Beyond Biculturalism: Contemporary Māori Art

Professor Deidre Brown (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu) teaches design and history in the School of Architecture at the University of Auckland and is currently Head of the School.

Her specialist teaching, supervisory and research interests are in the fields of Māori and Pacific art and architectural history, and the broader discipline of Indigenous design. She has written several books, including the multi-authored Art in Oceania: A new history (2012) and Māori Architecture (2009), and curated several exhibitions in galleries around the country.

Deidre has belonged to boards of governance for organisations such as Objectspace, The Physics Room and the Christchurch Arts Centre and she has been a Governor of the Arts Foundation of New Zealand. She is currently completing a comprehensive history of Māori art with Associate Professor Ngarino Ellis and contributions from the late Professor Jonathan Mane-Wheoki for publication in late 2021 / early 2022.

Māori art may have its origins in Aotearoa New Zealand, but it is not defined by national borders: it can and does occur all over the world, wherever Māori artists choose to make and exhibit their work. This talk surveys contemporary Māori art in Western Europe and Australia, through institutions, exhibitions and artists such as Lisa Reihana, Michael Parekowhai, George Nuku and Keren Ruki.

As the post-World War Two rural to urban drift widened out beyond the shores of Aotearoa, a growing number of Māori settled overseas. This diaspora has played an active role in negotiating spaces and opportunities for the creation of art, not just for those who have migrated to, or been born in, these counties, but also for Māori based in Aotearoa who are expanding their practice into the international scene. The great wealth of taonga Māori in British and European museums, and the interests of the curators who keep them, have had a defining influence on the kinds of venues and types of opportunities available to Māori artists who exhibit in these countries. As many Māori artists embrace their identities as global Indigenous artists, they are redefining how we should consider Māori art in a post-bicultural age.