Prof Mane-Wheoki is touring the country delivering the 2013 New Zealand Aronui Lecture, exploring the global rise of contemporary indigenous art, and is in Dunedin this week.
His lecture ''Remembrance, Resistance and Resurgence'', at the Hutton Theatre, Otago Museum, tonight is organised by the Royal Society of New Zealand.
Prof Mane-Wheoki (Ngapuhi/Te Aupouri/Ngati Kuri) is an art historian, architectural historian, cultural historian and curator. He was head of the Elam School of Fine Arts until 2012, and now divides his time between Te Papa and the University of Auckland.
''Contemporary indigenous art has come into its own,'' Prof Mane-Wheoki says.
''In Asia, Africa, northern Europe, the Americas, Australasia and the Pacific, indigenous artists are using new technologies and media to explore and recast their identities and heritages in contemporary forms.''
The development is being showcased in an exhibition at the National Art Gallery of Canada of recent work by more than 80 artists from 16 countries, including New Zealand.
In the lecture, Prof Mane-Wheoki will provide context to contemporary Maori, Pacific and Aboriginal art within this global resurgence.
Prof Mane-Wheoki was the recipient of the Royal Society of New Zealand 2012 Pou Aronui Award, in recognition of his long-standing contribution to the development of the humanities in Aotearoa New Zealand.
The lecture starts at 6pm in the Hutton Theatre.
