The Dialogue took place as part of the IIC Wellington Congress.
A recording will be made available to all registered for Congress following the event on our dedicated IIC Congress site. Please email iic@iiconservation.org if you are an IIC member to gain access.
Introduction
Join Māori conservators Rose Evans, Tharron Blomfield, Kararaina Te Ira, Erina McCann and Jade Hadfield for a discussion of the issues and themes that have influenced and affected their careers in conservation.
The panel discussion moderated by Curator Māori Alexander Turnbull Library, writer, journalist, and broadcaster Paul Diamond (Ngāti Hauā, Te Rarawa, Ngapuhi) will touch on topics such as working with taonga, carrying māturanga overseas, the impact of historic trauma, ethical responsibilities to the community, what you don’t learn at university and the blockages that there can be in the profession.
Biographies
Rose Evans
Rose Evans (Te Atiawa, French and Welsh descent) is an objects conservator and Director of Objectlab Ltd, a heritage consultancy based in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand, having specialized in the conservation of Maori and Pacific taonga and contemporary sculpture across a range of institutions from Te Papa Museum of New Zealand (1990-2005)to the British Museum (2002).
She has worked in a range of cultural governance roles such as a Board member of the Arts Council of Creative New Zealand and Te Maori Manaaki Taonga Trust , and is the recipient of both a Getty Fellowship (2002) and a Winston Churchill Fellowship (2009).
Tharron Bloomfield
Tharron Bloomfield is a Māori Heritage Advisor for Heritage New Zealand. He has previously worked as a Curator and Conservator in New Zealand, Australia and the United States.
Jade Hadfield
Jade Hadfield |Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara, is a conservator and curator living in Narrm | Melbourne and has over twelve years’ experience at leading cultural organisations, including Te Papa, ICCROM, The Koorie Heritage Trust, Museums Victoria and currently at the State Library Victoria. Jade has utilised her conservation training to help in the return of her hapū Pou Tīpuna and their ongoing care. Jade draws on her upbringing of being immersed in te ao Māori to centre Indigenous ontologies and epistemologies, flip dominant narratives and experience in the cultural sector to increase diverse representation and build capacity for Pasifika in Australia.
Erina McCann
Erina McCann is a Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Ruapani wahine from Tūranganui-a-Kiwa |Gisborne, Aotearoa New Zealand, with over thirteen years’ experience working in the cultural sector in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia. As a trained conservator living on the unceded lands of the Bunurong/Boon Wurrung Peoples in Naarm | Melbourne, Erina works from a Te Ao Māori lens, consulting across diverse heritage communities, to embed intercultural practices and create space for community-centric and collaborative conservation and cultural collection care practice in Australia and across the moana.
Kararaina Te Ira
Kararaina Te Ira He uri au o ngā tūpuna mai ngā waka ō Tainui, Te Arawa, Kurahaupō, Takitimu me Tokomaru. Ko Kararaina Parerohi Rāhui Te Ira taku ingoa. Ko te mahi tautiaki tāku nei whainga roa.
I mahi ahau i roto Aotearoa, ki tā wāhi hoki, hei hāpai i ngā kaupapa tūhonohono ki waenganui ngā taonga me ngā hāpori. Otirā, ko te oranga o ngā taonga ā iwi, tāku tino mahi. Ko te mahi penapena taonga, te mahi tiaki taonga, āku nei pūkenga matua.
Kararaina has a firm connection to her whakapapa in both Te Ika a Maui (North Island) and Te Waka a Maui (South Island). After training as an art historian, Kararaina transitioned into cultural material conservation, obtaining her master’s degree in conservation from the University of Melbourne, focusing on textiles and objects. In her capacity as a heritage professional, Kararaina has worked with numerous arts, cultural and heritage institutions throughout New Zealand and abroad, with a notable example including Rauru, Māori meeting house displayed in Museum am Rothenbaum of Hamburg. Kararaina has curated numerous exhibitions in New Zealand where women have been the central focus. In her 2018 Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre exhibition, she explored the cross-section between astronomy and female narratives. Additional projects include the permanent exhibition at Puke Ariki, titled Ko Taku Poi te Manu, which explores wāhine Māori and their practice of poi as a cultural tool to transmit political and historical messages. Kararaina is now the director of Hokitika Museum after working as Senior Adviser for Protected Objects where she established in 2019 the new framework for the Conservation of Taonga Tūturu Programme. Kararaina continues to operate Penapena Taonga, an independent conservation practice that has been operating since 2016.