Elizabeth Freeman
Elizabeth Freeman is a writer based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Originally from the United States, she moved to Aotearoa a decade ago to study and completed her degree in Art History at Waipapa Taumata Rau- the University of Auckland. She’s worked across various creative fields and has a particular interest in how museums shape public understanding of visual culture and their role in civic myth making. She sees this exhibition as an opportunity to explore the positioning of African American Art within the broader canon of American Art.
Erykah Jennette
Erykah Jennette is a self-taught multidisciplinary artist and business owner based in Adelaide, South Australia. Of African (Nigerian)-American, Greek, and Australian heritage, her vibrant acrylic paintings translate emotion and identity into colour, contrast, and form. Erykah’s practice celebrates heritage and self-definition while connecting local and international communities through art and entrepreneurship. Her participation in the Aotearoa Festival of Black Arts extends her ongoing exploration of the African diaspora’s visual languages, aligning with African American art traditions that affirm resilience, beauty, and belonging within global contexts of cross-cultural exchange and creative empowerment.
Kainee Simone
Kainee Simone is a jewellery artist, educator, and restorative justice facilitator from Charlotte, North Carolina, now based in Aotearoa. A Columbia University graduate in Ethnicity and Race Studies, her work examines the intersections of art, identity, and justice. Kainee crafts custom grillz, continuing an African American artform rooted in adornment, resistance, and self-expression. Drawing from the cultural aesthetics born of survival and creativity, she situates her practice within the lineage of Black craft and design traditions. Through her artistry, Kainee explores how objects carry stories of ancestry and liberation, bridging African American cultural heritage with contemporary expression in Aotearoa.
Dione Joseph
Dione Joseph is a writer, director, dramaturg, and arts leader with nearly 20 years’ experience across Aotearoa and internationally. She is the Founder and Executive Producer of Black Creatives Aotearoa, an organisation dedicated to elevating BIPOC voices and driving systems change through storytelling. A graduate of UCLA’s School of Theatre and New York’s Lincoln Center Directors Lab, Dione’s work spans theatre, festivals, film, and writing. Her leadership is grounded in radical care, cultural innovation, and creative excellence — building vibrant, intergenerational platforms where Black joy, belonging, and artistic excellence thrive across Aotearoa’s creative and community landscapes.
Kenneth Brummel
Kenneth Brummel has over 15 years’ experience working at major art museums in Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand and the United States of America. In 2021–22, he was co-curator of Picasso: Painting the Blue Period, which in 2022 was named a top-10 international exhibition by The Wall Street Journal and the third-best exhibition in the world by The Washington Post. He is the Curator, International Art at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki and co-curated The Robertson Gift: Paths through Modernity. A specialist of 19th and 20th-century international art, Brummel has mounted exhibitions on a range of modern artists, including Vilhelm Hammershøi, Joan Mitchell and Jean Paul Riopelle, Anthony Caro, and Andy Warhol. His collaborative research in the field of technical art history has been covered in major magazines and newspapers such as National Geographic, The New York Times, Smithsonian Magazine and Science. Brummel holds an MA in art history from The University of Chicago.