Dunedin Public Art Gallery curator Aaron Kreisler leaves today to develop an exhibition for next year's Edinburgh Art Festival.
The annual visual art festival is one of the largest in the world, attracting more than 250,000 visits every August.
Mr Kreisler will contribute a Pacific flavour to a Commonwealth exhibition, in collaboration with curators from the United Kingdom, Canada, India and South Africa.
''It's a huge event. They're bringing together curators from around the Commonwealth, with five of us representing a region each and I'll be representing Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Rim,'' he said yesterday.
''The starting point is representing the people of the different regions. We'll be having discussions about Commonwealth geopolitics and what does this region mean now?
What is this existing structure and how do we think about artists from these regions?
''These things don't happen that often. Working with other people you don't know makes you raise the bar.
"I'll be going with ideas I've thought about previously, but it's really about the art of collaboration and seeing what other artists bring to the table.''
Festival organisers approached Mr Kreisler after an exploratory tour of New Zealand and Australia earlier this year.
''They liked the programmes that were happening at the art gallery here in Dunedin,'' he said.
''There will also be benefits for Dunedin. We're constantly looking at connecting with other international artists for our visiting artist's programme, so it's a great opportunity.''
Mr Kreisler returns at the end of this month. The 2014 Edinburgh Art Festival runs from August 1 to September 1.
