8 November 2023

We are celebrating the launch of our new Creative Collaborations website with a panel discussion in New Plymouth at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre on 15 November.

Creative Collaborations is an online resource mapping the partnership between Aotearoa New Zealand and Latin America’s creative economies, revealing the projects, people, and institutions at the forefront of our creative engagement with Latin America. It was launched in Auckland on 2 November.

Following the website’s launch, the University of Auckland’s Assoc. Prof. Walescka Pino-Ojeda says “Creative Collaborations allows us to appreciate the relationships between various creative communities in Latin America and Aotearoa-New Zealand but is also an educational resource of enormous value. Beyond providing a platform to appreciate the art produced, it allows us to deepen our awareness and understanding about problems of global relevance and share knowledge. This is a magnificent contribution towards enhancing our unity and collaborations between New Zealand and Latin America.”

At the event, our programme manager Nicole Freeman will take guests through the site demonstrating the links between Aotearoa and Latin America. Guest speakers in New Plymouth are Dr Zara Stanhope, curator, and director of Govett Brewster Art Gallery and Aaron Kreisler, curator, and head of Ilam School of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury.

The New Plymouth launch of Creative Collaborations takes place at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre on Wednesday 15 November from 5:30 – 7:30pm. Attendance is free, but please register for catering purposes.

Dr Zara Stanhope is a curator, writer, editor and an adjunct professor at Auckland University of Technology School of Art and Design and RMIT, Australia. She has curated over 50 exhibitions and managed art galleries in Australia and New Zealand, including Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki (2013 to 2017) and Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery (1999 to 2002). Since 2021, Zara has been the director of the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery and Len Lye Centre in New Plymouth.

Aaron Kreisler has dedicated his career to contemporary art. He spent seven years as a curator at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, where he produced more than 50 exhibitions and managed the gallery’s residency programme. Aaron was also the inaugural curator at Ramp Gallery (Wintec, Hamilton) and The Engine Room (Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University School of Art, Whiti o Rehua). He is the current head of Ilam School of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury.