oceania.

The design of the exhibition reflects O’Brien’s lyrical storytelling. A modest dinghy — both symbol and vessel — becomes the guide for discovery. As visitors move through the space, they encounter a series of artistic and literary moments that mirror the book’s meditations on travel, kinship, and the natural world. Each part of the journey encourages quiet reflection — an opportunity to listen, to look, and to sense one’s own bond with the ocean that both divides and unites the Pacific’s many shores.

The Letter Q led the exhibition’s graphic design in close collaboration with the museum’s curatorial and exhibition teams, working alongside O’Brien throughout the process. This partnership was built on creative dialogue, ensuring that the visual language and narrative tone moved in harmony. Typography, colour choices, and spatial composition were carefully tuned to echo the exhibition’s reflective and lyrical spirit, allowing images and words to flow together as one continuous experience.

The result is a cohesive, immersive environment that captures the project’s essence — an exploration of shared creativity and connection. Always Song in the Water stands as a testament to collaboration between museum, artist, and designer, shaping an exhibition that feels both intimate and expansive, rooted in Aotearoa yet open to the endless horizon beyond.

Always Song on the Water was been awarded Resene Colour Maestro Award for Installation and Experiential.