William Mathew Hodgkins Memorial Lecture 2026

By Ōtepoti He Puna Auaha | Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature | Posted: Thursday Sep 17, 2026

Ōtepoti UNESCO City of Literature was proud and delighted to support the William Mathew Hodgkins Memorial Lecture, held recently at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery.

The annual lecture, organised by the Dunedin Public Art Gallery Society, commemorates the life and work of Ōtepoti artist William Mathew Hodgkins. This year’s guest speaker was Professor Deidre Brown (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu) of Waipapa Taumata Rau—University of Auckland, an award-winning author, highly regarded art historian and specialist in Māori architecture.

Together with Ngarino Ellis (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou) and the late Jonathan Mane-Wheoki (Ngāpuhi, Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Kurī), she recently published the book Toi Te Mana: An Indigenous History of Māori Art (Auckland University Press, 2024; Chicago University Press, 2025) which aimed to cover a great breadth and diversity of toi Māori from its beginnings to present day. Toi Te Mana has won several national and international awards, including 2025 BookHub Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards and the global 2025 Apollo Book of the Year prize.

More than 100 people filled the Dunedin Public Art Gallery auditorium for the event, with the audience diverse and enthusiastic, and the evening receiving excellent feedback.

Jonathan Cweorth, President of the Dunedin Public Art Galley Society says “Prof. Brown gave a wonderfully comprehensive and interesting overview of her work on the history of Māori art, including some thrilling international detective work to track down 'missing' artefacts.”

The success of this year’s lecture provided a “major boost to the growing partnership between the Dunedin Public Art Gallery Society and the Visual Studies Research Network”, bringing together people with a shared interest in art, research, history and ideas.

It was a wonderful evening that celebrated both the enduring legacy of William Mathew Hodgkins and the richness and continuing story of Māori art.