Ngarino Ellis Explained

Occupation:Associate ProfessorArt History
Education:PhD, MA (Hons), BA/LLB
Alma Mater:University of Auckland
Discipline:Art history
Sub Discipline:specialist toi Māori (Māori arts)
Workplaces:University of Auckland
Thesis Title:A Whakapapa of Tradition: Iwirakau Carving 1830 to 1930

Ngarino Ellis is a New Zealand academic and author. She is one of only a few in her field of Māori art history and an educator. She is an associate professor at the University of Auckland. Her first book published in 2016 is titled A Whakapapa of Tradition: One Hundred Years of Ngāti Porou Carving 1830-1930 with photography by Natalie Robertson.

Background and academic career

Ellis is Māori and affiliates with the iwi Ngapuhi from the Bay of Islands, Northland and Ngāti Porou from the East Cape.

Ellis has two undergraduate degrees from the University of Auckland, Law and Art History starting in 1988 and graduating in 1993 and being admitted to the Bar later that year. She practiced law in central Auckland for a short time, and also began a masters, completing a Master of Arts (Honours) in Art History, from the University of Auckland. Her thesis was entitled Hoe Whakairo, 1769-1850 about Māori carved and painted paddles. She did her PhD in Art History from 1997 - 2012, and her thesis was A Whakapapa of Tradition: Iwirakau Carving 1830 to 1930 (2012) which was published as a book in 2016.[1] [2]

Ellis started teaching the new postgraduate Museums and Cultural Heritage course at the University of Auckland in 2013.[3]

She has won several awards for teaching in this year including in 2019 an award at the New Zealand’s Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards where Ako Aotearoa recognised her as a role model in her teaching for her Kaupapa Māori (Māori cultural) approaches and influencing both staff and students alike. Ellis is a trail blazer as in 2019 she was the only Māori art historian teaching in a New Zealand university.

Her research project with Deidre Brown and Jonathan Mane-Wheoki,Toi te Mana: A History of Indigenous Arts from Aotearoa New Zealand, creates a framework that draws upon the journey of Māori god Tāne to gain 'the three baskets of knowledge.'[4]

She has received three Marsden Grants from the Royal Society Te Apārangi.[5]

Selected works

Published works and research

Curated exhibitions

Conference presentations

Awards

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Profile: Ngarino Ellis . 2024-01-25 . Auckland University . 25 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240125074020/https://profiles.auckland.ac.nz/ngarino-ellis . live .
  2. A Whakapapa of Tradition : Iwirakau Carving 1830 to 1930 . ResearchSpace@Auckland . 2012-01-01 . Ngarino . Ellis . 22 January 2024 . 31 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240131203553/https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q111963382 . live .
  3. Web site: Ten finalists announced for NZ’s Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi . 2024-01-25 . www.wananga.ac.nz . 25 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240125074020/https://www.wananga.ac.nz/experience/news/ten-finalists-announced-for-nz-s-tertiary-teaching-excellence-awards/ . live .
  4. Book: Borell, Nigel . Toi Tū Toi Ora: Contemporary Māori Art . 2022-03-16 . Penguin Group . 978-0-14-377673-4 . 25 January 2024 . 31 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240131203546/https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q120560720 . live .
  5. Web site: Ngarino Ellis . 2024-01-25 . Toi Ngapuhi . en-US . 25 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240125074021/https://www.toingapuhi.co.nz/speakers-2021/ngarino-ellis . live .
  6. Web site: Ngarino Ellis and photography by Natalie Robertson Products - Auckland University Press . 2024-01-25 . aucklanduniversitypress.co.nz . 25 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240125074019/https://aucklanduniversitypress.co.nz/ngarino-ellis-and-photography-by-natalie-robertson/ . live .