Author(s): Sarah Farrar; Nina Tonga; Jill Trevelyan

Art | Aotearoa New Zealand Non-Fiction | 2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards | 2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards short lists | Aotearoa | Artist Monographs | Painting

Robin White: Something is happening here is the first book to be devoted to Robin White's art in 40 years. Its assessment of her remarkable 50 years as an artist includes fresh perspectives by 24 writers and interviewees from Australia, the Pacific, and Aotearoa New Zealand and celebrates her status as one of our most important artists. Including more than 150 of her artworks, from early watercolour and drawings through to the exquisite recent collaborations with Pasifika artists, as well as photographs from throughout Robin White's career, this book captures the life of a driven, bold, much-loved artist whose practice engages with the world and wrestles with its complexities.

Contents: Foreword, 09 Introduction, 11 Part 1: My father had ambitions for me, 15 Paremata, 42 Part 2: The work must go on, 61 Otepoti, Dunedin, 74 Part 3: Village life throws you into the midst of everything, 127 Kiribati, 142 Part 4: An act of faith, 193 Whakaoriori Masterton, 208 Notes

Author Biography: Dr Sarah Farrar is a curator and writer based in Tamaki Makaurau Auckland. She is currently the head of the curatorial department at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki where she is responsible for the curatorial, research library and archives, learning and public programmes teams. Sarah's doctoral research examines strategies of curatorial activism in local and international art galleries and museums. For twenty years, she has curated exhibitions and contributed to art publications, including books, catalogues and journal articles, in Aotearoa, Australia, the Netherlands, Belgium, China and the UK. Sarah's research interests in the complexities and strengths of cross-cultural exchange and collaboration, along with her motivation to see senior women artists duly acknowledged, have drawn her to Robin White's work. Dr Nina Tonga is Curator Contemporary Art at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. She is from the villages of Vaini and Kolofoou in the Kingdom of Tonga and was born and raised in New Zealand. Nina has been involved in a number of writing and curatorial projects in New Zealand and the wider Pacific and was Curator of the Honolulu Biennial 2019. Her exhibitions include Home AKL (2012) at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, Tonga i Onopooni (2014) at Pataka Art + Museum, Tivaevae: Out of the Glory Box (2015) and Pacific Sisters: Fashion Activists (2018-2019) at Te Papa. Jill Trevelyan is a Wellington art historian and curator. She is the editor of Toss Woollaston: A Life in Letters (Te Papa Press, 2004) and the co-author of Rita Angus: Live to Paint & Paint to Live (Random House, 2001). Her biography of Peter McLeavey won the book of the year award at the 2014 New Zealand Post Book Awards.