This year at Artspace Aotearoa we explore the question “do I need territory?” As an artist-led, artist-forward organisation we begin our exploration of this question by examining constitutive elements of (the) artworlds. What are the economies and processes that produce these worlds, and in which ways have artists and artworks contributed to discussions around self-determination, agency, and participation across modern and late capitalist paradigms. What is the in and the out of it?

This symposium explores the zones of the artworld(s) by presenting a variety of positions from across the motu spanning artistic practice; collection politics; and the productions of art history. Our speakers will present from their unique experience, covering conversation to case study. With contributions from Melanie Tangere Baldwin, Christina Barton, Natasha Conland, Ngahuia Harrison, Sarah Hopkinson, Peter Robinson and more.
This symposium is a Chartwell 50th Anniversary 2024 Project.

Read the symposium transcript here

BIOGRAPHIES

Melanie Tangaere Baldwin (Ngati Porou) is a mother, artist, curator, educator, and co-founder and current director of HOEA! Gallery in Turanganui a Kiwa Gisborne. She works to create models of engagement and presentation that enhance equity and accessibility for the Māori and Indigenous arts community.

Christina Barton (DLitt, MNZM) is an art historian, writer, curator and editor based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. Since leaving her role as Director of Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington in 2023 – a position she held for 17 years – she is embarking on independent projects that will enable her to work with art and artists, add to the scholarship on art history in Aotearoa New Zealand, and delve into the complex question of how past and present mutually inform each other. She is currently providing advice and support to the Vivian Lynn Estate and the Billy Apple® Archive, whilst also evolving various publication projects.

Ngahuia Harrison is an artist and researcher of Ngātiwai, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Pukenga. She is currently Te Tomokanga Postdoctoral Fellow in Te Kura Tangata Arts, Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland.

Sarah Hopkinson has a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Bachelor of Art (Art History) from the University of Auckland (2005). Since graduating, Sarah has worked in the expanded field of contemporary art, initially in academic institutions, as a curator of artist-run spaces, and more recently in leadership roles in commercial galleries. Sarah was a founding director of Gambia Castle (2007-2010) and Hopkinson Mossman (2010-2019), and is the current director of Coastal Signs in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. Sarah also works as an independent advisor, and is a trustee of the Auckland Art Gallery Foundation and the Jan Warburton Charitable Trust.

Peter Robinson is an artist of Kai Tahu living in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. With a strong focus on studio practice, Robinson has exhibited consistently since the mid 1990s both in Aotearoa and abroad. He has participated in numerous internationally significant exhibitions including the 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (2018), the Jakarta Biennial (2015), 13th Istanbul Biennale (2013), 11th and 18th Biennale of Sydney (1998 and 2012), and he was New Zealand’s representative at the 49th Venice Biennale (2001). In 2008 he was the winner of the Walters Prize, Aotearoa New Zealand's preeminent contemporary art award. He is a committed arts educator and is an associate professor and Dean Māori at Te Waka Tūhura Elam School of Fine Arts and Design.