curators

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ECHO
Julie King
is a writer, curator, and visiting lecturer in Art History at the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts. She came to New Zealand after completing postgraduate studies in nineteenth-century French Art at the University of Manchester, and after working for the Open University in England. She has researched and written on many aspects of New Zealand art, and is a frequent contributor to Art New Zealand and to the Journal of New Zealand Art History. She has curated a number of exhibitions, including the national touring shows of ‘Sydney Lough Thompson: At Home and Abroad’ (1990/91), and ‘Flowers into Landscape: Margaret Stoddart’ (1997/98).


Tessa Giblin
(Work it./ECHO) is assistant Curator at ARTSPACE and graduate of the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts. Founding Director of the urban installation project 'Gridlocked', and dealer gallery for emerging artists 'Fresh', she previously curated 'Salon des Refuse' (2003) and 'Showstoppers' (2004), both at the Jonathan Smart Gallery. Tessa has curated the Reuben Paterson project for Echo.

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HOME/GROUND
Born in Christchurch, Felicity Milburn gained a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Art History & English degree from the University of Canterbury in 1995. She has been Curator of Contemporary Art at the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu (formerly Robert McDougall Art Gallery) since 1998. Her responsibilities include the research and development of a programme of temporary and collection exhibitions of contemporary art, the initiation and selection of exhibitions for the Gallery (as a member of the Exhibitions Committee) and the acquisition of contemporary art works for the Gallery’s permanent collections (as a member of the Acquisitions Committee). In addition, she is a member of the Art Acquisitions Advisory Committee for the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology, a founding member of Operate Trust Board and a member of the Industry Advisory Board for the New Zealand College of Art and Design. Recent exhibitions curated include ‘Te Puawai o Ngai Tahu: An exhibition of twelve contemporary Ngai Tahu artists’, Christchurch Art Gallery, 2003 (with Jonathan Mané-Wheoki and Megan Tamati-Quennell); ‘Sculpture in the Gardens’ 1999/2000 and 2001/02, Robert McDougall Art Gallery in association with the Christchurch Botanic Gardens, 2001; and ‘Canterbury Painting in the 1990s’, Robert McDougall Art Gallery, 2000.

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LightSCAPE
Dr Deidre Brown is Senior lecturer in Architecture at the University of Auckland. She obtained a Doctor of Philosophy in Architecture at Auckland University, and has received numerous grants and scholarships (including Department of Internal Affairs Historical Branch Scholarship in 1993 and University of Canterbury Research Grant of ‘Nga Whakairo o Te Taitokerau – Northland Maori Carving’ project 1998–2001) as well as published books and contributed articles/papers to journals and professional publications. Deidre co-curated with Jonathan Mane-Wheoki ‘Hiko! New Energies in Maori Art’, a group exhibition about the influence of digitisation on Maori art, at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery, Christchurch, in 1999 and ‘Techno Maori’, an exhibition of Maori new media art, at City Gallery, Wellington, and Pataka Museum, Porirua, in 2001. She curated ‘Wai: Recollected Works’ at the School of Fine Arts Gallery, University of Canterbury, in 2000 and ‘Whare’ in the SCAPE Biennial 2002. Among her many appointments, Brown was a member of Venice Biennale Selection Committee, selecting artists to represent New Zealand at a significant international visual arts festival, and is currently a member of the Society of Architectural Historians of Australia and New Zealand, the New Zealand Institute of Architects and Nga Puna Waihanga: Maori Artists and Writers Federation.


Jonathan Mane-Wheoki, of Ngapuhi descent, is Director of Art and Visual Culture at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and vice-president of the Humanities Society of New Zealand. Among his many appointments, he is a member of the Arts Foundation of New Zealand. Following postgraduate studies in nineteenth and early twentieth century European art history at the Courtauld Institute of Art in the University of London, Jonathan taught for many years courses in nineteenth and twentieth century European art and more recently in New Zealand and Maori art. He has published and lectured widely on these subjects and on cultural studies and museum issues. He is an authority on Victorian church art and heritage architecture. In recent years, Jonathan has initiated and curated exhibitions (including co-curating ‘Hiko! New Energies in Maori Art’ (1999) and ‘Techno Maori’ (2001) with Dr Deidre Brown) and written substantial catalogue essays, especially on contemporary Maori art.

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Work it.
Tobias Berger is the Director of Parasite, Hong Kong and former Director of ARTSPACE, Auckland, which he joined after roles as Curator at the 8th Baltic Triennial of International Arts, Lithuania, and the Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Germany. Prior to this, he completed post-graduate studies in Art History at Ruhr-Universitat, Bochum, Germany, and a Curatorial Training Programme in Amsterdam. In 2004, Tobias was Commissioner for the New Zealand contribution at the Sao Paulo Biennial, Brazil. He has curated numerous exhibitions at ARTSPACE and the Museum Fridericianum (Germany), and written for various publications.

Tessa Giblin (Work it./ECHO) was assistant Curator at ARTSPACE, Auckland and is currently undertaking further curatorial study in Amsteram. She is a graduate of the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts. Founding Director of the urban installation project 'Gridlocked', and dealer gallery for emerging artists 'Fresh', she previously curated 'Salon des Refuse' (2003) and 'Showstoppers' (2004), both at the Jonathan Smart Gallery. Tessa has curated the Reuben Paterson project for Echo. Tessa has served on the board of the High Street Project since 2002, and has administered the Bedford Row Studio artists’ collective since its inception in 2002.