About
- Contact me: bronwyn@hollowaysmith.nz
Dr Bronwyn Holloway-Smith (Pākehā) is an artist and author based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. She works across multiple platforms, both individually, and with a varying collection of creative collaborators. Her research interests span national identity, public art, new technologies, and the power dynamics controlling knowledge and information—particularly in the context of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Many projects have stemmed from an examination of, and engagement with, new scientific and technological developments and the futuristic ideals and challenges they present and investigations into the entanglement of systems that shape and influence culture, technology and politics.
Her works have examined how shifts in technology impact on the creation and preservation of culture – directly utilising modern-day copying process to digitally recover or preserve pieces of lost or forgotten cultural items. She has also challenged many core values established in art, especially around the primacy of physical encounter, a heavy investment in the original, and a strong adherence to traditional models of ownership.
Her works often allow for – and encourage – direct user engagement through digital methods of reproduction. This is often activated by the use of Creative Commons licensing as a means of legally permitting the resulting user-generated works. In these projects, control is taken away from the artist, the collector and the gallery, and placed in the hands of the user – echoing an interest in issues around the democratisation and control of culture rather than the making of the objects for display.
Research Interests
Contemporary art. Investigative art. Public Art. Murals. Sculpture. Installation. New Media. Internet culture. Internet ethics. Participatory practice. New Zealand national identity. New Zealand modernist art history. Copyright.
Qualifications
- PhD Fine Arts, Massey University, 2019
- PADI Advanced Open Water Diver, Dive Wellington, 2015
- HLS1x: Copyright, Harvard University: edX, 2013
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (First Class Honours), Massey University, 2006
Selected Exhibitions & Projects
2019
Guy Ngan: Public Art Hunt, invited research project. Artspace Aotearoa, Auckland, Jun 2019 – Aug 2020. Curators: Remco De Blaiij and Lachlan Taylor.
2018
The Southern Cross Cable: A Tour, multi-media installation. Included in “This Is New Zealand”, City Gallery Wellington, Mar-Jul 2018. Curators: Robert Leonard and Aaron Lister.
2016
It behooves wired people to know a few things about wires, invited art project. Auckland Art Fair 2016, The Cloud, Auckland.
Between Islands/Entre Islas International Videoart Festival, group exhibition. Portugal, Mexico, Spain, Nicaragua 2016-17. Curator: Rob Garrett.
To & Fro, Tauranga Art Gallery, Tauranga, 8 Feb – 17 Jul 2016, curator: Mark Williams.
Third child born.
2015
2015 National Contemporary Art Award, Waikato Museum, Hamilton, 18 Jul – 1 Nov 2015
PhD confirmed.
Aotea – It’s Our Fault Too curated by Petri Saarikko Te Whare Hēra Gallery, Clyde Quay Wharf, Wellington, 16 – 29 May 2015
The levelling of Puke Ahu, Enjoy Public Art Gallery offsite project, Puke Ahu (Mt Cook), Wellington, 7 – 21 Mar 2015, curator: Emma Ng
2014
Goodnight Kiwi or: Tonights broadcast has now ended, regular transmission will resumer at 6:00am, curated by Mark WilliamsFilmessay.com, Italy, December 2014-January 2015
PhD (prospective) commenced.
Te Ika-a-Akoranga, (permanent installation), commission by JWT Auckland and Letting Space, June 2014-present, J. Walter Thompson Office, Auckland and online. Curators: Sophie Jerram and Mark Amery.
Wunderrūma: New Zealand Jewellery, The Dowse Art Museum, 21 June – 28 September 2014
2013
ikono On Air Festival, ikono TV, Berlin and online, 6-29 September 2013
2013 New Zealand International Film Festival, Auckland, 20-23 Jul 2013; Wellington, 3-10 Aug 2013 (Director: Bill Gosden)
Parkin Drawing Award 2013 finalist exhibition
New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, Wellington, 26 Jul-25 Aug 2013
Among the Machines: Australian and NZ Artists, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin, 6 Jul-3 Nov 2013, curators: Su Ballard & Aaron Kreisler.
Ghosts In The Form Of Gifts, Makertorium, Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand, Wellington, 27 April 2013
Welcome to Pioneer City (video), collaboration with Simon Ward. CoLab New Terrains Commission, Air New Zealand in-flight entertainment system, Jan-March 2013. Curator: Melissa Laing
2012
Second child born.
Ménage à trois: Artist-run Spaces Exchange in the Asia-Pacific Region, XYZ Collective, Tokyo, Oct 5 – 28 2012; TCB artinc., Melbourne, Oct 24 – Nov 10 2012; Ménage à trois: Artist-run Spaces Exchange in the Asia-Pacific Region, New Zealand Curator: Claudia Arozqueta
Social Interface, RAMP, Hamilton, 25 April – 16 May 2012. Curator: Melanie Oliver
Improbable Objects
What It Is, Chicago, IL, USA, 29 March–28 April 2012
The Obstinate Object, City Gallery Wellington, 24 February–10 June 2012. Curator: Aaron Lister and Abby Cunnae
2011
10:13, The Engine Room, Massey University School of Fine Arts, Wellington, 3–19 November 2011. Curators: Kate Adolph and Johnathan Titheridge
Small & Beautiful Takeaways, Mahara Gallery, Waikanae, 14 August – 13 November 2011
Game On, Hastings City Art Gallery, Hastings, 9 July – 2 October 2011. Curators: Jacob Scott and John Walsh
Pioneer-City.com (solo). Letting Space public art commission. Ground Floor, Soho Apartments, 80 Taranaki St, Wellington, 17 June – 10 July 2011. Curators: Mark Amery and Sophie Jerram
Pioneer City (Billboard) (solo). Ghuznee St Art Billboard, Wellington, 28 March – July 2011
Place Makers, The Engine Room, Wellington, 17 March – 9 April 2011. Curators: Anne Noble, Amanda Yates and Jenny Gillam
Lost and Found, Bartley + Company Art, Wellington, 2-27 March 2011
CALH 2011, Flock House, Bulls, 11-13 February 2011. Curator: Sarah-Jane Parton
The Un-Sited, Hancock Gallery: City Gallery Wellington, 29 January – 1 May 2011. Curator: Aaron Lister
2010
Surplus and Creativity, DOC Conservation House, Wellington, 15-26 November 2010
Colonial Real Estate, presenting the new territories, Page work and website, Hue & Cry Journal, Issue 4, launched 24 June 2010, ISSN 1178-2374
First child born.
2009
Ringworm, Clubfoot Initiative, Wellington, 19 December 2009. Curator: Melanie Oliver
Ghosts in the form of gifts, Permanent installation, Executive Seminar Suite, Massey University Wellington and online, unveiled 8 December 2009
2008
Travels in Europe and South-East Asia.
The Third Artist’s Film Festival, New Zealand Film Archive mediaplex, Wellington, 11 April – 17 May 2008. Also shown at The Physics Room, Christchurch, 4-7 June 2008. Curator: Paula Booker
Séance for Nam June Paik, School of Fine Arts Gallery Basement, Christchurch Arts Centre, Christchurch, New Zealand. Screened as part of Tending Networks: the fifth Aotearoa Digital Arts (ADA) symposium, and in conjunction with The Physics Room’s public exhibitions programme, 23 February 2008. Curator: Dan Agnihotri-Clark
Civilly Unioned.
2007
Living Together, Hirschfeld Gallery: City Gallery, Wellington, 23 November 2007 – 27 January 2008. Curator: Jessica Reid
Mighty Box, Square2: City Gallery, Wellington, 5 November – 9 December 2007
Territorial Pissings , The Engine Room Gallery, Wellington, 8-25 August 2007. Curator: Caroline Johnston
2006
An Introduction to the Theory of Everything, Hirschfeld Gallery: City Gallery, Wellington, 21 December 2006 – 11 February 2007. Curator: Jessica Reid
Wildlife (solo), Enjoy Public Art Gallery, Wellington, 27 October – 5 November 2006
The Drawing Show, The Engine Room Gallery, Wellington, 16 August – 1 September 2006
Working Title, Show Gallery, Wellington, 13 July – 5 August 2006
Makebelieve, Rm 103, Auckland, 6-15 July 2006
Draw’n’, 110 Devon St New Plymouth, 24-25 June 2006. Curators: Bruce Phillips and Justin Morgan
Professional positions held
Current: Director, Public Art Heritage Aotearoa New Zealand; Senior Advisor, Strategic Projects, Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts, Te Kunenga Ki Pūrehuroa Massey University (CoCA Massey)
2015–2017 Project Director, E. Mervyn Taylor mural search & recovery project, CoCA Massey
2011–2015 Teaching & Learning Projects Advisor, CoCA Massey
2010–2011 Assistant to the Research Directors, CoCA Massey
2010 Conference Manager, IE2010: The 7th Australasian Conference on Interactive Entertainment, CoCA Massey
2008–2009 Project Coordinator, One Day Sculpture Litmus Research Initiative, School of Fine Arts, Massey University
2007–2011 Executive Secretary and Website Redevelopment Project Manager, Unlimited Potential (ICT Professionals Network)
2007 Administrator, New Zealand Universities Women in Leadership Programme
2006 Conference Coordinator, Expanding Documentary Conference, School of Fine Arts, Massey University
Board or Governance Roles
2008–2014 Director and Co-Founder, Creative Freedom Foundation (NZ artists advocacy group)
2008–2012 Trustee, Enjoy Public Art Gallery
Mentorships and Judging
2016/2018 Judge: NZ Open Source Awards
2013-2015 CC Arts Mentor, Creative Commons Aotearoa New Zealand
Awards & Recognition
Prizes
2019 Finalist, Ockham New Zealand Book Awards
2015 Winner, National Contemporary Art Award
2013 Finalist, Parkin Drawing Award
2012 Winner, Award for Open Source in the Arts, NZ Open Source Society
2010 Winner, Award for Open Source in the Arts, NZ Open Source Society
Awarded Commissions
2013 Te Ika-a-Akoranga, multi-platform art installation, Letting Space and J. Walter Thompson
2012 Video commission for Air New Zealand’s in-flight entertainment system, CoLab, Auckland University of Technology (AUT). Completed May 2012, screened December 2012-February 2013.
2010 Billboard commission, Wellington City Council Public Art Panel. Completed March-July 2011.
2010 Public art project commission: Pioneer City Showroom Letting Space. Completed June-July 2011.
2009 Awarded 10th Anniversary Commission, Massey University Wellington, Acquisitions Team. Completed 2009.
Scholarships
2014 Massey University Doctoral Scholarship
Recognition
2009 Named as one of the 25 Most Powerful People in Technology by the New Zealand National Business Review.
Selected Invited Public Presentations
New Zealand’s Mid-Century Public Art, presenter and panel chair (panellists: Dr Duncan Joiner and Gregory J. Smith). Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand, 24 April 2021.
Guy Ngan: Public Art Hero, presenter. Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 10 April 2021.
Guy Ngan: Public Art Hero, presenter. Artspace Aotearoa, 14 October 2020.
Aotearoa’s Public Art: Is it Worth Protecting?, presenter. Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, 29 February 2020.
On Investigative Art, panel convenor and presenter. Ngā Tūtaki: Encounters, AAANZ Conference 2019, University of Auckland, 3-6 December 2019.
Friction Atlas: guided tour, tour guide. The Performance Arcade, Wellington Waterfront, 2 March 2019.
Copyright in the Creative Industries., workshop session facilitator. Enjoy Public Art Gallery, 18 August 2018.
The Southern Cross Cable: Public art and New Zealand’s main internet connection with the world., conference oral presentation. NetHui 2017: Trust and Freedom on the Internet. Aotea Centre, Auckland.
The Case of the Missing Wairoa Centennial Library Mural., conference oral presentation. ArtCrime2017: The Symposium. Auditorium, City Gallery Wellington.
New cultural narratives for New Zealand’s southern cross cable Part 1: Te-Ika-a-Akoranga, conference oral presentation. National Digital Forum, 26 November 2014. Wellington, New Zealand: Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand.
When you let go, surprising things can happen, presenter and panellist. “The Internet Future of Art, Music and Video”, National Library of New Zealand, 24 November 2014
Big Data discussion series: Growing Up Digital. panellist (panel chair: Kim Hill). Royal Society of New Zealand Lecture Theatre, Wellington, 13 March 2013, and broadcast on Radio New Zealand National, 31 March 2013.
The Readymade Revisited., presenter and panellist. Adam Art Gallery, Wellington, 3 October, in conjunction with the exhibition “Peripheral Relations: Marcel Duchamp & New Zealand Art 1960-2011”.
Making The Most Of Creative Opportunities., panellist. NetHui 2012, Sky City Convention Centre, Auckland, 13 August 2012.
[Navigating the Tangled Web of Copyright (Te Ika-a-Akoranga)](http://youtu.be/WEQnHzSJPQ)_, presenter and panel chair (panel: Prof. Susy Frankel, Sophie Jerram and Megan Tamati-Quennell). Critical Forum, Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts, Massey University.
Bronwyn Holloway-Smith and David Cross, artist talk. City Gallery Wellington, 4 May 2012.
Pioneer-City.com Public Discussion, artist talk. Film Archive MediaPlex, Wellington, 15 July 2011.
The Pioneer, art project pitch. Urban Dream Brokerage, Adam Auditorium, City Gallery Wellington, 6 May 2010.
Bibliography
Wanted: The Search For The Modernist Murals of E. Mervyn Taylor, Massey University Press, 2018. ISBN: 978-0-9941415-5-2
Among The Machines, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Susan Ballard and the artists
Exhibition catalogue, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 2013. ISBN 0-908910-62-2
Untitled [Ménage à Trois project publication], various contributors
Produced by TCB artinc., 2013. ISBN 978-0-9804449-3-3
Itinerant Promiscuity: A Space for Closeness [PDF], Claudia Arozqueta
Ménage à Trois exhibition catalogue, Enjoy Public Art Gallery, 2012.
At the end of the day, Richard Meros
Written response to Pioneer-City.com, Letting Space, November 2011. Published online.
Game On: A Selectors Choice of Contemporary New Zealand Artists, Jacob Scott and John Walsh
Exhibition catalogue, Hastings City Art Gallery, 2011. ISBN 978-0-473-19122-1
Utopia Hedonism, Kate Linzey
Place Makers exhibition catalogue, Massey University School of Fine Arts Litmus Research Initiative, 2011. ISBN 0-9864625-0-4
The Un-Sited: from the Wellington City Council City Art Collection, Aaron Lister
Exhibition catalogue, City Gallery Wellington, 2011.
Enjoy Recipes Illustrated, Edited by the Enjoy Trust: Amit Charan, Ann Shelton, Bronwyn Holloway-Smith, Kate Woods and Molly Samsell. Design and layout by Duncan Munro.
Enjoy Public Art Gallery, 2010. ISBN 978-0-473-18182-6
Working Title, Raewyn Martyn
Written response to Working Title at SHOW, Enzyme Publishing, 2009, pp. 92-94. ISBN 0-9582706-0-0
Available via: http://www.show.net.nz/
[S.O.S. – Save us from ourselves](http://www.enjoy.org.nz/files/BSmith.pdf)_, Mark Williams
Written response to Wildlife, Enjoy Public Art Gallery, 2007, pp. 68-71
Interview with the artists, Jessica Reid, et. al
On the occasion of An Introduction to the Theory of Everything, City Gallery Wellington, 2006
Wildlife, Bronwyn Smith and Louise Menzies in conversation
Published for the exhibition Wildlife, Enjoy Public Art Gallery, 2006. Available from Enjoy Public Art Gallery
Together/Apart: five Wellington artists explore displacement and location, Andrea Bell
Published for the exhibition Sister City, Blindside, 2006. ISBN: 0-9775235-6-X
Selected Media & Interviews
CIRCUIT CAST, hosted by Mark Amery CIRCUIT: Artist Film and Video Aotearoa New Zealand, September 2013
Postcard: Dunedin, Natalie Poland Art News New Zealand, Spring 2013 issue: Volume 33, Number 3
Technology, environment and utopia Art News New Zealand, Spring 2013 issue: Volume 33, Number 3
Australasian New Media in Dunedin, by Franky Strachan EyeContact, Published 30 August, 2013
Well worth getting ‘Among the Machines’ projections, by Peter Entwisle Otago Daily Times, Published 22 July, 2013
Among The Machines, interview with Lynn Freeman Radio NZ National: The Arts on Sunday, aired on July 14, 2013
Art For Cool’s Sake, by Todd Atticus Salient, Published 5 June, 2012
Glancing at the History of Digital Art, by Peter Dornauf EyeContact, Published 6 May, 2012
The Stubbornness of Sculpture 2, by Mark Amery EyeContact, Published 10 April, 2012
Pioneer City, by Rebecca Lancashire The Listener, Issue 3711, Published June 20, 2011
Prime real estate? Look to the sky, by Diana Dekker The Dominion Post: Your Weekend magazine, Published on June 20, 2011
Pioneer City, interview with Lynn Freeman Radio NZ National: The Arts on Sunday, Aired on June 12, 2011. Also available in Ogg Vorbis format
Exploring alternatives for our cities Art News New Zealand, Autumn 2011 issue
Location, location, location, by Robert Johnson The Wellingtonian, Published May 19, 2011
A second public art billboard project, by Alison Bartley Connecting With Art (Blog), Published March 28, 2011
3D printer deployed for the cause of art: Exhibition poses questions about technology and art, by Rob O’Neill Computerworld, 28 January 2010
Makers and their magic machines, by Rob O’Neill Sunday Star Times, p. C9, 17 January 2010
Endmatter
“Our dear faultless and gifted friend Bronwyn Holloway-Smith: the central brain sent from heaven, was born in a log cabin on a sacred mountain.
Her birth was foretold by a swallow, and heralded by a double rainbow. At the moment of her birth winter turned into spring, and a new star appeared in the heavens. News of her birth was carved into trees and soon written into rocks, all across the country. She never had the need to urinate, or defecate, and the weather behaved according to her mood. Even in her infancy she learned to walk in just 3 weeks, and talk at 8 weeks.
As a school girl she corrected and chastised her teachers for their incorrect interpretations of history. While at university she wrote 1500 books, and composed 6 operas all of which are better than any in the history of music. The first time she went bowling she scored a perfect score of 300. The first time she picked up a golf club she played one round that was 38 under par with 11 holes in one. It was the greatest golf game ever so she retired from the game. She had great success at everything she did. She invented the hamburger — look how popular that was.
Not only was she an accomplished engineer, an invincible military master, and a communications expert who could coach winning soccer teams using an invisible transmitter. She was also an unprecedented director, composer and choreographer as well as a fashion icon whose style was in vogue the world over. She was a great champion of justice and peace, and her diplomatic skill made her the envy of everyone.
On the tragic day that our illustrious legend — born of heaven, the lodestar of the century — dies, the skies will glow red above the sacred mountain, and an impenetrable sheet of ice within the mystic volcano will crack with a deafening roar. And a crane, the symbol of longevity, will be seen circling for hours around a statue of the eternal wonder before flying off to the capital city. Thousands of mourners will gather for hours, convulsing in unison, all of them overcome by inconsolable grief.”
–Author unknown
