Ashley is a Masters of Museum and Heritage Practice student, currently completing her collections and curatorial internship at the New Zealand Police Museum while working as a Visitor Host at Wellington Museum. She has a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in History from the University of Otago, where she focused on New Zealand social history. She has previously completed a placement with the History and Pacific Cultures team at Te Papa assisting with their Suffrage125 projects, and was a part of a team of students who created Good Bye to All That: Armistice 1918 an exhibition for the 100th anniversary of the Armistice, held at the Alexander Turnbull Library.

Kolokesa Māhina-Tuai and Barbara Makuati-Afitu are Lagi-Maama - a cultural organisation created to support our Indigenous communities across different spaces.  They work in the arts, GLAM, philanthropic, corporate spaces navigating, championing and brokering for all our communities.  In May they joined The Arts Foundation as Arts Liaison navigators. 

Dr Bronwyn Labrum is Head of NZ and Pacific Culture at Te Papa, where she leads the history and Pacific curatorial teams. She is the author of  Real Modern: Everyday New Zealand in the 1950s and 1960s and is editing a collection for Suffrage 125 in Te Papa Press’s new ‘Thinking About’ series, in which writers use collection objects to explore contemporary urgent issues. She is also an Honorary Research Fellow at Massey University.

In her time at Waitangi Treaty Grounds Caitlin has been the curator, collections coordinator, registrar, preparator, loans officer, public programmes coordinator and occasional tour guide. Her current position is Collections and Public Programmes Coordinator. Caitlin has a background in anthropology, clothing and textile sciences and museum studies, which is now complemented by an in-depth knowledge of New Zealand history.

Cherie has a varied professional background which includes public policy, writing and producing theatre, venue and event management, and research and writing about architectural and women’s history. She recently finished as an adviser with the WW100 Programme Office, and is returning to Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage to work on the government's wider commemoration programme and Pukeahu National War Memorial Park.

Claire Lanyon began her career in education as a teacher specialising in history.  At Auckland Museum she is responsible for leading the team that design, develop and deliver learning experiences onsite, online and beyond the museum's walls. She has a pas...

Professor Conal McCarthy is Director of the Museum & Heritage Studies programme at the Stout Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington. He has published widely on museum history, theory and practice, including the books Exhibiting Māori (2007), Museums and Māori (2011), and Museum Practice (2015), which was part of a new series The International Handbooks of Museum Studies (Wiley Blackwell). In 2017 Conal was one of the authors of Collecting, ordering, governing: Anthropology, museums and government (Duke University Press), and a co-editor of a volume of essays in memory of Jonathan Mane-Wheoki (Victoria University Press). In 2018 he published the history of Te Papa (Te Papa Press), and in 2019 Curatopia: Museums and the future of research (co-edited with Philipp Schorch, Manchester University Press). Among his current research projects is the history of museum visitation in Australia and New Zealand, and a Marsden funded project led by Professor Anne Salmond ‘Te Ao Hou: Transforming worlds in New Zealand 1900-1950’. His next book is a comparative analysis of Indigenous Museology in Australia and Aotearoa for Routledge.

Liz Cotton is Head of Human History at Auckland Museum, providing leadership to the research, collection development, collection management and access activities of a professional team of curators and collection managers. Previous roles include senior adviser on movable cultural heritage policy, and museum registration & collection management. Liz has an MA (Hons) in Ancient History, and a Postgraduate Diploma (Distinction) in Museum Studies and her research interests lie in curatorial practice and museum sector development.

Eloise Wallace is Director at Tairāwhiti Museum in Gisborne.  Eloise has an academic background in in history, museum studies, arts management and tourism and has worked in the museum sector for 15 years.  Before taking up the Directorship at Tairāwhiti Museum in January 2015, she was Public Programmes Team Leader at MTG Hawke's Bay in Napier and prior to that worked for Imperial War Museums, London.

Esther Helen McNaughton is a long time gallery educator at Suter Art Gallery te Aratoi o Whakatu, Nelson. She is also a PhD Candidate at the University of Canterbury. Her area of interest is the field of art gallery education for schools, in particular in Aotearoa New Zealand.    

MP for Kelston Carmel Sepuloni is Minister for Social Development and for Disability Issues, and Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage and for Pacific Peoples. She is of Samoan, Tongan and NZ European decent. She was born and raised in Waitara but has lived in Auckland since 1996. Outside of politics Carmel has worked broadly across the health and education sectors.
As Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, Hon Sepuloni is responsible for Creative New Zealand, the Symphony Orchestra, the Film Commission, the Music Commission, the Royal New Zealand Ballet and Te Matatini. 
She has a particular interest in access and participation for all New Zealanders and extending the reach of the sector to diverse and under-served communities. As part of her delegation for developing a Pacific focus in the Arts, Culture and Heritage portfolio, she attended the opening of the Oceania exhibition at the Royal Academy in London last year. At the time she spoke of culture’s ability to reflect our inextricable connection and responsibilities to one another across the globe. (photo: David Langley)

As Kaitiaki Mātauranga Māori and Subject Librarian for Te Tumu, School of Māori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies at the University of Otago, Jacinta (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Porou) works in support of Māori success across the university environment. She is also the Council Representative for Te Waka ā Māui (South Island) for Te Rōpū Whakahau, national body for Māori in Libraries, Culture, Knowledge, Information, Communication and Systems Technology in Aotearoa.

Jaimie Isaac is a curator and interdisciplinary artist operating from a mixed heritage of Indigenous/Anishnaabe and European background. Jaimie works inside and outside institutional systems to create space for underrepresented groups to challenge the canon and expand contemporary and art historical narratives. Her interests in social engagement are present within her exhibitions. Isaac’s thesis research focus was about Decolonizing Curatorial Practice.

Joy currently works as Adviser, International Services and Indigenous Exchange at Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa. She has recently returned from the Gold Coast as the Pacific Producer at Home of the Arts (HOTA) and Generate Project Producer for the City of Gold Coast’s 2020 Arts Strategy & Festival 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Joy has diverse cross-cultural arts management knowledge developed through Wānanga and International Relations, her mission statement ‘Manaaki Tangata, Manaaki Whenua, Haere Whakamua: Care for the People, Care for the Land, Move Forward’ demonstrates her approach to developing strategies for First Peoples – with culturally and environmentally sensitive methods of engagement we can achieve great success and understanding.

Joy is part of the Hard Topic/Hot Topic Panel at the EMP Huakina.

Juliet Cooke has over 25 years of experience in exhibition design, management and installation. She is passionate about developing exhibitions that fully engage the visitor. For the past 5 years she has been developing activity-exhibits that provide a social and kinesthetic learning experience for the museum visitor. 

Kate Blair is a conservator currently working with taonga Māori at Auckland Museum. With previous experience working in bicultural environments and conserving indigenous materials at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, Te Papa Tongarewa, and the Royal British Columbia Museum, Kate has research interests in how conservators differently define their professional thinking as a result of working with customary practitioners and knowledge holders. Kate attained her Master’s degree in Textile Conservation from the University of Glasgow in 2013.

Kate is part of the Hard Topic/Hot Topic Panel at the EMP Huakina

Kate is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at Victoria University of Wellington. She is a former secondary school teacher and professional development facilitator. Kate’s research interests include educational leadership and leadership development, blended learning, mentoring and coaching, and professional learning communities.

Kate is part of the Mentoring panel at the EMP Huakina

Kolokesa Māhina-Tuai and Barbara Makuati-Afitu are Lagi-Maama - a cultural organisation created to support our Indigenous communities across different spaces.  They work in the arts, GLAM, philanthropic, corporate spaces navigating, championing and brokering for all our communities.  In May they joined The Arts Foundation as Arts Liaison navigators. 

Lara graduated with her Masters of Museum and Heritage Practices in 2018. Her interests have drawn her to the field of interpretation where she has worked on several exhibits including a Visitors' Centre for the Sisters of Compassion in Island Bay and the exhibit Are We There Yet? Women and Equality in Aotearoa at the Auckland Museum. She is currently working for the Wellington City Council where part of her role is to develop interpretive policies for the City Design and Place Planning Team. She believes great interpretation uses all our senses and is essential to enhancing experiences.

Linda Tyler is currently the convenor of Museums and Cultural Heritage at the University of Auckland. From 2006-2018 she was the inaugural Director of the Centre for Art Studies at The University of Auckland, administering the University’s art collection and exhibition programmes at the Gus Fisher Gallery, as well as monthly changing digital and on-site exhibitions held in the General Library under the auspices of the Window project, (www.window.auckland.ac.nz).  Prior to this appointment, Linda Tyler was Curator of Pictorial Collections at the Hocken Library at the University of Otago for eight years.

Louise Weston is Senior Collection Technician, Collections Cataloguing Project (Human History) at Auckland Museum, leading a team of Collection Technicians to catalogue and provide digital access to historical collections. She started in the museum sector in 2015 as a Collections Assistant at MOTAT, and then became a Collections Technician at Auckland Museum. She has a BA and a Postgraduate Diploma in Museum and Heritage Studies from Victoria University of Wellington.

Louise is part of the Mentoring panel at the EMP Huakina

Michelle Hippolite (Waikato, Rongowhakaata and Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki) joined Te Puni Kōkiri as the Chief Executive on 3 December 2012. She is the first Māori woman to lead Te Puni Kōkiri since its establishment 25 years ago.

Previously, Michelle was the Kaihautū of Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (Te Papa) for almost five years. Her tenure included taking on the role of Acting Chief Executive for one year.

Her 16 years in the public sector include senior leadership roles in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, as well as contract work to focus on Māori development issues.

Throughout her career Michelle has provided ministerial advice on issues pertinent to Māori development including Māori economic development, Treaty of Waitangi settlements, the seabed and foreshore debate, social policy, te reo Māori, fisheries and Māori broadcasting.

For Michelle, professional highlights include providing leadership in government on the establishment of the Māori Television Service and Te Ture mō Te Reo Māori/Māori Language Act 2017.

An experienced teacher and PLD facilitator, Monika is the Education Manager for the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. Her team is responsible for delivering education programmes to school aged students as well as an increasing number of professionals both through face to face sessions and online

Dr Ngarino Ellis is Convenor of Art History at the University of Auckland. Her research focus is on identifying, promoting and recuperating matauranga in relation to art forms, art practices, artists and theories in Māori art and culture from c800 to the present day, including both marae and gallery-based art practices. Her doctoral thesis was published by Auckland University Press as A Whakapapa of Tradition: One Hundred Years of Ngāti Porou Carving 1830-1930. It won the Judith Binney best first book of illustrated non-fiction award at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards in 2017. Her second book Toi Te Mana: A History of Indigenous Art from Aotearoa New Zealand will be co-authored with Professor Deidre Brown and the late Professor Jonathan Mane-Wheoki and is forthcoming

Nici Cumpston is of Afghan, English, Irish and Barkindji Aboriginal heritage and is a descendant of the Darling River people of north western, New South Wales. She is simultaneously an artist, a curator, a writer, an educator and a builder of relationships.

Borell (Pirirakau, Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi, Te Whakatōhea) is Curator Māori Art, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki where his research in both customary and contemporary Māori art is produced for publication and exhibition making. He lectures part-time at The University of Auckland specializing in Māori visual arts and culture in both customary and contemporary fields. Recent curatorial projects include: co-curating with Zara Stanhope The Moa Hunters by Areta Wilkinson, for 9th Asia Pacific Triennial, QAGOMA, Brisbane (2018) and The Māori Portraits: Gottfried Lindauer’s New Zealand, at the Auckland Art Gallery (2016) and to de Young Fine Arts Museum, San Francisco (2017). Borell was Associate Curator Māori at The Auckland War Memorial Museum (2013-2015), Kaiwhakahaere Toi o Manukau- Māori Arts Manager for Auckland Council –South (2009-2013). He is the current Chair of Te Ātinga –the National Māori Visual Arts committee of Toi Māori Aotearoa and was a member of the 2019 advisory panel for the New Zealand Venice Biennale project 2019 presented by Creative New Zealand. Borell has a Bachelor of Māori Visual Arts (Hons) from Massey University (2000) and a Master of Fine Arts (Hons) The University of Auckland (2002).

Nigel is one of the keynote speakers at the EMP Huakina

Rachael has been a digital editor at Te Papa for just over three years. As well as managing the day-to-day running of Te Papa’s websites, her experience is in creating impactful online content that reaches people beyond the physical walls of the museum – from activity books to videos, blogs to quizzes.

Riah King-Wall is the Arts Advisor for Whanganui District Council, where she is responsible for writing and delivering strategies, taking care of the city’s public art, and creative community support. Previous roles included museum public programming, education, freelance curation, and research. She has a Masters in Museum and Heritage studies from Victoria University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Massey University.

Born and raised in Sydney, Robert began his working life as a contract Archaeologist, having completed a double Honours degree in Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of Sydney. It was through a watching brief for the Ultimo Powerhouse site that Robert was appointed Assistant Curator of Industry for the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences. So began a career in Museums. Robert’s interests in Industrial History led him to the Ironbridge Institute in Shropshire, England where he completed a Masters in Industrial Archaeology and Heritage Management. From there he has held positions at the Black Country Open Air Museum in the Midlands, the Manchester Museum and the Swiss National Museum in Zurich before returning to Australia to take up the position of Head of Collections at the South Australian Museum in Adelaide. Robert has been Director, Collections, Research and Education at the Otago Museum since 2014.

Robyn has more than 25 years’ experience working as a consultant researcher, strategist, facilitator and educator. She is a Teaching Fellow with the Museum and Heritage Studies programme at Victoria University and Director of Lumin (www.lumin.co.nz) working with a team of people in the arts, education and recreation sectors. She has been engaged in visitor research, Although Robyn’s career has spanned the breadth of the cultural sector, she is also recognised as conducting some museum visitor research, strategic planning and feasibility studies in the museum and heritage sector. 

Dr Rosie Ibbotson is Senior Lecturer in Art History and Theory and Programme Co-ordinator for Postgraduate Diploma in Art Curatorship, University of Canterbury at Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha University of Canterbury, and co-ordinates and teaches into the postgraduate Art Curatorship programme there. Her research centres on the Anglophone long nineteenth century, and concerns the entanglements of visual culture and environmental violence.

Samuele's research topic is focused on the organisational aspects of museum practice – specifically on the role of partnerships management and collaborative strategies – and on the evaluation of their impact on museum governance, community engagement, collection management, culture-led development, and financial sustainability. He is also a gallery supervisor at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery and occasionally works as a research assistant at Te Papa.

Sarah McClintock is the Curator and Collection Manager at The Suter Art Gallery Te Aratoi o Whakatū. She has a M.A. in Art History from Victoria University, Wellington and one of her primary curatorial interests is the ways in which historical and social issues are understood through contemporary art.

Sarah has worked at Canterbury Museum for over a decade and leads a fantastic team of natural and human history curatorial staff as well as a diverse group of research fellows. She maintains an active research portfolio in the social history of the early twentieth century and is also an Adjunct Fellow in the History Department at the University of Canterbury.

Stephanie researches the material and visual culture of protest, conflict and reform, as well as everyday life in Aotearoa New Zealand. Her continuing museological research focuses on museums and community participation.

Dr Susan Abasa has taught courses for the postgraduate programme in Museum Studies at Massey University Palmerston North since 1997. As well as supervising research students, she currently coordinates four courses offered as distance education: Taonga Tuku Iho: Heritage Aotearoa, Collection Management, Museum Management and Museums and the Public. Her own research interests are in art museum education and she undertook the first in-depth study of this field in Aotearoa New Zealand within historical and contemporary contexts. The research identified two broad types of teaching practice.

Tara is Project Director Raranga Matihiko | Weaving Digital Futures at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. As part of the Ministry of Education DT4ALL Equity fund, the Raranga Matihiko programme delivers innovative digital technologies to those with limited digital learning opportunities, while increasing access to national and local exhibitions and collections

Tom started out as an educator 10 years ago. In 2015 He pursued a postgraduate qualification in marine biology where his passion for our native taonga and science communication took stead. Tom has been a Learning Specialist for two years. Programmes under his portfolio include Volcanoes, Genomics, CSI: Citizen Science Investigations, NZ Speciation and Kete Wānanga:Moana.

Valerie Love is the Senior Digital Archivist Kaipupuri Pūranga Matihiko Matua at the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, and is responsible for the acquisition, ingest and management of born-digital heritage collections. She has extensive experience in processing born-digital archival collections, with a particular focus on appraisal, arrangement and description, and workflow management. Prior to moving to New Zealand, Valerie worked as Curator for Human Rights Collections at the University of Connecticut, USA.