The Elam International Artist in Residence Programme

The Elam International Artist in Residence Programme brings together remarkable and talented artists from all over the world.

Established in 1998, the Elam International Artist in Residence Programme enhances the opportunities for learning about contemporary practice and methods of working for our students and the wider creative community.

The programme also enables Elam School of Fine Arts to work closely with major art galleries, museums and cultural funding agencies, enhancing the development of New Zealand's visual arts sector.

Initiatives include public exhibitions, lectures and exposure of the artists' work throughout the country.

We’d like to acknowledge the generous support of our benefactor, Dame Jenny Gibbs.

Artist in Residence 2016

Bernardo Oyarzún

In 2016 we welcomed contemporary Chilean visual artist, Bernado Oyarzún as our International Artist in Residence, in partnership with Auckland Art Gallery. During his residency, Bernado joined 40 fellow South American artists exhibiting in Space to Dream: Recent Art from South America, showing his 2014 installation work, Ekeko.

Santiago-based Bernado graduated from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Chile in 1988 with subsequent exhibitions of his work at a succession of galleries and museums, including the Galeria Patricia Ready and Posada del Corregidor in Chile, gaining him international recognition.

Bernado applies a combined practice of social, historical, and anthropological elements to interpret Chilean culture in his work, exploring relationships between contemporary art and indigenous peoples. In late 2016, the National Council of Culture and Arts Chile announced that Bernado had been selected to represent the country at the 57th Venice Biennale, exhibiting his project, Werken, themed around the representation of Chile's indigenous Mapuche community.

Artists in Residence 2015

Kathy Temin

Kathy is an Australian artist and Associate Professor and Head of Sculpture at Monash University, Melbourne. Her solo and group exhibitions have featured across Australia, New Zealand and Europe. She has previously been in residence at PS1 Contemporary Art Centre, New York.

Kathy played a valuable role at the 2015 IAPA Symposium, and presented two lectures for Elam students. During her time at the University she worked with students in assembling and installing her sculpture My Memorial: Black Wall and Oral Histories, which was exhibited at the Gus Fisher Gallery. The work portrays the story of Holocaust survivors who migrated to New Zealand.  

Jun Kitazawa

Jun is the lead artist of Jun Kitazawa Yakumo office, working in collaboration with local government, educational institutions, business and local communities to develop projects which relate to everyday life. He has created projects across Japan in Tokyo, Yokohama, Tokushima, and Ibaraki prefectures and in Taipei City, Taiwan.

Kitazawa's premise is 'to create another daily life' and previous project such as 'LIVING ROOM', 'My Town Market', and 'SUN SELF HOTEL', are experiments in everyday social systems.

Jun Kitazawa arrived at Elam in June 2015, and created a socially based public art project in central Auckland during the 2nd International Award for Public Art.  

Artists in Residence 2014

Alejandro Haiek Coll

Focused on social and cultural dynamics, Alejandro Haiek Coll uses art, applied sciences and local intelligence to explore the role of public art and architecture in place-making. He describes his practice as one of "slow architecture" because of its process of engagement with communities. His best known project is the Tiuna El Fuerte Cultural Park in Caracas (2006- ongoing). While in New Zealand he worked on a public project in Christchurch, focusing on the post-quake environment and how to activate the city through a creative architectural project.

Gabriel Lester

The critically acclaimed Dutch artist visited Elam in early 2014. Gabriel is renowned for his films and site-specific installations informed by cinematography and architecture. While at Elam in early 2014, he exhibited at the Gus Fisher Gallery, held critique sessions with Fine Arts students and gave a lecture open to the fine arts community and wider public. He also prepared work which he went on to exhibit in the 19th Biennale of Sydney following his residency in Auckland. Of his time in New Zealand, Gabriel says “I spent a good amount of time working on some new artworks and developing ongoing projects. My lectures were well attended and I had productive talks with the students. All in all, a great experience.”

Previous guests

Elam’s Artist in Residence programme continually attracts leading international artists to be a part of our environment. Here you can review the artists who have visited the University in the past and the works they have produced.

2013 | Michael Fullerton

Glasgow-based Michael works in a wide variety of media including painting, printmaking and sculpture. Michael presented a lecture to the public on his inspirations, methods and works as part of his time at Elam.

2012 | Amie Siegel

American artist Amie Siegel, Associate Professor of Visual and Environmental Studies at Harvard, was the Artist in Residence for 2012. Amie's practice includes photography, sound, video and film installations, and feature films for the cinema.

2011 | Hector Zamora | Paul Elliman | Catherine Opie

In partnership with the Auckland Arts Festival, Mexican artist Hector Zamora was in residence at Elam in March 2011, and London based designer, artist and writer Paul Elliman was in residence from March 10 to April 14. In the second semester we were delighted to welcome Catherine Opie for a residency. Her 2009 solo retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in New York has cemented her as one of the most important photographers working today. Catherine created a new body of work while in New Zealand and worked closely with students here at Elam.

Further artists in residence

These have included Hany Armanious (Australia), Olaf Breuning (Switzerland), Meg Cranston (USA), Heri Dono (Indonesia), Kim Fisher (USA), Katharina Grosse (Germany), Fiona Hall (Australia), Justine Kurland (USA), Olivia Plender (UK), Karin Sander (Germany), Michael Shaowanasai (Thailand), The Long March (China), Bik van der Pol (The Netherlands), Janne Vanhanen (Finland), Emory Douglas (USA), Shahab Fotouhi (Iran), Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries (Korea/USA), and Jemima Wyman (Australia and now based in Los Angeles).