Nina Oberg Humphries
Born1990 (age 33–34)
Christchurch, New Zealand
NationalityNew Zealand, Cook Islands
Alma materIlam School of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury
Known forPacific Arts advocacy, multimedia art
StyleContemporary interpretation of Cook Islands artefacts

Nina Oberg Humphries (born 1990) is a New Zealand multimedia artist and Pacific arts advocate and multimedia artist of Cook Islands descent.[1][2][3] Born in Christchurch in 1990, Oberg Humphries graduated from Ilam School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury in 2015.[4]

Oberg Humphries co-founded Fibre Gallery in Christchurch, a space for Pacific artists and the first gallery of its kind in the South Island,[5] a place where Pacific peoples can learn about their heritage and their cultures.[6] Fibre Gallery was established by Oberg Humphires because there were no platforms for Pacific artists to have opportunities, and there are not many Pacific art being displayed in Christchurch.[7] She is also a deputy chair for SCAPE Public Art board, an organisation that installs public art across Christchurch, as a voice for the Pacific community.[8]

Oberg Humphries is a director and co-founder of Tagata Moana Trust, a not-for-profit organisation committed to advocating for and empowering Pacific peoples through community resources, events and policies to highlight and strengthen the visibility and identity of Pacific people in New Zealand.[9][2][10]

Oberg Humphries' artistic practice works with predominately Cook Islands spiritual items — taura atua, items of pre-colonial times — and interrogates how the knowledge, and spirituality with multiple indigenous gods is largely disappearing in the Cook Islands, and what taura atua means to her.[11] Oberg Humphries' work reflects her dual cultural heritage of Pākehā (New Zealand European) and the Cook Islands, and what it means to be a second-generation Cook Islander in New Zealand.[4] Oberg Humphries invites members of the Pacific diaspora in New Zealand to engage with the artefacts of taura atua and recall their own stories of living and growing up in New Zealand.[12]

In 2023, Oberg Humphries was awarded Kiwi Bank New Zealander of the Year Awards, Local Hero for her services to Pacific Arts in South Island, New Zealand.[13]

Residencies

  • 2021 - Mana Moana Experience Programme, Leadership New Zealand and Creative New Zealand[14]
  • 2020 - Pacific Artist in Residence, University of Canterbury's Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies.[1]

Selected solo exhibitions

Selected group exhibitions

  • 2023: Te Vaerua O Te Vaine, Our Mother's Hands, Bergman Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand[15]
  • 2022: Te Atuitanga Beneath Our Cloak of Stars, Bergman Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand[17]
  • 2017: INFLUX, PATAKA Art + Museum, Wellington, New Zealand[18]
  • 2016: INFLUX, ST PAUL St Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand[18]

References

  1. 1 2 "UC 2020 artist-in-residence to examine museum's Pacific taonga". The University of Canterbury. 4 June 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  2. 1 2 Humphries, Nina Oberg (21 September 2023). "For Nina Oberg Humphries, art is everything". The Spinoff. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  3. ↑ "Cook Islands Va'ine at Aotearoa Art Fair". Cook Islands News. 12 November 2022. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 "CoCA Centre of Contemporary Art Toi Moroki". coca.org.nz. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  5. ↑ Flightdec (31 July 2022). "Fibre Gallery - a distinctively Moana gallery showcasing Pacific artists". ArtBeat. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  6. ↑ "Pasifika art gallery gains popularity in Christchurch". RNZ. 7 June 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  7. ↑ Gates, Charlie (2 October 2022). "New gallery showcases Pasifika artists and new take on The Last Supper". Stuff. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  8. ↑ "The board - SCAPE public art". 30 July 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  9. ↑ "Something old, something new…". Cook Islands News. 3 June 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  10. ↑ Feeney, Warren (29 July 2022). "10 exhibitions to look out for in Canterbury in August". Stuff. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  11. ↑ Brooks, Sam (25 September 2023). "The Christchurch artist drawing on her Cook Islands identity". Stuff. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  12. ↑ "Avaiki". christchurchartgallery.org.nz. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  13. ↑ "Kiwibank Local Hero Medallists 2024". New Zealander of The Year. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  14. ↑ "Leadership New Zealand and Creative New Zealand develop Māori and Pasifika arts leadership". creativenz.govt.nz. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  15. 1 2 3 "Nina Oberg Humphries". Mutual Art. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  16. ↑ "Ta'ai Room Sheet" (PDF). The Physics Room. 16 October 2020.
  17. ↑ Vano, Kendall (13 July 2022). "Bergman Gallery Exhibition: Te Atuitanga - Between our Cloak of Stars". TP+. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  18. 1 2 van Wetering, Victor (8 August 2016). "INFLUX of political agency" (PDF). Tautai.
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