Independent Curators International (ICI) supports the work of curators to help create stronger art communities through experimentation, collaboration, and international engagement. Curators are arts community leaders and organizers who champion artistic practice; build essential infrastructures and institutions; and generate public engagement with art. Our collaborative programs connect curators across generations, and across social, political and cultural borders. They form an international framework for sharing knowledge and resources — promoting cultural exchange, access to art, and public awareness for the curator’s role.
Māia Abraham

Māia Abraham (Ngāi the Rangi, Tūhoe) is a curator and artist living currently in Ōtautahi Christchurch. Having moved from Katikati, he completed a BFA majoring in Sculpture from The University of Canterbury in 2017. Within his practice he uses art and curating as a way of exploring kaupapa Māori ways of thinking and working; asking how does manaakitanga exist in the arts? Or perhaps why is whanaungatanga important to the artistic process? Māia is one of 3 kaiwhakahaere of Ōtautahi Kōrerotia, a collective producing events and exhibitions for and by local Christchurch artists. He was the Toi Māori and Creative New Zealand Māori Art intern at Blue Oyster Art Project Space for 2018, co-curating the exhibition ‘Wā o mua’, September 2018. Other curated exhibitions planned for this year are ‘Whitu’ at Masterworks Gallery, Auckland, June 2019. Blue Oyster Art Project Space, Dunedin, July 2019. Enjoy Public Art Gallery, September, October 2019. Hastings City Art Gallery, November 2019.
involved in:
2019 Curatorial Intensive in Auckland: Public Symposium
The Curatorial Intensive participants of the 2019 Auckland program will each present their project proposals that they have been developing over the course of the program.
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In collaboration with Artspace Aotearoa, ICI presents the first Curatorial Intensive in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. This Intensive draws upon the diverse cultural environment from Auckland and the greater te Moana Nui-a-Kiwa Pacific Ocean region. This Intensive anticipates Artspace Aotearoa’s new programme ‘The Drift,’ which will examine and respond to alternative approaches to artistic education.
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