Established in 2024, the Visiting Curators Programme (VCP) is an exchange programme between UNSW Galleries and Te Uru Waitākere Contemporary Gallery, designed to foster deeper engagement between practitioners and institutions in Aotearoa and Australia.
Curators from both countries will be hosted internationally to conduct research, meet with artists, and present on their respective practices to date. The VCP is intended to facilitate ongoing connections between Australia and Aotearoa that build greater opportunities and resonance for art communities within the region.
UNSW Galleries and Te Uru are delighted to announce the curators participating in our 2025 VCP: Ellie Buttrose, Zoe Black, Bruce Johnson McLean, and Felicity Milburn.
2025 Participants
Ellie Buttrose
5–11 June 2025
Visiting Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland from Meanjin/Brisbane
Ellie Buttrose is the Curator of Contemporary Australian Art at the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA); Curator of the 2026 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art at the Art Gallery of South Australia; and Curator of 'Archie Moore: kith and kin' at the Australia Pavilion, 2024 Venice Biennale, which received the Golden Lion for Best National Participation. Her recent curatorial projects at QAGOMA include: Living Patterns 2023 that featured artists who use abstraction as both a political and formal device; Embodied Knowledge 2022 a survey of contemporary Queensland art co-curated with Katina Davidson; Work, Work, Work 2019 that examined the intersection of civic and artistic labour; and Limitless Horizon: Vertical Perspective 2017, which reconsidered the impact of drone vision on contemporary art through First Nations and East Asian painting traditions.
Zoe Black
8–12 September 2025
Visiting Gadigal Nura/Sydney from Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland
Zoe Black (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine, Pākehā) is the deputy director of Objectspace, a public gallery dedicated to craft, design and architecture in Aotearoa New Zealand. She works across curatorial programming, community and international development, and programme delivery. Black’s curatorial practice centres community development and advocating for critically under-represented making and object art forms. She was Norwegian Crafts' curator in residence (2020–22), working on projects that create a dialogue between Indigenous making practices in Aotearoa and Sápmi, is part of The Indigenous Curatorial Collective (ICCA), works with the advocacy group Art Makers Aotearoa, and contributes governance, advisory and writing to arts and cultural initiatives.
Bruce Johnson McLean
6–10 October 2025
Visiting Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland from Gadigal Nura/Sydney
Bruce Johnson McLean is a member of the Wierdi people of Wribpid (Belyando River region in Central Queensland). Bruce has been involved in First Nations art and culture his entire life and has over 25 years’ professional experience in the sector, primarily as a writer, curator, advisor, and consultant. Bruce was previously Assistant Director, First Nations at the National Gallery of Australia, managing their First Nations programs and initiatives. Prior to that, Bruce was Curator, Indigenous Australian Art at the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, for more than 16 years. Bruce has curated many exhibitions and programs including Tony Albert: Visible 2018, Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori: Dulka Warngiid Land of All 2016, and My Country, I Still Call Australia Home: Contemporary Art from Black Australia 2013. He has co-curated: Mavis Ngallametta: Show Me the Way to go Home 2020, Goobalathaldin Dick Roughsey: Stories of this Land 2019 and GOMA Q: Contemporary Queensland Art 2015. Bruce was also a curator of the international collaborative exhibition Histórias Indígenas (Indigenous Histories) 2023 at MASP, Sao Paulo, Brazil and KODE, Bergen, Norway. He has also worked on several major projects including large-scale illumination projects with Vincent Namatjira and the Mulka Project for Canberra’s Enlighten Festival.
Felicity Milburn
13–17 October 2025
Visiting Gadigal Nura/Sydney from Ōtautahi/Christchurch
Felicity Milburn is Lead Curator at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, where she works collaboratively with artists on a wide range of projects, from temporary installations to large-scale survey exhibitions. Her latest project, ‘Dummies & Doppelgängers’, explores her long-held interest in what art can tell us about human nature. Previous exhibitions have included Absence, 2023, Grant Lingard: Needs and Desires, 2022, Cheryl Lucas: Shaped by Schist and Scoria, 2022, Francis Upritchard: Paper, Creature, Stone, 2019, the major touring survey Louise Henderson: From Life (co-curated with Lara Strongman and Julia Waite), 2019, Juliet Peter: Where the Line Leads, 2018, Jacqueline Fahey: Say Something!, 2017 and Séraphine Pick: Tell me More, 2009. Felicity writes regularly about art for the Gallery and externally. Selected publications include Dummies & Doppelgängers (2024), Cheryl Lucas: Shaped by Schist and Scoria (2022), Louise Henderson: From Life (2019), Jacqueline Fahey: Say Something! (2017) and Séraphine Pick (2009).
2024 Participants
Pip Wallis
6 May – 9 May 2024
Visiting Tamaki Makaurau/Auckland from Naarm/Melbourne
Pip Wallis is Senior Curator at Monash University Museum of Art, where she co-curated Statecraft with Andy Butler, featuring artists Steven Rhall and Sung Tieu. Previously, she was Director of Programs at Callie’s in Berlin, working on projects by Bouchra Khalili, Sophie Lee, and Colin Self. Wallis also served as Curator of Contemporary Art at the National Gallery of Victoria, curating works by Simone Forti, Hito Steyerl, and others. She was Curator in Residence at Chisenhale Gallery and Managing Editor at X-TRA. Wallis is a Chief Investigator for the Australian Research Council's Precarious Movements study.
Tina Barton
22 July – 26 July 2024
Visiting Gadigal Nura/Sydney from Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington
Christina Barton (DLitt, MNZM) is an art historian, writer, curator, and educator based in Wellington. She led Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery at Victoria University of Wellington from 2007 to 2023, curating exhibitions and developing the university’s art collection. Previously, she was Curator of Contemporary New Zealand Art at Te Papa Tongarewa (1993–95) and Assistant Curator at Auckland Art Gallery (1992–94). Barton has curated a range of exhibitions, including after McCahon: some configurations in recent art (1989), Art Now: The First Biennial Review of Contemporary Art (1994), and solo surveys of artists like Vivian Lynn and Billy Apple.
Taarati Taiaroa
22 November – 27 November 2024
Visiting Gadigal Nura/Sydney from Ngāmotu/New Plymouth
Taarati Taiaroa (Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Apa) is Assistant Curator of Contemporary Māori Art at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery Len Lye Centre in Ngāmotu, Aotearoa. Her recent curatorial debut, Te Hau Whakatonu, A Series of Never-Ending Beginnings (2023-24), explores Toi Māori from the gallery's collection. Previously, she was Assistant Curator for Toi Tū Toi Ora: Contemporary Māori Art at Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Art Gallery. Her research focuses on Toi Māori histories, Māori Post-minimalism, and collaborative practices. She has contributed to publications such as Crafting Aotearoa (2019) and Art New Zealand (2021-22). Photo: Vanessa Laurie/Stuff
Acknowledgements
The Visiting Curators Programme is made possible through collaboration with hosting institutions Te Uru Waitākere Contemporary Gallery and Auckland University of Technology.
