Contemporary HUM aims to generate critical discussion of and draw attention to Aotearoa New Zealand’s contribution in the global arts sector. We encourage discourse that highlights the diversity of Aotearoa artists’ and art professionals’ projects offshore and that situates their work within an international and contemporary context. 

Contemporary HUM’s mission is:

• To play a leading role in raising the international awareness, recognition and understanding of art from Aotearoa, focusing primarily on visual arts but occasionally extending to other disciplines.
• To foster critical writing and thinking from diverse voices and situated perspectives about Aotearoa artists’ practices, through a robust, constructive and supportive editorial process. This process should foster diverse forms of writing, while preserving consistent quality and relevance to HUM, thereby expanding the form, possibilities and readership of art criticism.
• To publish a broad and balanced coverage of activity, representative of the Aotearoa arts community active internationally.
• To be inclusive of our audience as well as those we work with, given the inherent inequity that conventions of writing, editing and publishing online present.

HUM commits to the articles of te Tiriti o Waitangi through the coverage of work by Māori artists and writers, through governance, and through the development of culturally informed and responsive commissioning and editorial processes. This includes the engagement of expert readers in the editorial process where content relates to Te Ao Māori and Māori writers/artists involved would benefit from a Māori editorial oversight. Expert readers with whakapapa ties to the specific iwi and hapū of the materials, places, artists or writers concerned will be prioritised wherever possible. 

• HUM’s audience is twofold and publications should be using language accessible to both: New Zealanders working in or interested in the arts (those living in Aotearoa and overseas) represent over half of our readers. The other, international, sector of our readership includes readers who may not be familiar with concepts and arts activity from Aotearoa.
• Therefore, when writing for HUM, you should take into consideration a need to speak to multiple audiences: general or non-art-specialised readers, and those embedded in artistic practice, industry and community. This includes those familiar with Aotearoa arts and culture and those who are not; people familiar with the structures and language of the art world, and people who come to our publishing because of other interests; those with extensive knowledge of critical theory, or art-historical references, and those interested in the everyday, multi-sensory and other roles of art. 

• HUM is committed to being inclusive of, and responsive to, the many ways readers engage with art writing and criticism, and is dedicated to expanding access to readers with vision impairments as well as information-processing differences.
• Looking forward, HUM is keen to publish in ways that go beyond what is currently undertaken on the platform. This may include audio editions of publications and site-wide image-description. Writers are welcome to propose a project that sits outside our current scope.

• Uphold informed and balanced critical analysis. Always make sure you have reliable and representative sources, reference them and try to speak directly with the person concerned.
• Have a clear intention for your writing, state your position, and practise good research methods. Be aware of and take responsibility for the claims you make, especially when you are writing outside of your lived experience.
• If you are writing about something outside of your lived experience, let us know. We have expert readers in our team to support you and ensure you are not misrepresenting concepts and knowledge.
• Clarity of language: Avoid ambiguity, ensure the meaning of each sentence is clear and accessible to a wide audience. Avoid unsupported or undemonstrated judgements or claims, e.g., through the unintentional use of language such as “amazing”, “interesting”, “terrible”. This includes rhetoric that is purely pejorative or promotional.
• HUM recognises the utmost importance of rigorous critical debate in the arts but also acknowledges that occupying a critical position can at times be difficult, for instance when there is pressure for positive coverage due to institutional expectations or the writer may be dealing with topics outside of their lived experience. HUM aims to support writers in their critical stance. We share responsibility for every piece published. 

• Word count: 2000–3000 words. (Longer pieces may be considered in prior negotiation with HUM.)
• We publish a range of formats and tones: academic essays, artist profiles, interviews, reviews, conversations, opinion pieces and creative non-fiction. Consider the structure and form your text will take when pitching ideas for commission. 

Your editor should be the first point of call for any issues or questions. Our job is to support you, so do not hesitate to discuss anything with us. 

• Once an author has been invited to write for HUM, the commissioning editor will request and discuss a pitch with the author, stating the intentions and subjects for the text before the commission is confirmed.

• • For associate editors: Discuss this pitch—its subject matter, structure, or scope—with HUM’s senior editor before confirming with the author. When a pitch and timeline are confirmed, the senior editor will also draw up a timeline and contract for the associate editor to provide to the author.

• Any conflict of interest must be raised by the author before the commission is confirmed. 

  Once the pitch, timeline and fee have been agreed upon, the commissioning editor will send a contributor’s agreement to the author to sign, thus confirming the commission.

  • HUM needs to receive the signed agreement before the draft is worked on by our team.

• High-resolution images should be provided by the author when submitting the first full draft. Please coordinate with us on the sourcing of images, captions and permissions if you are unsure.
• Once the author sends us a full draft, the editor uses Google Docs (or similar) to propose changes and editing, until both sides are happy (approx. 1–2 weeks).
• The editor may engage expert readers during the editing stage where necessary (e.g., if the work deals with content outside the author’s and editor’s lived experience). The expert reader will provide comments to the editor, after a single read-through, to pass on to the author.
  • For the editor: When reading the submitted text for the first time, please consider whether an expert reader will be necessary and, if so, start making arrangements with the senior editor ASAP.
• When a final draft is reached, the copy editor proofreads the piece, and this last round of edits is reviewed by the author to arrive at the final copy (approx. 4 days).
• HUM then prepares the website layout with images and sends a private link to the author (and, later, the artists mentioned) as a preview before publishing. The purpose of this preview is to review the final layout of text and images, and catch any factual or technical errors missed throughout the editing and uploading process.
• When the text is published, the author may invoice HUM for the fee agreed upon in their contract, addressed to: Contemporary HUM Arts Trust, 19c Mission Road, Kerikeri 0230, Aotearoa New Zealand.

As part of HUM’s editorial approach, we acknowledge that conventions of writing, editing and publishing can exclude and disadvantage D/deaf, disabled, blind/low-vision and neurodivergent people, and those with mental health conditions. We encourage contributors to discuss their access and support needs with the commissioning editor. 

• Please use UK/British English spelling.
• Avoid unnecessary capitalisation. Concepts, descriptions, and movements (e.g., “postmodern,” “art history,” “postcolonial,”) should be in lower case.
  • Exception: Capitalise “Indigenous” when describing Indigenous people or works. Other umbrella identity categories can be treated similarly, e.g., Queer or Black.
• Government, society, director, curator, etc. are usually lower case unless giving the official job titles and institutions. Consider:
  • Senior Curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.
  • She built a close relationship with the artist while working as a senior curator in Los Angeles.
• Always use the full form of an acronym in the first use of it followed by its initials
  Queensland Art Gallery (QAG).
• Numbers from one to one hundred to be written out in full, numbers from 101 onwards to be in digits.
• Dates to be written out in full without commas, using UK/NZ dating custom:
  • 14 March 2022.
  • Write 1960s, 60s and 70s.
• Twelve-hour clock, with “am” or “pm” with no space
  • 12pm.
• Titles Start with a Capital Letter at Every Word Except Short Prepositions, Articles and Conjunctions. For artworks, follow the styling used by the artist, for example all lower case.
• Oxford commas are not universally required, but should be used when they clarify the meaning of a list.
  • The artist uses cat hair, wire and rubber in this installation. (List is equally clear without a comma before “and.”)
  • She says, “My assistants are my cats, Mum, and Dad.” (Without the Oxford comma, her cats could be called Mum and Dad, when in fact her assistants are her cats and her parents.)

• Use format: Title of Work (date) or in a sentence incorporating the relevant information, e.g., “In Christina Pataialii’s 2021 work Night Drills, ...”
  • No need to include date in subsequent references to the work.
  • The title of an exhibition should be in Italics, every time it is referred to.
  • The title of a series should be in “double quotation marks.”
• Titles of books, newspapers and other publications are also italicised, while titles of poems or book chapters are in double quotation marks.
• The first time an author (e.g., of a cited source) or an artist is mentioned, use full name. Subsequent references both in text and footnotes should consistently refer to them by last name only. 

• Phrases or words from languages other than English should be in italics (excluding te reo Māori), with the English translation in parentheses after the phrase.
• If the phrase is lengthy, the English translation can be in a footnote.
• If the phrase is commonly understood (e.g., raison d'être), a translation is probably unnecessary—the editor and author can make this call together.

• We refer to Te Aka: Māori Dictionary online for all translations of te reo Māori.
• Use of te reo Māori: As one of the official languages of Aotearoa, words in te reo Māori are not italicised but a translation in English should be added in parentheses for our international readers, or, for longer translations, included in a footnote or text linked to the relevant dictionary entry.
• Make sure all tohutō (macrons) are correctly used, in accordance with either Te Aka or the artist’s preferred dialect.
• The first time you use an Aotearoa place name, include both te reo Māori and English names, without commas or slashes. (e.g., Aotearoa New Zealand’s capital city is Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington). Use only the Māori name for all following mentions.
  • This convention also applies to the Indigenous/Aboriginal/First Nations names of non-Aotearoa locations: Naarm Melbourne, Tkaronto Toronto, Gadigal Territory of Sydney.
• Seek to include relevant iwi (genealogical) affiliation(s) in brackets after first stating the person’s name, being proactive to confirm directly with the person or published sources whether they wish to acknowledge whakapapa (genealogy) and, if so, the content of the affiliation(s). Sometimes the order of affiliations listed is important, or they might wish to acknowledge hapū (kinship group) as well as, or instead of, iwi. These are indicative of the context from which a person enters the conversation in focus—a way to make linkages evident. 

• Question your biases and rely on published information, existing bios or seeking information from the person directly rather than making your own assumptions. Be neutral and consistent.
• Writers should pursue the same proactive approach for all people named, seeking to include home country/cultural affiliations in parentheses or an introductory sentence, where relevant and in accordance with the person’s preference: e.g., if discussing a group exhibition containing many artists from around the world, include the country of origin for all or none of the artists.
• Gender-neutral language—don’t use “woman artist” if you don’t use “male artist.”
• Be consistent with each artist/writer’s stated pronouns. If you cannot find a source where they clearly indicate which pronoun they use, default to using a singular “they”, or contact them directly to ask. 

• Hyphens should be used for compound words
  • artist-run space, art-making activity, bronze-cast bust
• En dashes should be used between a closed range of values such as dates, times or numbers
  • 1 September–1 October.
• Em dashes should be used for text breaks (formatted with no space either side) where parentheses are too harsh.
  • “this exhibition—the artist’s first retrospective in Europe—comprises eighty artworks…”
• Avoid relying on italicising words for emphasis, to reserve that formatting for titles of works. Instead, rewrite the sentence to more clearly articulate the intended meaning you are trying to emphasise.
• Use ‘single’ quotes sparingly, such as flagging a concept that is known to be contentious. If you find yourself using these single quote marks more than once, try rewriting the sentence to express your idea without relying on punctuation.
• Preferably, single quote marks should only be used when you are quoting text that includes quoted text. In this case, format as follows:
  • Milligan described the practice as a way of “connecting people to the lives of things in a wider project of ‘regenerative re-making’.”
• Use “double” quote marks for a direct quote, such as when citing a published text or an interview.
• Quotes longer than fifty words should be indented as a block quote, with a footnote reference at the end. 

• Please add a bio at the end of the text, with one short paragraph of up-to-date information on each of the author(s) and Aotearoa art practitioners involved. Liaise with HUM and the artists to source this information if needed.
• Please also provide a portrait photo to accompany each bio. This will be turned black and white and cropped to a square format.

• Please source images and permissions from their owners to publish on HUM. Where possible, we illustrate our publications with a wide range of images. Aim to have these ready for consideration at the same time as you provide your first full draft. Editors can also help with this task when writers are not familiar with the artist/institutions from which images will be sourced.
• Use the captions provided by the artist or gallery. When no captions are provided, follow HUM’s conventions below:
• Captions for images of single artworks:
  • Artist’s Full Name, Title (optional info such as: detail/digital film still), year, materials (optional), dimensions (optional). Courtesy of [artist, dealer, collection, author]. Photo: Photographer’s Name (omit for screenshots or film stills).
    
    

• Images that show multiple works installed in space follow should be accompanied with captions in this format
  • Installation view works by Artist Name, Artist Name and Artist Name, in Title of Exhibition, Gallery Name, dates (optional). Courtesy of [artist, dealer, collection, author]. Photo: Photographer’s Name.  

Image captions can also include complementary contextual information:

• Any sources directly quoted or paraphrased in the text should be cited consistently with the Chicago Manual of Style (Notes and Bibliography style). You can use their quick guide online.

• The footnote number should go at the end of the sentence, after the full stop/period, not in the middle of it.

• Please format all footnotes manually using square brackets, with the full notes located in a list at the bottom of the document.[1] This helps us when uploading texts to our website, where they will appear in a footnote style in the margins of the text.

• Where the author has obtained quotes directly from discussions (e.g., with a curator or artist), this should be footnoted as:

  • Name of Speaker, email to/conversation with the author, 14 March 2022.

• Use ibid if a footnote refers to the same source as the immediately preceding footnote. If the source is the same but the page number differs, use ibid plus the new page number:

  • Ibid, 23.

• Shortened notes can be used for referencing a source already footnoted but not immediately preceding. Format as:

  • Surname, Title, XX [page number]. See note two for an example.

• In-text hyperlinks should be used sparingly to direct readers to specific sites where the online presentation is relevant. HUM acts as an archive and these links are less reliable over time. Prioritise referencing websites in footnotes in Chicago style.

• If you need to include information in a footnote because it doesn’t fit into the text or interrupts the structure (e.g., to explain a concept that may be unfamiliar to readers), make sure it is under sixty words and that these are used sparingly, such as in this example from Helen Hughes’ essay, “On Measuring Distance: THE FIELD.”[2] Here is another, more conversational example.[3] 

Notes:

[1] Regardless of how you use formatting while drafting, the first full draft you submit should format footnotes manually like this. 

[2] International Klein Blue (IKB) is the ultramarine-rich hue of blue patented by French artist Yves Klein in the mid-twentieth century. 

[3]  And this was much to the chagrin of some of its artists, including Mel Ramsden, who lamented privately in a letter: “It was an absolute disaster to have my painting on a silver panelled and reflective wall.” Ramsden, quoted in Homewood and Lettau, “Hall of Mirrors,” 93.