Leaving the building

Looking at the job description for the new senior curator of art at Te Papa, it was obvious that big changes were rumbling through the building. Our guess was that the weird senior management team of area specialists was being disbanded. And sure enough, first to go is Jonathan Mane-Wheoki, Director of Art and Collection Services. He’s returning to academia as Professor of Fine Arts and Head of Elam School of Fine Arts in Auckland. Mane-Wheoki bows out as his Monet show on loan from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston opens at Te Papa after its run in Sydney. With the Director of Art job axed (the senior curator of art will eventually report to an overarching Collections and Research Group Director) our bet is any opportunity for the visual arts in Te Papa to have direct access to the CEO will leave with him.

Image: The last Director of Art and Collection Services at Te Papa, Jonathan Mane-Wheoki