The Office for Contemporary Art Aotearoa (OCAA) works in partnership with other organisations and individuals, both from Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally, to encourage exchange and dialogue between visual arts practitioners from New Zealand and their international counterparts and to enable and facilitate the presentation of work by New Zealand artists at major overseas exhibitions.

OCAA was formed in early 2024 and is based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.

OCAA is in the process of applying for Charitable Trust status.

Projects

Creative New Zealand Te Manu Ka Tau international visitors to Aotearoa New Zealand.

Salma Tuqan and Stefan Benchoam

29 October - 8 November 2024

Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Ōtautahi Christchurch, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington

Salma Tuqan, Director of Nottingham Contemporary, UK, and Stefan Benchoam, artist and exhibition maker from Guatemala City, visited Aotearoa New Zealand as part of Creative New Zealand’s Te Manu Ka Tau international visitors programme, delivered through a partnership between Artspace Aotearoa and Office for Contemporary Art Aotearoa, with generous support from Creative New Zealand, Sonja and Glenn Hawkins and Lenore West.

Left: Salma Tuqan, right: Stefan Benchoam

Aotearoa New Zealand at the 2024 Gwangju Biennale Pavilion

Shannon Te Ao, Ia rā, ia rā (rere runga, rere raro) Everday (I fly high, I fly low)

7 September – 1 December 2024

Suha Gallery, 158-4 Dongmyeong-dong, Dong-gu, Gwangju, South Korea

Presented in partnership with Te Tuhi and The Dowse Art Museum, with generous support from Jo and John Gow, Jenny and Andrew Smith, the Gwangju Biennale Foundation and Ambassador Dawn Bennet and the team at the New Zealand Embassy in Seoul.

Shannon Te Ao, Ia rā, ia rā (rere runga, rere raro) Everyday (I fly high, I fly low), three channel video with sound, installation view at the Aotearoa New Zealand Pavilion at the 15th Gwangju Biennale, 2024.

2024 Gasworks Residency for an artist from Aotearoa New Zealand

Shiraz Sadikeen

October – December 2024

Gasworks, 155 Vauxhall Street, London SE11 5RH, UK

Presented in partnership with Gasworks and the Jan Warburton Charitable Trust, with generous support from private individuals who contribute to the NZ Friends of Gasworks, leading luxury skincare brand Emma Lewisham and the British Council Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific.

Left: Shiraz Sadikeen, photo by Meg Porteous. Right: Gasworks winter season international artists in residence (l-r) Osamu Shikichi (Japan), Natalie Paneng (South Africa), Shiraz Sadikeen (Aotearoa New Zealand), Luciana Decker Orozco, (Bolivia). Image courtesy of Gasworks.

Creative New Zealand Te Manu Ka Tau international visitor to Aotearoa New Zealand.

Tavia Nyong'o

August 2024

Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and Ngāmotu New Plymouth

Tavia Nyong’o visited Aotearoa New Zealand as part of Creative New Zealand’s Te Manu Ka Tau international visitors programme, delivered through a partnership between Artspace Aotearoa and Office for Contemporary Art Aotearoa, with generous support from Creative New Zealand, Sonja and Glenn Hawkins, Lenore West and Nim Flora Chan.

Tavia Nyong'o, William Lampson Professor of American Studies at Yale

2024 Residency for a curator from Aotearoa New Zealand with Delfina Foundation and Metroland Cultures in London

Hana Pera Aoake

April - June 2024

Delfina Foundation, Victoria, London, and Metroland Cultures, Brent, London

Presented in partnership with Delfina Foundation, Metroland Cultures and Te Tuhi, with the generous support of Kent Gardner, the British Council Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific through the British Council Connections Through Culture programme, and Creative New Zealand.