2027 Curators

Heather Galbraith is a curator, writer and educator from Tāmaki Makaurau, who has held senior curatorial and management roles at St Paul St. Gallery AUT University, City Gallery Wellington Te Whare Toi, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts, Massey University, where she is a Professor of Fine Arts. Galbraith was part of New Zealand presentations at the Venice Biennale (2009, 2013, 2015) and Managing Curator for SCAPE Public Art, Ōtautahi (2016, 2017, 2018). Recently, she curated Judy Darragh: Competitive Plastics and is the curatorial member of the Trans-Tasman Deep Material Energy collective of jewellers/object makers. Governance roles include being a board member for Wheako Pōneke Experience Wellington and Chair of Contemporary HUM Arts Trust.

Benjamin Work (b.1979) is a Tāmaki Makaurau–based artist of Tongan and Orcadian/Shetlander lineage, holding an MFA from Elam School of Fine Arts. His practice integrates contemporary and traditional influences, reflecting the layered complexities of Moana Oceania identity, and centres on what he terms tu‘u vaha‘a “occupying the in-between”, a space through which he navigates the stories of his maternal lineage and his lived experience in Aotearoa. In 2024, he was awarded an artist residency at Parehuia, McCahon House, and became the inaugural winner of the Fatu Feu‘u Pacific Arts Prize. His work continues to be exhibited locally and internationally and is represented in major collections, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Auckland Museum, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT).