Ms Tamati-Quennell was in Dunedin at the weekend to lead a two-day workshop on modern and contemporary Maori art at Blue Oyster Gallery as part of the city's Matariki celebrations.
The idea was to bring artists, writers, educators and other creative people together to consider what modern and contemporary Maori art is, who it includes and how those fields are defined.
''It's an exciting area, as the history is recent. It is constantly changing.''
Ms Tamati-Quennell, who was born in Dunedin, has family connections to Otakou marae and grew up in Winton, has 26 years' of experience as a curator and specialises in modern and contemporary Maori and indigenous art.
''I love working with art and artists. Art is an intrinsic and important part of society. If you removed all the art what would you have?''Her role in the workshop was to set the scene and facilitate the conversation.
''Art at the end of the day can change how people see the world.''
Maori contemporary art's history was short, only developing in the 1950s and 1960s with the likes of Ralph Hotere, Paratene Matchitt and Cliff Whiting, ''who kind of broke with tradition'', she said.
''It was postwar Maori urbanisation. Large migration of Maori to the cities making art that talked about what was important to them. Not only did they want to be carvers and weavers. They wanted to engage in art in an almost European sense, developing a kind of hybrid art that was Maori and modernism.''
Blue Oyster's Chloe Geoghegan said the workshop was an effort to ''bring wisdom and experience'' to younger artists who were looking for mentors and to make new connections with others.
''We want to encourage emerging artists to connect with their community and with each other.''
