Nine outstanding NZ artists honoured at Arts Foundation Laureate Awards

Nine artists are the recipients of this year’s Arts Foundation Laureate Awards.

Fiona Clark, Sean MacDonald, Robert Jahnke, Ladi6, Annie Goldson, Taiaroa Royal, Giselle Clarkson, Peter Black and Sopolemalama Filipe Tohi received awards at a ceremony in Auckland on Friday night.

The Laureate Awards identify the country’s most outstanding practising artists working anywhere in the world and their impact. This year marks the 23rd of the awards, which were established to celebrate and empower New Zealand’s most exceptional artists across the disciplines.

Criteria includes their commitment to having a career in the arts, being an outstanding artist in their field, and being important to their communities and to New Zealand.

The new laureates reflect Aotearoa’s world-class artistic talent, said Arts Foundation general manager Jessica Palalagi.

“They are celebrated for their significant impact on Aotearoa, their commitment to their craft and their outstanding careers in the arts. We are so proud to welcome them to our remarkable alumni of artists – and we encourage all New Zealanders to take the time to learn more about these artists and the work they create.”

Among the winners are photographers Peter Black and Fiona Clark. Clark is one of the country’s best known art photographers and her early images captured the heady local excitement of gay liberation that mainstream society was not ready to accept – her negatives were censored, images were pulled from exhibition, and dealers refused to work with her. She was the subject of the documentary Fiona Clark: Unafraid in 2021.

Black, meanwhile, has had his photographs recognised in significant public exhibitions and publications for more than 30 years. He was the first NZ photographer to have a solo show at the National Art Gallery in 1980 with ‘Fifty Photographs’.

Sean MacDonald and Taiaroa Royal are from the world of dance. MacDonald has worked as a freelance contemporary dancer for more than 25 years, and has been in association with Atamira Dance Collective since 2000.

Royal, on the other hand, has performed with most major dance companies since graduating from the NZ School of Dance in 1984, and has previously been recognised for his contribution to Māori dance. He’s choreographed for many corporate events and arts organisations, and helped form Ōkāreka Dance Company in 2007.

Musician Ladi6 is a Christchurch-born hip-hop artist of Samoan descent who dropped out of high school and never finished jazz school, but managed to reach the heights of the NZ Top 40 charts numerous times, including with her platinum-certified single Like Water. In 2021 the singer was made a Member of the NZ Order of Merit for services to music.

In the world of sculpture, Robert Jahnke and Sopolemalama Filipe Tohi have been recognised. Jahnke is considered one of the country’s leading contemporary artists and primarily works in the field of sculpture. Of Samoan, German, Irish and Māori heritage, his work is typically based on political issues that face Māori, the relationship between Māori and European colonisers and the impact of Christianity on Māori culture.

Sopolemalama Filipe Tohi, who has been described as Tongan art’s foremost ambassador, has his contemporary practice founded in the traditional Tongan cultural practice of lalava (sennit lashing) and he’s exhibited in major exhibitions nationally and abroad.

One of NZ’s most awarded documentary filmmakers, Annie Goldson, was also made a laureate. Her work – including the feature-length An Island Calling, Brother Number One and Kim Dotcom: Caught in the Web – often examines the political through the personal, and her films have played widely overseas.

Finally, cartoonist and illustrator Giselle Clarkson, who is best known for her non-fiction comics on conservation and environmental issues, has been honoured. As well as illustrating a number of published children’s books, Clarkson has had a monthly comic in NZ children’s literature website The Sapling.

Each artist this year will be gifted $35,000 instead of the usual $30,000 due to telecommunications company One NZ topping up the prizes. The awards are entirely funded by arts lovers from across Aotearoa.

This year’s award winners join alumni of 120 other laureates including Eleanor Catton, Taika Waititi, Lisa Reihana, Bill Manhire, Don McGlashan and Whirimako Black to name a few.

The winners were chosen by an independent panel of industry experts of nearly 20 people earlier this year.

This year, the Arts Foundation is also helping facilitate the $100,000 Harriet Friedlander Residency, the $43,000 Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship, the $25,000 Out of the Limelight Awards, and seven $25,000 Springboard Award packages.

The winners

Fiona Clark – visual activist, photographer: My ART Visual Arts Award

Sean MacDonald – dance: Burr/Tatham Trust Award

Robert Jahnke – sculpture: Jillian Friedlander Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Award

Ladi6 – music: Theresa Gattung Female Arts Practitioners Award

Annie Goldson – documentary film: Dame Gaylene Preston Documentary Film Makers Award

Taiaroa Royal – dance: Toi Kō Iriiri Queer Laureate Award

Giselle Clarkson – illustration: Mallinson Rendel Illustrators Award

Peter Black – photography: Marti Friedlander Photographic Award

Sopolemalama Filipe Tohi – sculpture: John and Jo Gow Sculpture Award