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The Office for Contemporary Art Aotearoa (OCAA) is pleased to announce Learning from Venice, a new professional development opportunity for seven early-career Aotearoa New Zealand artists, curators and writers, to take part in an intensive five-day research workshop at the Venice Biennale, between the 25th and 29th May 2026.
Timed to coincide with the 61st Biennale of Venice, Learning from Venice will take full advantage of the panoply of exhibitions staged across Venice, including the curated exhibition, In Minor Keys, the vast array of national pavilions, including the NZ presentation of the solo exhibition, Taharaki Skyside by Dr Fiona Pardington (Kāi Tahu, KātiMamoe, Ngāti Kahungunu, Clan Cameron of Erracht) and the special collateral projects. This immersion in contemporary art will be consciously set within the context of the extraordinary historic city of Venice itself.
Led by respected curator, writer, editor and educator, Christina Barton, and Curator Contemporary Art at Te Papa, Hanahiva Rose, the workshop will consist of readings, conversations, visits, and talks, and there will be opportunities to meet artists, curators and individuals involved in the Biennale’s realisation. Participants will collaborate to produce a publication reflecting on their findings, which will be published and distributed after the workshop concludes.
This initiative will enable a cohort of committed individuals to gain a sharper understanding of how the art world works in the context of one of its highest-profile occasions. Participants will gain a stronger grasp of the key issues at stake in current practice, testing their reactions and impressions with peers, and learning together to catalyse future thinking about Aotearoa’s place in and contribution to the global art world.
A call for expressions of interest will be published on 13 January 2026. Applications will be accepted from early-career artists, curators and writers based in or from Aotearoa New Zealand who can demonstrate their commitment to pursuing a career in the visual arts. Applications will be assessed by a panel including the co-leaders, a representative from Creative New Zealand, and artist Judy Millar. Selected participants will be fully funded to attend (including flights, accommodation and a per diem).
About Christina Barton
Christina Barton (DLitt, MNZM) is a respected curator, writer, editor and educator based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. She researches and has taught the history of art in Aotearoa New Zealand and through her writing and curating she has sought to understand and articulate how artists navigate the complex internal and external forces that have shaped this culture, especially since the 1960s. In 2021 she was awarded an MNZM for her services to art history and curating, and in 2025, Out of the Blue, a collection of her essays on Aotearoa New Zealand artists was published by Te Herenga Waka University Press and Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery. She is currently Chair of CIRCUIT Artist Moving Image and a member of the Te Papa Board. As a key commentator on the visual arts in Aotearoa she has been a selector for the New Zealand pavilion at Venice on three occasions and has attended the Biennale a dozen times.
About Hanahiva Rose
Hanahiva Rose is the curator of contemporary art at Te Papa and a doctoral candidate in art history at Victoria University. She has curated exhibitions at Te Papa, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, and the National Library, among others. Hanahiva is widely published as a writer and art historian.
The Learning from Venice workshop has been made possible through the generous support of multiple partners, including Creative New Zealand, Te Papa and the Te Papa Foundation, Elam Fine Arts at the University of Auckland, Naveya & Sloane, Barbara Blake and the Gow Family Foundation. The Chartwell Trust have generously supported the Aotearoa-based elements of the programme. The Current is supporting the project as a Media Partner.