| Megan Tamati-Quennell |
Megan Faye Tamati-Quennell is a New Zealand curator. In 2024 Tamati-Quennell was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori and First Nations art.
Tamati-Quennell is Māori, and is affiliated with Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Mutunga, Kāti Māmoe, Ngāi Tahu and Waitaha iwi.[1] She was born in Dunedin.[2]
Tamati-Quennell began her career in journalism, and worked for The Evening Post in Wellington, and also worked in film.[3] As a junior reporter, Tamati-Quennell got to preview Te Māori, because she was the only Māori member of staff, but once the importance of the exhibition became clear, the story was allocated to someone else. She describes how the journalists at the opening were already inside before the opening karakia (greeting) was given, and that made her glad she was not present. Tamati-Quennell also worked as a weaver, training under Diane Prince at the Wellington Arts Centre and Erenora Puketapu Hetet at Waiwhetu Marae.[4]
Tamati-Quennell applied for an internship at the then Dominion Museum (now Te Papa Tongarewa), and started there in 1990.[3] Her first curated exhibition was Pū Manawa, covering Māori weavers and contemporary artists, and she was also involved in Kohia Ko Taikaka Anake, an exhibition of contemporary Māori art at the National Art Gallery. Tamati-Quennell has also worked at Te Papa Tongarewa as Curator of Modern and Contemporary Māori and Indigenous art,[5] and at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in New Plymouth.[6] Tamati-Quennell is a co-curator for the 2025 Sharjah Biennial project in the United Arab Emirates.[7]
Tamati-Quennell is studying for a PhD at Monash University.[4]
In the 2024 Birthday Honours Tamati-Quennell was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori and First Nations art.[7]