The Michèle Whitecliffe Art Writing Prize seeks to foster debate and encourage participation in an evolving conversation about the visual arts. Supported by Michèle Whitecliffe and established in memory of her late husband, Greg Whitecliffe, the Prize’s aim is to draw out critical voices that refresh and strengthen discussions about New Zealand and international art.
An independent judge selects the winner and two runners-up. The winner receives a $2,500 prize and has their essay published in the October 2026 issue of Art Toi. Essays by the runners-up are published on the Articles page of the Gallery’s website.
Each year a theme is set to prompt writers’ thinking. In 2026, the theme is: The Role of Art History.
Read more about this year’s theme and judge below.
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KEY DATES
Entries open Monday 6 April 2026 and close Friday 31 July 2026.
2026 THEME – THE ROLE OF ART HISTORY
Last year the New Zealand Government announced that from 2028 art history would no longer be taught as a dedicated subject at secondary schools.
Art history’s removal from the New Zealand Curriculum follows the axing of the subject from the University of Otago in 2020 and reduced course offerings at other tertiary institutions.
This year’s Michèle Whitecliffe Art Writing Prize encourages writers to reflect on the potential impact of these changes by considering the question: What is art history, and how does it help us understand the contemporary condition and prepare for the complexities of the future?
2026 JUDGE – ROGER NELSON
Roger Nelson is an art historian and curator, currently Assistant Professor of Art History at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He researches and publishes widely on modern and contemporary art, focusing on Southeast Asia, often collaboratively approaching writing as a playful process of learning. His forthcoming book, Artistic Art Histories in Southeast Asia: Modernisms in Contemporary Practices (Cornell University Press, 2026), considers art-making as thinking and knowing which may be decolonial and embodied, enabling a poetics of inclusion. Roger has curated exhibitions in Australia, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and the UAE. Most recently, he co-curated Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook: The Bouquet and the Wreath, presented in 2025–26 at MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum (Chiang Mai) and Jameel Arts Centre (Dubai). He is co-founding co-editor of the scholarly journal, Southeast of Now.
Image credit: Dr Roger Nelson.
