ABOUT CONTEMPORARY HUM
Launched in December 2016, Contemporary HUM generates critical discussion and greater visibility of Aotearoa New Zealand visual arts and creative disciplines presented overseas.
HUM is the first centralised platform dedicated to documenting New Zealand projects abroad, offering a much needed conduit for global exchange.
As an online publication, we commission writers to respond, review and interview artists and art professionals from Aotearoa New Zealand who are working internationally. We also involve international writers, curators and artists in order to draw attention and critical discourse to New Zealand’s contribution in the global arts landscape, to support and nurture the success of our artists, and to encourage knowledge sharing.
HUM’s calendar of events presents the wide spectrum of projects and disciplines operating abroad, so you can follow who is doing what, when and where, no matter where you are.
MEET THE TEAM
Pauline Autet
Director and Editor
Pauline Autet is an independent curator, editor and project manager. Based in France since 2016, Pauline founded and continues to run Contemporary HUM in collaboration with other New Zealanders based in Europe and beyond. She previously worked at City Gallery Wellington, 30upstairs Gallery and co-founded the nomadic gallery Elbowroom. Following her experience as attendent of the New Zealand pavilion at the Venice Biennale for Simon Denny’s Secret Power exhibition in 2015, she thought something could be done to bridge the gap between Aotearoa and the wider art world and developed HUM. As a freelance arts professional in Paris, she works with the New Zealand and French art scenes concurrently. Within a collaboration between the Ricard Foundation and the French Ministry of Culture she is in charge of the editorial platform TextWork. She also coordinates Trampoline, a non-profit association created by a group of private organisations in France to promote the international dissemination and visibility of the French art scene.
Genista Jurgens
PR and Communications Manager
Genista Jurgens is an art writer and visual researcher originally from the Hokianga, Aotearoa, NZ, and is currently based in Portugal. After graduating from Elam School of Fine Arts (2007), she co-founded and managed the artist-run space Cross Street Studios in Auckland (2007-10), co-organised the arts and craft market Craftwerk (2007-09), and worked in advertising and film and television. Genista spent six years in Berlin (2011-17), where she was a copywriter for commercial directors and small businesses, and a contributor to various online art publications including Format Magazine and Ocula. She joined the HUM team in 2018, providing PR, administration, digital marketing and graphic design support, and is also a new mum.
Hannah Murray
Research and Community Manager
Hannah Murray manages the social media and the wider community of HUM while working in the museum and gallery sector in London. She currently works as Registrar for Tate, after working at the Royal Academy of Arts. Hannah joined Contemporary HUM in 2017 after having acted as an Exhibition Attendant at the New Zealand Pavilion at the 2017 Venice Biennale. Having relocated to the UK, Hannah was interested in encouraging discussion of New Zealand artists working abroad and supporting Aotearoa arts internationally. Prior to living in London, Hannah was the Loans Officer at Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira and also worked and volunteered in a variety of Auckland galleries including Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, where she completed one of the Marylyn Mayo internships in 2016. She completed her Postgraduate Diploma in Art Curatorship at the University of Canterbury.
In collaboration with:
Catherine Dale and Amy Weng - Guest editors Asia
Jess Douglas & Millie Ridell - Copy-editors
Maria Julia Guichard - Product Designer
Winsome Wild - previously Communications Manager
OUR TRUSTEES
Heather Galbraith
Chair
Heather Galbraith is a curator, writer and art educator. She is a Professor of Fine Art at Whiti o Rehua School of Art, Toi Rauwharangi College of Creative Arts, Massey University in Wellington. She was recently Managing Curator for SCAPE Public Art in Ōtautahi, Christchurch for three iterations (of a 6-week art in public space season) in 2016, 2017 and 2018. She was commissioner for the 2015 NZ pavilion at the Venice Biennale, Simon Denny: Secret Power, deputy commissioner for Bill Culbert: Front Door Out Back, in 2013, and co-curator for Francis Upritchard: Save Yourself, and deputy commissioner in 2009. Heather has a BFA from Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland and an MA in Curating and Arts Administration from Goldsmith’s College, London. She worked for seven years as Exhibitions Organiser at Camden Arts Centre, London. Currently she supervises Masters and PhD candidates at Massey University, writes about art, undertakes curatorial projects and commissions and is Mum to a very active 4 year old.
Ane Tonga
Deputy chair
Ane Tonga is the inaugural Curator Pacific Art at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. Over the last decade, she has worked in curatorial roles across museums and galleries in Aotearoa New Zealand. Her research interests are focused on contemporary Pacific art and curatorial practice, lens-based practices and indigenous feminisms. Ane writes for a number of art publications and catalogues with a particular focus on female artists of Māori and Pacific descent. Her recent publications include the monograph Te Ringa Rehe – The Legacy of Emily Schuster. She was a Professional Teaching Fellow at Elam School of Fine Arts as well as Adjunt Lecturer at Unitec Institute of Technology.
Chloe Geoghegan
Treasurer
Chloe Geoghegan holds a BFA (Hons) in Graphic Design and Art History, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Art Curatorship (UC). She has held positions at Blue Oyster Art Project Space (2014-17) and Hocken Collections (2019) and is currently Curator at Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Art Gallery. She has travelled to China and Korea on the CNZ Asia NZ Curators Tour, and to New York for an ICI Curatorial Intensive, and written for several platforms including: Contemporary HUM, Pantograph Punch, Hue & Cry, un Magazine, Journal of Curatorial Studies, On Curating and HAMSTER. She is interested in furthering curatorial discourse around art in Aotearoa through critical writing, exhibiting and publishing.
Matariki Williams
Secretary
Matariki Williams, Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Hauiti, Taranaki, Ngāti Whakaue, is a Curator Mātauranga Māori at Te Papa Tongarewa. With Bridget Reweti she co-founded and co-edited ATE Journal of Māori Art. Her writing has appeared in print and online publications including frieze, The Pantograph Punch, ArtZone and The Spinoff. With Stephanie Gibson and Puawai Cairns, she is co-author of Protest Tautohetohe: Objects of Resistance, Persistence and Defiance. She is a trustee for arts writing website Contemporary HUM and Kaihautu Māori on the board of the National Digital Forum.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Contemporary HUM is a non-profit initiative championing New Zealand arts in the world. It is made possible by the support and funding of public and private entities. We gratefully acknowledge all our generous supporters!
Institutional support
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SUPPORT HUM
By choosing to support HUM in its fourth year of publishing, you enable us to pay for writers, editors, research, website and dissemination costs for our increasingly ambitious publishing agenda! Together we can continue championing and engaging with the arts from Aotearoa New Zealand to increase their visibility on the world stage.
Click below to become a HUM supporter on Patreon from $5 per publication, or contact us directly if you'd like to make a one-off donation or sponsor a specific project: hello@contemporaryhum.com
GET INVOLVED!
Contemporary HUM is open to new collaborations, ideas and contributions. Get in touch with us if you have something to propose.
We're always keen to hear from editors and writers worldwide who may want to engage with New Zealand arts projects in their geographical area.
Currently, we are seeking guest editors based in North and South Americas who would like to work with HUM to expand our coverage to those areas. Some knowledge of New Zealand arts, experience in editorial work, and connections in their local art community/ writers is needed for this task.