Name: Panel Discussion
Start: 2026-02-21T01:00:00+13:00
End: 2026-02-21T02:00:00+13:00
Location: Shed 11, 60 Lady Elizabeth Lane, Wellington, New Zealand 6011

Join Dr April K. Henderson, Dr Peter Brunt, and Yuki Kihara for a conversation facilitated by exhibition curator Jaenine Parkinson, presented as part of our current exhibition Salome: An Angel of History.
Dr April K. Henderson is a Pākehā/Pālagi scholar of Pacific Studies based in Te Whanganui a Tara. Raised and educated on the US West Coast and in Hawai‘i, she joined the Pacific Studies programme at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington in 2002 and previously served as the director of Va‘aomanū Pasifika. Her research explores the movements of people and things—from trade commodities to popular culture, art forms and ideas—in and through the Pacific Islands region. She teaches courses on themes of migration, diaspora, identity, artistic practice, activism, globalisation and popular culture.
Dr Peter Brunt is of Sāmoan and English descent, with ancestral connections to Lano, Vaiala and Bedfordshire. He is Associate Professor of Art History at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington, where he teaches and researches the visual arts of the Pacific, focusing on the role of art in mediating cross-cultural encounters. With Nicholas Thomas he co-curated the major 2018 exhibition Oceania at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, and the Musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac, Paris.
Award winning interdisciplinary artist Yuki Kihara has been working as a full time artist over the past two decades. Yuki Kihara was selected by the Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa – national arts development agency of the Government of New Zealand – to represent the Aotearoa New Zealand Pavilion with her critically acclaimed solo exhibition entitled ‘Paradise Camp’ curated by Natalie King presented at the 59th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, otherwise known as the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022.
Jaenine Parkinson is Head of Art at Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand. She has held leadership roles across public galleries, local government, and project spaces in New Zealand and internationally. From 2017–2025, she was Director of the New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata. Prior to that, she served as Arts, Museums and Heritage Advisor at Kāpiti Coast District Council and held directorial roles at Blue Oyster Art Project Space and an arts centre in Ottawa, Canada. Jaenine has also led numerous independent curatorial and writing projects.
Accessibility Information: The New Zealand Portrait Gallery is an accessible venue, all on one level. There is an accessible wharepaku (toilet) at the back of the venue. The gallery has automatic sliding doors and glass doors that can be pushed or pulled to enter. We have a wheelchair available for use within the gallery. Their are two chairs with arms at the entrance and end of the Gallery and low stool seating throughout . If you have any questions regarding accessibility or if there is something we could do to make your visit easier, please get in touch.