Megan Faye Tamati-Quennell is a New Zealand art curator who has specialised in modern and contemporary Māori and indigenous art. In 2024, Tamati-Quennell was appointed a Companion of the

New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for th ...

, for services to

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

and First Nations art.

Early life and education

Tamati-Quennell is Māori, and is affiliated with Te Ātiawa,

Ngāti Mutunga Ngāti Mutunga is a Māori iwi (tribe) of New Zealand, whose original tribal lands were in north Taranaki. They migrated, first to Wellington (with Ngāti Toa and other Taranaki hapū), and then to the Chatham Islands (along with Ngāti Tama) ...

Kāti Māmoe Kāti Māmoe (also spelled Ngāti Māmoe) is a Māori iwi. Originally from the Heretaunga Plains of New Zealand's Hawke's Bay, they moved in the 16th century to the South Island which at the time was already occupied by the Waitaha. A centu ...

Ngāi Tahu Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori people, Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim, New Zealand, Blenhe ...

and

Waitaha Waitaha may refer to: * Waitaha (Bay of Plenty iwi), a Māori tribe of the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand * Waitaha (South Island iwi), a historic Māori tribe of the South Island of New Zealand * Waitaha penguin (''Megadyptes waitaha''), an ...

iwi. She was born in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

Career

Tamati-Quennell began her career in journalism, training at the Wellington Polytechnic School of Journalism and graduating in 1983. She worked as a journalist for the ''Levin Chronicle'' (now the ''Horowhenua-Kapiti Chronicle''), and the ''

Evening Post ''Evening Post'' or ''The Evening Post'' may refer to the following newspapers: United Kingdom * ''Evening Post'' (London) (1710–1732), then ''Berington's Evening Post'' (1732–1740) * ''London Evening Post'' (1727–1797) * '' ...

'' in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, before running a training programme for those interested in journalism through the Wellington Unemployed Workers' Union in Wellington. As a young reporter, Tamati-Quennell previewed ''Te Māori, Te Hokinga Mai'', which was formative in her development as a curator. She also worked as a Māori weaver, learning mahi raranga under Diane Prince at the

Wellington Arts Centre Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island) ...

and

Erenora Puketapu-Hetet Erenora Puketapu-Hetet (née Puketapu, 28 January 1941 – 23 July 2006) was a noted New Zealand weaver and author. A key figure in the Māori cultural renaissance, she helped change perceptions of Māori weaving/raranga from craft to int ...

at Waiwhetū Marae. Other roles before working as an art curator, include working in film, on a first series of Māori drama programmes created for television in the late 1980s - ''Tipu E Rea'' - and on Barry Barclay's feature film ''Te Rua''. Tamati-Quennell began her curatorial career as an intern at the National Art Gallery (now

Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. Usually known as Te Papa ( Māori for ' the treasure box'), it opened in 1998 after the merging of the National Museum of New Zealand a ...

) in 1990. Her first exhibition experience was as an assistant curator for ''Kohia Ko Taikaka Anake'', the largest exhibition of contemporary Māori art to be held in New Zealand. Her first solo curated exhibition was ''Pū Manawa'', an exhibition that paid tribute to Māori weavers and looked at the relationship between weavers and contemporary artists. Subsequently, Tamati-Quennell has worked at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa curating projects for the opening programme of Te Papa under

Ian Wedde Ian Curtis Wedde (born 17 October 1946) is a New Zealand poet, fiction writer, critic, and art curator. Biography Born in Blenheim, New Zealand, Wedde lived in East Pakistan and England as a child before returning to New Zealand. He attended ...

and Tim Walker and going on to become the inaugural curator of modern and contemporary Māori and indigenous art at Te Papa. Between 2002 and 2004, Tamati-Quennell took leave to work at the Ngai Tahu Development Corporation as the Ngāi Tahu arts facilitator and curated the exhibition ''Te Puawai o Ngai Tahu'' for the opening of the

Christchurch Art Gallery The Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, commonly known as the Christchurch Art Gallery, is the public art gallery of the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It has its own substantial art collection and also presents a programme of New ...

in 2003. In 2004, she returned to Te Papa and continued her career as curator of modern and contemporary Māori and indigenous art, and was invited by the 18 Ngāi Tahu papatipu rūnaka to curate ''Mo Tatou, the Ngai Tahu Whanui'' exhibition at Te Papa, the first major survey of Ngāi Tahu art both customary and contemporary. Between 2021 and 2022, Tamati-Quennell worked at the

Govett-Brewster Art Gallery The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery is a contemporary art museum at New Plymouth New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, in ...

in New Plymouth. During her time there, she curated two exhibitions: ''There is no before'' in 2021, with indigenous Australian artist, D. Harding; and ''Swallowing Geography'' in 2022, with artists Ana Iti, Kate Newby, Matt Pine and

Shona Rapira Davies Shona Rapira Davies (born 1951) is a New Zealand sculptor and painter of Ngātiwai, Ngātiwai ki Aotea tribal descent currently residing in Wellington, New Zealand. Education Rapira Davies first studied at the Auckland College of Education, m ...

. Tamati-Quennell has curated numerous exhibitions over her career, the most recent at Te Papa; ''Hinaki, contemplation of a form'' (2023–2024), and ''Hiahia, Whenua, Landscape and Desire'' (2022–2024). In 2023, Tamati-Quennell was selected to be one of five curators to curate the 16th

Sharjah Biennial The Sharjah Biennial is a large-scale contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in the city of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The first Sharjah Biennial took place in 1993, and was organized by the Sharjah Department of Cu ...

, titled ''to carry'', which runs from 6 February to 15 June 2025 in Sharjah in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. In 2024, at the invitation of the president of the Sharjah Art Foundation, Hoor Al Qasimi, she curated with Qasimi, ''Emily Karaka: Ka Awatea: A New Dawn'', a major survey show of senior Māori painter Emily Karaka for the Sharjah Art Foundation in Sharjah. Beginning in 2024, Tamati-Quennell began studying for a PhD in fine arts at

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

in Melbourne, under the supervision of Brian Martin and Jessica Neath.

Honours and awards

In the

2024 Birthday Honours The 2024 King's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of Charles III, King Charles III to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens ...

, Tamati-Quennell was appointed a

Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ...

, for services to Māori and First Nations art.

Selected works

* * *

References

External links

*
First Nations Curators in Conversation
',

Wanda Nanibush Wanda Nanibush (born 1976) is an Anishinaabe curator, artist and educator based in Toronto, Ontario. From 2016 to 2023, she held the position of the inaugural curator of Indigenous Art at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Nanibush won the 2023 Toronto ...

Brenda L Croft Brenda L. Croft (born 1964) is an Aboriginal Australian artist, curator, writer, and educator working across contemporary Indigenous and mainstream arts and cultural sectors. Croft was a founding member of the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Coopera ...

, Megan Tamati-Quennell & r e a Saunders in conversation with Shannon Brett discussing their careers, curatorial roles, advocacy and agency. , 21 May 2021, via YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:TamatiQuennell Megan Year of birth missing (living people) Living people New Zealand journalists New Zealand weavers New Zealand curators Te Āti Awa people Ngāti Mutunga people Kāti Māmoe people Ngāi Tahu people Waitaha (South Island iwi) People from Dunedin Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit