Commissioner / Curators
Jenny Harper: Commissioner
Jenny Harper is the Director of the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu.
Jenny Harper has been a leader in the public arts domain in New Zealand for over twenty years. Returning from Australia in the mid-1980s to take up the post of Senior Curator of International Art at New Zealand's National Art Gallery, Jenny also worked in the institutional planning team for the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. She became the last director of the National Art Gallery from 1990 until 1992, after which she spent a further two years as director of art and history following the legislative amalgamation of the former National Art Gallery and Museum.
Before being appointed to her present position in Christchurch, Jenny Harper spent 12 years at Victoria University of Wellington. In that time she developed the art history department, becoming head of a larger school of Art History, Classics and Religious Studies in 2000. In 2003 Jenny was appointed to the role of Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Academic). The ambitious Adam Art Gallery at Victoria University was developed and completed under Jenny's leadership. In 2006 Jenny Harper took up her current position as Director of the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu.
Leonhard Emmerling
Dr Leonhard Emmerling is the Director of St Paul ST Gallery at AUT, Auckland.
Dr Emmerling has an international reputation as a curator, art theorist / historian. Born in Wertheim, Germany in 1961, Emmerling immigrated to New Zealand to take up the position of director at St Paul ST Gallery in 2006. Previous to this he was Director of the Kunstverein Ludwigsburg in Ludwigsburg, Germany. Leonhard first came to New Zealand in 2004, when he curated the ‘Friendly Fire’ exhibition at the Gus Fisher Gallery. He also curated the Jim Speers exhibition ‘Raider Lodge’ which exhibited at St Paul ST in 2005. In 1997 Emmerling completed a PhD in Art History with a thesis titled ‘The Art Theory of Jean Dubuffet’. He has lectured in art history as well as having authored several books including Jean-Michel Basquiat, 2003 and Jackson Pollock, 2003, both published by Taschen. Emmerling has curated more than 40 exhibitions in Europe and Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Heather Galbraith
Heather Galbraith is Senior Curator / Manager Curatorial Programmes at City Gallery Wellington.
Born in 1970 in New Zealand, Heather Galbraith studied at Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland University before moving to London in 1992. After completing a MA in Curating at Goldmiths College, London, she worked as Exhibitions Organiser at Camden Arts Centre for seven years, delivering exhibitions, off-site projects and publications. In 2004 Galbraith returned to New Zealand as Director of St. Paul ST Gallery, AUT, Auckland. In 2005 Heather Galbraith took up the position of Senior Curator / Manager Curatorial Programmes at City Gallery Wellington, where along with managing the curatorial team she has curated exhibitions by Guy Ngan (2006), Tony Lane (2006), ‘Telecom Prospect 2007: New Art New Zealand’ (2007), Hany Armanious (2007), and the art in public space projects Amy Howden-Chapman: ‘The Flood, My Chanting’ (2008) and ‘Give Us A Sign’ (2009). She is Deputy New Zealand Commisioner for 53rd La Biennale di Venezia 2009.
Francesco Manacorda
Francesco Manacorda is Curator at the Barbican Art Gallery, London.
Born in 1974 in Turin, Italy, Manacorda undertook a Degree in Humanities at the University of Torino and completed a MA in Curating Contemporary Art at the Royal College of Art, London in 2003. He is an experienced art writer, publishing extensive articles and reviews in publications such as Domus, Flash Art Italia and Flash Art International, Frieze, Metropolis M and Art Review.
Manacorda has edited and co-edited numerous publications such as Martian Encyclopaedia of Terrestrial Life — Vol. VIII: Art (2008), Subcontinent (2006) and written for artist's monographs including Simon Starling (2004); Chris Orr (2004 & 2005); Rainer Ganahl (2005); Phil Collins (2005); Maurizio Cattelan (2006); Henrik Håkansson (2006) and Anna Lucas (2007). In 2007 he curated ‘Venetian, Atmospheric: Tobias Putrih’ — the Slovenian Pavilion at the 52nd Venice Biennale. His curatorial practice has also included freelance projects such as ‘Subcontinent — The Indian Subcontinent in Contemporary Art’, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Torino, Italy (2006) and ‘Satellites: Ryan Gander, Ian Kier, I-Cabin, Simon Popper, Sue Tompkins’ at Tanya Bonakdor Gallery New York.