Puawai Cairns is a curator, writer and museum manager who holds a senior role at Te Papa, the national museum of New Zealand. Puawai Cairns is

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

and affiliates to the nations Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi and

Ngāti Pūkenga Ngāti Pūkenga is a Māori iwi centred in Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand. Its rohe (tribal area) extends to Mayor Island / Tuhua and Waihi in the north, to the Kaimai Range in the west, south of Te Puke and to Maketu in th ...

Education

Cairns is

and affiliates to the nations Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi and

. She studied at

Waikato University , mottoeng = For The People , established = 1964; years ago , endowment = (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $263.6 million (31 December 2020) , chancellor = Sir Anand Satyanand, GNZM, QSO, KStJ , vice_chancellor = Neil Quigley , city ...

and has a master's degree in English Literature (2001).

Career

As a curator

One of her first curatorial roles was with the exhibition of Māori cloaks called ''Kahu Ora: Living Cloaks.'' She was 'pivotal' in the development of Te Papa's ''Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War'' exhibition, and is a co-author of the book of the exhibition. The book ''Home, Little Māori, Home'' by Rikihana Carkeek served as a reference for Cairns for this exhibition. In 2020 she was appointed to the executive leadership team of Te Papa as Director of Audience and Insight. She has worked at Te Papa before as the Head of

Mātauranga Māori Mātauranga (literally ''Māori knowledge'') is a modern term for the traditional knowledge of the Māori people of New Zealand. Māori traditional knowledge is multi-disciplinary and holistic, and there is considerable overlap between concepts. ...

, in this position in 2018 she said, "my role is to create more space and opportunity for Māori to tell their stories on their own terms". In 2022 Cairns made a comment on social media about the actions of International Committee of Museums (ICOM) in response to a Marilyn Monroe dress being worn by a celebrity. Cairns pointed out that for museums to preserve items away from touch can mean it cuts off the cultural life of that object with its people. Her comments made the ICOM reconsider their position.

Other

She co-authored a book with

Stephanie Gibson Stephanie Gibson is a New Zealand writer and museum curator. Biography Gibson was part of the team which re-developed the Museum of Wellington City and Sea. She was also the first collection manager of the Adam Art Gallery Adam; el, Ἀ ...

and

Matariki Williams Matariki Williams is a Māori curator and writer based in Whakatāne, New Zealand. In 2021, she was appointed Pou Matua Mātauranga Māori, Senior Historian, Mātauranga Māori at Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage in Wellington. ...

called ''Protest Tautohetohe: Objects of resistance, persistence and defiance'' that won an award in 2019 Best Illustrated Non-fiction (

Ockham New Zealand Book Awards The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand. The awards began in 1996 as the merger of two literary awards events: the New Zealand Book Awards, which ran from 1976 to 1995, and the Goodman Fielder W ...

). Verb Wellington literary festival programmed an event ''Wawata: Moon Dreaming'' with

Hinemoa Elder Hinemoa Elder is a New Zealand youth forensic psychiatrist and former television presenter. She is a professor in indigenous research at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, a fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatri ...

and Cairns in 2022. Cairns is a member of a number of governance boards including Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga and

Atamira Dance Company Atamira Dance Company is a Māori contemporary dance company in Aotearoa (New Zealand) based at the Corban Estate Arts Centre in Auckland. History In 2000, the company was founded from a vision of Jack Gray's for a collective of young Māori ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cairns, Puawai Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century New Zealand women writers 21st-century New Zealand writers New Zealand Māori writers New Zealand Māori women New Zealand curators New Zealand women curators

Education

Career

As a curator

Other

See also

References