Melanie Tangaere Baldwin Receives The 2024 Yorkshire Sculpture Park UK Residency Award

Te Tuhi and Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) have selected Melanie Tangaere  Baldwin (Ngāti Porou) as the recipient of a 4-week residency in the UK in late 2024. 

The residency will allow the Tūranga Nui a Kiwa Gisborne-based artist, curator and  arts educator to learn about global art practices, and covers travel,  accommodation, living costs, materials and technical support.  

Baldwin is interested in how pūrakau contribute to a more hopeful and empowered  future for our mokopuna. “I'm really humbled to have been given the privilege of  this residency,” the artist says. “I'm really excited to be able to have time, space  and resource to begin researching and creating a new body of work in this  unexpected and undoubtedly inspiring environment.”  

Louise Lohr, Deputy Curator at YSP, selected Baldwin from a shortlist of artists and  said: “The Curatorial team were particularly drawn to her narratives around  contemporary Māori art practice and its international position, intergenerational  strength and traditions of storytelling. The residency provides a platform for the  dynamic exchange of knowledge and ideas, and we are looking forward to sharing  in this experience with Melanie.” 

Hiraani Himona, Executive Director of Te Tuhi, said she was thrilled by the  selection. “We are confident that Melanie will make the most of this opportunity  and use it not just to enrich her own practice, but to proactively support Māori  artists and connect indigenous communities across Aotearoa and abroad."

The residency is supported by the British Council Aotearoa New Zealand and the  Pacific. "We are delighted to support this exciting residency opportunity for  Melanie Tangaere Baldwin at Yorkshire Sculpture Park," said Natasha Beckman,  Director for British Council New Zealand and the Pacific. "This programme  exemplifies our commitment to fostering cultural exchange between Aotearoa  New Zealand and the UK. We believe that Melanie's unique perspective and  artistic practice will contribute significantly to the rich dialogue between our two  nations, while also providing her with invaluable international experience to further  develop her craft." 

Baldwin is the third recipient of this award, the first being Mount Maunganui-based  artist Darcell Apelu in 2019. The second was Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland artist  Deborah Rundle in 2020, who will be showing the outcomes of her residency in a  small exhibition at YSP in November 2024.

About the recipient artist 

Melanie Tangaere Baldwin (Ngāti Porou) is a māmā of two, a multi-disciplinary  artist, curator, and arts educator. She is a founder and current director of HOEA!  Gallery in Tūranga Nui a Kiwa, Gisborne. Her work is research-based and largely  focused on Te Ao Māori, Mana Wahine, stereotyping of indigenous peoples and  the effects of settler colonialism on notions of power, beauty and worth.  

About YSP  

Attracting over 380,000 visitors annually, YSP is a charity and an internationally  renowned museum for modern and contemporary sculpture, presenting work by  some of the world’s most extraordinary artists in over 500 acres of 18th century  parkland and three galleries. Artists currently on display include Bharti Kher, Daniel  Arsham, Vanessa da Silva, Jaume Plensa, Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore and  Damien Hirst. In addition to a world-class exhibitions programme, displays from  the collection, and support for artists through residencies, YSP engages with over  40,000 people each year through its diverse Learning and Engagement  programmes, including work with families, pre-school children, post-graduate  students, people with dementia, and hard to reach young people. 

About Te Tuhi 

Te Tuhi is a leading platform for contemporary art in Aotearoa New Zealand, with a  programme consciously and continually shaped towards rigorous, adventurous,  and socially engaged artistic experimentation. Alongside the gallery in Pakuranga,  Te Tuhi studios offers artists spaces to work in Parnell, adjacent to the Parnell  Project Space, an exhibition, performance and event space located on the  platform at Parnell Station, Tāmaki Makaurau. Te Tuhi also works extensively with  multiple communities in East Auckland. 

About British Council Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific 

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and  educational opportunities. We support peace and prosperity by building  connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries  globally. Through arts and culture, British Council Aotearoa New Zealand and the  Pacific works to connect the people of Aotearoa New Zealand and the UK. The  British Council operates in in over 200 countries and territories around the world  and are on the ground in more than 100 countries. In 2022-23 we reached 600  million people.

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