The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi is thrilled to reveal the eight Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate Award recipients for 2024, identified as Aotearoa New Zealand’s most outstanding artists this year. They are recognised for their outstanding practice as well as their significant impact to their art form and Aotearoa New Zealand.

 

 

2024 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate receiving the Burr/Tatham Trust Award

 

2024 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate receiving the Design Award

Gifted by the Crane Foundation

 

Carin Wilson is an influential designer and sculptor whose career has been dedicated to advancing Māori design principles and promoting culturally relevant practices in architecture and furniture making. Carin’s work encompasses a wide range of mediums, from handcrafted furniture to large-scale public art installations, often inspired by his deep connection to Māori narratives and the natural environment. His advocacy for Māori representation in design has been central to his career, alongside his leadership roles, including serving as president of the Craft Council of New Zealand and holding positions on the World Crafts Council and the Designers Institute of New Zealand. As a co-founder of Ngā Aho, he has been honoured with the title Kāhui Whetu for his commitment to Māori artistry. The Panel said, “He continues to advocate for mana whenua and community collaboration in projects, championing a deep understanding of the spaces and places in which his work sits. His legacy is fit for a Laureate.”

 

2024 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate receiving the Joanna Hickman, Waiwetu Trust Award

 

Claire Cowan is a trailblazing composer and multi-instrumentalist who transcends concert, film, television, theatre and ballet. In 2019, Claire made history as the first female composer in Aotearoa New Zealand to score a full-length ballet with her adaptation of Hansel and Gretel for the Royal New Zealand Ballet. Her other notable projects include composing the ballets Cinderella for the Royal New Zealand Ballet and Possum Magic for the Australian Ballet School, as well as music for TV series including Under the Vines and One Lane Bridge. Claire is a recipient of the APRA Silver Scroll, was named Best Classical Artist at the Aotearoa Music Awards, won the grand prize at the Oticon Faculty International Film Music Contest (becoming the only woman in the Top 10), and was awarded the PAANZ FAME Mid-Career Award. The Panel said, “A formidable mid-career composer, Claire’s creative imagination and flair shine through every project she takes on, whether for stage or screen.”

 

2024 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate receiving the Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Award

Gifted by Jillian Friedlander

 

Horomona Horo is a masterful composer and musician, known for his expertise in taonga pūoro. With over two decades dedicated to this ancient art form, he innovatively blends traditional sounds with diverse genres – preserving ancestral voices while playing a pivotal role in their international resurgence. Mentored by acclaimed practitioners such as Dr. Hirini Melbourne, 2009 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate Dr. Richard Nunns and Hinewirangi Kohu-Morgan, Horomona has carried forward their vision of the renaissance of the traditional craft. A recipient of the Pūmanawa APRA Silver Scroll Award and the inaugural winner of the Dynasty Heritage Concerto Competition, he has collaborated with prominent New Zealand composers like 2010 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate Gareth Farr for the Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir and Victoria Kelly for the NZTrio. Horomona’s performances have taken him stages all over the world. The Panel said, “Award-winning Horomona is a master taonga pūoro composer, performer, educator, and Aotearoa’s best known international practitioner.”

 

2024 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate receiving the My ART Visual Arts Award

Gifted by Sonja and Glenn Hawkins

 

Lonnie Hutchinson is a leading multidisciplinary artist whose thought-provoking works comment astutely on aspects of indigeneity, colonisation, and the complexities of identity. For over three decades, she has drawn from her rich Ngāi Tahu, Samoan, and Celtic heritage to create powerful installations that fuse personal moments with global issues. Her signature cut-out work spans materials like black builder’s paper, vintage wallpapers, acrylic, steel, and aluminium, using various motifs that reference her heritage and comment on ancient traditions and the effects of colonisation. The Panel said, “Her works have been acquired by public institutions and private collectors, but it is her contribution to public art that has had a lasting impact on communities. Having completed major public commissions in Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland and Kirikiriroa/Hamilton, it is Lonnie’s work across multiple sites as part of the Ōtautahi/Christchurch rebuild that has helped transform the city.”

 

2024 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate receiving the Sir Roger Hall Theatre Award

 

Miriama McDowell is an award-winning actor, director, and writer dedicated to uplifting Māori and indigenous voices through her storytelling. With a career spanning over two decades, she has enriched Aotearoa New Zealand’s theatre and film landscape, fostering cultural dialogue and challenging societal norms. A graduate of Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School, Miriama further honed her craft at École Philippe Gaulier, focusing on Clown and Le Jeu. Her directorial debut, Ngā Pou Wahine, with Taki Rua Theatre, earned her the 2015 George Webby Most Promising New Director Award. Miriama co-directed a Pasifika version of Much Ado About Nothing at the Pop-Up Globe, which became a major success, attracting over 100,000 audience members. The Panel said, “Miriama is a multi-hyphenate practitioner who excels onstage and behind the scenes. She is constantly working to grow her performance practice, incorporating te reo Māori into her writing, and forging new ground with her intimacy coaching.”

 

Saskia Leek – Visual Arts
2024 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate receiving the Female Arts Practitioner Award

Gifted by Liz Aitken, Foggy Valley Aotearoa

 

Saskia Leek is a visionary contemporary painter whose intimate- scale works explore the intersections of the incidental and the canonical, inviting viewers to discover mystery and specificity within the familiar. In 2009, Saskia gained notable recognition for her exhibition Yellow is the Putty of the World, which earned her a nomination for the prestigious Walters Prize. Her 2012 survey exhibition Desk Collection, curated by Emma Bugden for The Dowse, travelled extensively across the country and her work has earned critical acclaim in solo and group exhibitions both nationally and internationally. The Panel said “Saskia’s paintings open doors, encouraging us to find the magic and wonder in our everyday encounters. Her works are immediately recognisable – joyful, funny and tender images that interrogate and celebrate painting’s history and future. Always charting her own course, Saskia is a singular figure within her generation, and an inspiration to those who have followed her.”

 

2024 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate receiving the Toi Kō Iriiri Queer Arts Award

Gifted by Hall Cannon

 

Victor Rodger is an award-winning playwright and producer known for his bold and provocative works that delve into race, identity, and sexuality. He has significantly influenced Aotearoa New Zealand theatre and he is celebrated as a pioneer of queer writing. A graduate of Toi Whakaari, one of his first plays, Sons, later won four Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards, including Most Outstanding New Writer. Victor has held prestigious residencies such as the Fulbright-Creative New Zealand Writer in Residence at the University of Hawaii and the Robert Burns Fellowship at the University of Otago. As the founder of FCC (FLOW, CREATE, CONNECT), he promotes opportunities for Pasifika practitioners. He was recognised for his contributions to theatre and Pacific arts, and was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2021. The Panel said “His writing is sexy, subversive, and deeply recognisable. As well as being a pioneer for queer writing, he is a mentor, advocate and champion to many others.”