Ms Megan Tamati-Quennell, CNZM, of Wellington, for services to Māori and First Nations art
Ms Megan Tamati-Quennell (Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Mutunga, Kāti Māmoe, Ngāi Tahu, Waitaha) has contributed to the art sector for 34 years and is New Zealand’s longest serving curator of Modern and Contemporary Māori and Indigenous art.
Ms Tamati-Quennell began her training at the National Art Gallery in 1990 and has curated numerous exhibitions at iwi, national and international level. She has elevated and supported many Māori and First Nations artists and built a significant collection for Te Papa Tongarewa. She has advocated for Māori curatorial practice and scholarship. Her work for Ngāi Tahu is recognised as foundational in strengthening Ngāi Tahu arts. This includes curating an exhibition in the first Ngāi Tahu arts festival in 2000 and ‘Mo Tatou’ (2006), the first major survey of Ngāi Tahu art at the request of the tribe. She has been the Curator of Modern and Contemporary Māori and Indigenous art at Te Papa since 2004 and worked as the inaugural Kairuahi Taketake Toi Onaianei Indigenous Curator Contemporary Art at the Govett Brewster Art Gallery from 2020 to 2022. Recognised for her specialist knowledge, she is sought after internationally as a curator, adviser, writer, editor and speaker. In 2023 Ms Tamati-Quennell was appointed as one of five curators for the Sharjah Biennial 16, 2025, the first Māori art curator invited to work on an international project of this scale.