Name: Lecture | Monuments with Hamza Walker
Start: 2026-12-02
End: 2026-12-03
Location: Auditorium

Event

Lecture | Monuments with Hamza Walker

3 Dec 2026

5:30pm to 6:30pm

Auditorium

Free

Book now

Event detail

Join us at the Gallery in association with Artspace Aotearoa to hear from Hamza Walker, international curator and the third Creative New Zealand Te Manu Ka Tau for 2026.

Hamza will be wrapping up the Artspace Aotearoa 2026 programme “which history?” by placing the range of programming and collections held at the Gallery into the context of the exhibition Monuments held at The Brick, Los Angeles earlier this year. This exhibition featured a selection of decommissioned monuments alongside works of contemporary art that address American history and national identity. Eight years in the making, this exhibition marked the last several years of monument removals as an historic occasion. In presenting the monuments in dialogue with contemporary artworks, the exhibition aimed to build understanding of American history, while considering the ramifications in today’s world.

What to expect

The evening begins with a welcome from Dr Zara Stanhope, Director of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, who will introduce Hamza Walker and share why his work and ideas are significant within our local context.

Hamza Walker will then present his talk which will explore ideas around art, history and how we understand collections today.

The evening will conclude with a Q&A with Hamza Walker, led by Ruth Buchanan.

Arrival information

Entry will be via the Clock Tower entrance on the corner of Wellesley St and Kitchener St, which will open at 5pm, with the talk beginning at 5:30pm in the Auditorium. We encourage you to arrive early to find your seat and settle in before the talk begins.

The Auditorium is wheelchair accessible, and this will be a seated event with microphones used throughout.

The talk is free, but spaces are limited. Please book to avoid disappointment.

Book now

This kaupapa is presented with Creative New Zealand Toi o Aotearoa and in association with Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki and Artspace Aotearoa.

About the contributors

Hamza Walker

Hamza Walker has served as director of The Brick, formerly known as LAXART, a non-profit alternative art space in Los Angeles, since 2016. Prior to The Brick, Walker served as Associate Curator/Director of Education at The Renaissance Society. Recent exhibitions include Gregg Bordowitz: This is Not a Love Song; Nikita G Kandis Williams/Cassandra Press’ The Absolute Right to Exclude; and Postcommodity’s Some Reach While Others Clap. In 2026 Walker was the recipient of the Audrey Irmas Award for Curatorial Excellence and The Brick was named a Museum and Institution Medalist in the 2026 Art Basel Awards.

Dr Zara Stanhope

With more than 30 years’ experience across Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia, Dr Stanhope is a highly respected arts leader, curator and researcher.

Most recently, she was the Ringatohu/Director of Cultural Enterprises at New Plymouth District Council where she oversaw the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre, Puke Ariki museum and library and the district’s community libraries. She has held senior roles at some of New Zealand’s and Australia’s leading art galleries including Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) in Brisbane, Heide Museum of Modern Art in Melbourne, Adam Art Gallery, Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington, and Monash University Museum of Art, Naarm Melbourne. 

Over her career, she has curated more than 50 exhibitions, including New Zealand’s presence at the Venice Biennale in 2019 and led the Asia Pacific Triennials at QAGOMA in 2018 and 2021. Dr Stanhope holds a PhD from the School of Art and Social Sciences at the Australian National University, Canberra and has been the commissioning editor of books including Ann Shelton: Dark Matter (Auckland Art Gallery) and The Māori Portraits: Gottfried Lindauer’s New Zealand, co-edited with Ngahiraka Mason (Auckland University Press and Auckland Art Gallery).

Ruth Buchanan

Ruth Buchanan is an artist and uri of Taranaki. She gained her BFA from the Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland, in 2002; her MA (Fine Art) from the Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam, in 2007; and from 2008-2009 she was a researcher at the Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht. In 2018 she was awarded the Walters Prize by international judge Adriano Pedrosa. She works across exhibition making, writing, design, and teaching. Ruth is currently Kaitohu Director at Artspace Aotearoa. Her work is included in the collections of Govett Brewster Art Gallery, Kunstmuseum Basel | Gegenwart, Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Art Gallery, MASP, Christchurch Art Gallery, Victoria University, and others.