Huhana Smith


Huhana Smith is an contemporary Māori artist and academic, and head of Whiti o Rehua School of Art, Massey University. Previously, she was Senior Curator Māori at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

Background

Born in 1962 in Yarrawonga in Victoria, Australia, Smith came to New Zealand in 1993 to pursue her studies in Mâori language. She was the first graduate from the Bachelor of Māori Visual Arts programme at Massey in 1997. She also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Museum Studies and a PhD in Māori Studies from Massey University.

Career

Smith's recent research, part of a large interdisciplinary project with Deep South Challenge National Science Challenge funding combines mātauranga Māori methods with science to actively address climate change concerns for coastal Māori lands in Horowhenua-Kāpiti. It was exhibited in the Dowse Art Museum as part of the exhibition This Time of Useful Consciousness: Political Ecology Now in 2017.

Publications and Exhibitions

Smith was a finalist in the Art Waikato National Art Awards 2002 and 2000.