The Pātaka Foundation is pleased to announce that Tehani Buchanan-Whaipooti, Karl Chitham and Hāmiora Bailey are the first 2026 recipients of the Indigenous Curators Collective (ICCA) exchange programme.
The opportunity for for Aotearoa New Zealand Indigenous curators to take part in curatorial exchanges and international collaborations comes from a partnership between the Pātaka Foundation and Creative New Zealand (CNZ) working with the ICCA.
Tehani, Karl and Hāmiora are all off to the Indigenous Quinquennial at the National Gallery of Canada. Later in the year, the ICCA will anounce a further three Aotearoa curators, taking the total number of 2026 recipients to six, and these curators will get to attend the 2026 Venice Biennale.
About Karl, Tehani and Hāmiora
Karl Chitham (Te Uriroroi, Ngā Puhi) ONZM is Head of Arts & Culture for Hutt City Council and director of The Dowse Art Museum. He is a trustee of Wairau Māori Art Gallery, the first dedicated public Māori art gallery in Aotearoa. Karl has written for multiple arts publications including co-authoring the ground-breaking book Crafting Aotearoa: A Cultural History of New Zealand and the Wider Moana Oceania and has contributed to Becoming Our Future: Global Indigenous Curatorial Practice and Reuben Paterson: The Only Dream Left. He has curated numerous exhibitions including Whetūrangitia/Made As Stars, Shannon Te Ao: Ia rā, ia rā (rere runga, rere raro) for 15th Gwangju Biennale, Tākiwa Hou: Imagining New Spaces for the inaugural Malta Biennale and co-curated Reuben Paterson: The Only Dream Left for City Gallery, Wellington. Karl has held roles in universities, museums and art galleries and has been a selector and judge for numerous awards and opportunities.
Tehani Buchanan-Whaipooti (Ngāti Rupe Makea ki Rarotonga, Ngāti Pitiaua ki Aitutaki, Nukuroa, Kōtirana) is a māmā, independent curator, artist, systems changemaker and educator. Her creative practice spans interior design, creative direction, curation, installation, Cook Islands quilt making (tīvaivai) and writing.
Grounded in her indigeneity, Tehani’s work explores indigenous reclamation, constitutional transformation from a Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Pacific perspective and the integral relationship that mahi toi (art) has in resistance movements and global conscientisation. Her recent curatorial work include guest curator at Enjoy Contemporary Art Space for the off-site exhibition, Tipurepure au Va’ine and co-curation of a follow up exhibition of the same name at Pātaka Art + Museum, where she also showed new work.
Tehani lives in Parirua on Ngāti Toa Rangatira land with her fiancé Julia and their three tamariki.
Hāmiora Bailey (Ngāti Porou ki Harataunga, Ngāti Huarere) is an Indigenous and queer cultural architect based in Tāmaki Makaurau. As Director of Auckland Pride, he has led the organisation’s transformation from a seasonal festival into year-round cultural infrastructure, establishing residencies, commissioning models, and development pathways that support Takatāpui, MVPFAFF+ and Rainbow artists to become transformational storytellers.
Hāmiora’s practice spans public art, social practice, videography and sculpture, creating works that move people through space and time, grounding contemporary experience in whakapapa, personal memory and collective futures.