Artists
Sorawit Songsataya
Joining the Te Whare Hēra family for September 2026 is artist and Walters Prize Nominee for 2027, Sorawit Songsataya.
Drawing from material cultures, situated knowledge, and ecological belief systems related to Thai, distant Vietnamese family heritage, and Aotearoa New Zealand; the artist’s home for over 25 years, Sorawit Songsataya's practice foregrounds the interrelated aspects of the social and the dynamic natural world through a range of material specificities, including Ōamaru limestone, rattan, and Chanthaburi sedge. Giving particular attention to Thai artisanship while drawing sonic and geopoetic connections to Aotearoa New Zealand, the artist deploys 3D animation, moving image, sculpture, site-responsive installation, and sound to explore the complex relationship between places and experiences; addressing positionality, relationality, and reciprocity – commingling the personal and the planetary dimensions within their artistic care.
Image still from Listening device Hanoi (2025)
Sorawit will be giving a public artist talk in The Reading Room at Te Papa Tongarewa, on 8th September, followed by a limited entry workshop at Te Whare Hēra on 19th September, and a filming session on 26th September (TBC). Keep a lookout in the events section on this website HERE and our instagram page HERE for more information.
Martha Naranjo Sandoval
Martha Naranjo Sandoval is a Brooklyn-based visual artist, photographer, publisher and cataloger from Mexico City. She joins us at Te Whare Hēra for the event of Photobook Fair NZ as a keynote speaker and critical practice reviewer.
Gabby O'Connor
Dr Gabby O’Connor is an artist, transdisciplinary researcher, Antarctican, science communicator and educator. Her work operates across multiple disciplines and audiences– between contemporary art, science communication, social science and community action, and looks at different entry points to conversations to science, place and our changing climate. She frequently collaborates with scientists, other artists, researchers, policy-makers, audiences and school students, thinking beyond normal definitions of stakeholder and public. This strategy acts as an access-point for diverse communities to be part of the conversation around science with art as the delivery system.
Rubén Darío Díaz Chávez
Rubén Darío Díaz Chávez is a contemporary artist and researcher, curator and cultural manager, with a background in management, visual arts, and cultural studies. He has exhibited in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. He has researched about Quantum Realism, independent spaces in Latin America, and Sapara culture. He has received notable national and international awards. He actively collaborates with Sapara leader Gloria Ushigua. He is the founder, director, and curator of No Lugar – Arte Contemporáneo.
Camille Bleu-Valentin
Camille Bleu-Valentin is a French multidisciplinary artist with an approach that reflects the singularity of a complex French heritage, as she herself is a descendant of both colonizers and the colonized.
She is currently continuing her research in several countries, with the goal of taking visual and plastic arts beyond major urban centers to benefit territories that are sensitive, traumatized, and far removed from cultural offerings. Camille will be joining us at Te Whare Hēra for February to April 2026
Armando Perla
Armando Perla (they/them) is a non-binary queer mestizo (Nahua and Euro-Salvadoran) curator, scholar, and museum consultant originally from Kuskatan (El Salvador). They are an independent curator and museum consultant.