We are asking quick questions of writers and thinkers coming to the WORD Christchurch Festival 2025 (Wednesday 27 August to Sunday 31 August).
Here are some quick answers from Professor Deidre Brown, author of Toi Te Mana: An indigenous history of Māori Art.
What are you looking forward to doing in Ōtautahi Christchurch?
Being back in my ‘second home’: I lived in Ōtautahi for six years, when I taught Māori art history at the University of Canterbury. I’m proud to be returning twenty years later to talk about Toi Te Mana and where that journey, starting at Canterbury, took me.
What do you think about libraries?
I am the granddaughter of a book collector (from Ōtautahi) and have been fortunate to have always been surrounded by books. Libraries are like Disneyland for me.
What would be your "desert island book"?
Is it cheating to say ‘Anne Salmond’s complete works’?
Share a surprising fact about yourself
I have 29 first cousins!
What makes you JOYOUS?
Toi Māori me whare Māori (Māori art and architecture)
Deidre at WORD Christchurch
You can hear Deidre at the session Toi Te Mana: An indigenous history of Māori Art at the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, Saturday 30 August 2.30pm to 3.30pm.
Toi Te Mana: An Indigenous History of Māori Art is the first comprehensive account of creative work by Indigenous New Zealanders ever published. It is also the first wide-ranging art history written entirely by Māori scholars, traversing whatu (weaving), moko (tattoo), whakairo (carving), whare (architecture), painting, photography and sculpture over 800 years. No wonder it won the Illustrated Non-Fiction category at the 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, Authors Deidre Brown (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu) and Ngarino Ellis (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou) join Chloe Cull (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāi te Ruahikihiki) in conversation.
With support from the Royal Society Te Apārangi
More about Deidre
Deidre Brown (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu) is a Māori art and architectural historian and professor of architecture at Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland. Her books include Māori Architecture: From Fale to Wharenui and Beyond (Raupo, 2009; Ngā Kupu Ora award winner and New Zealand Post Book Awards finalist), Introducing Maori Art (Reed, 2005), Tai Tokerau Whakairo Rākau: Northland Maori Wood Carving (Reed, 2003; NZSA Best First Book at the Montana New Zealand Book Awards), Te Puna: Māori Art from Te Tai Tokerau / Northland (Reed, 2007) with Ngarino Ellis, the multi-authored Art in Oceania: A New History (Thames & Hudson, 2012; Art Book Prize for best English language art book) and A New Zealand Book of Beasts: Animals in Our Culture, History and Everyday Life (Auckland University Press, 2013). She has curated several exhibitions and is a former Governor of the Arts Foundation of New Zealand. Deidre is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi and a 2023 Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects Gold Medallist – the Institute’s highest award.
Find books by Deidre Brown at the library
More Quick questions with WORD Christchurch guests
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Check the programme online or pick up a printed copy from your library.
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- Our WORD Christchurch 2025 page - Find books by writers coming to this year's festival
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