For the first time since its inception in 1996, four artists from Aotearoa will participate in the 15th Shanghai Biennale, opening at the Power Station of Art on 8 November 2025. Among them, Brett Graham (Ngāti Korokī Kahukura, Tainui) will present Ka Wheeke (2024), a commanding sculpture that reimagines the gun turrets of the 1863 warship Pioneer as intricately carved forms. Graham’s work continues his ongoing exploration of colonial histories and Māori sovereignty, transforming instruments of war into memorials of resistance and endurance.
Titled Does the flower hear the bee?, the 15th edition of the Biennale invites reflection on communication between human and non-human worlds. Curated by Kitty Scott with Xue Tan, Daisy Desrosiers, Long Yitang and Zhang Yinging, the exhibition features over 250 works by 67 artists and collectives from around the globe. Graham’s presence, alongside fellow Aotearoa artists Ngahina Hohaia, Shannon Te Ao, and Luke Willis Thompson, signals a moment of visibility for Māori and Pacific perspectives on the international stage.
Supported by Creative New Zealand and The True Honey Co., the Aotearoa presentations were developed following a research visit by Chief Curator Kitty Scott to New Zealand earlier in 2025, in partnership with the Office for Contemporary Art Aotearoa.
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