The art of book design thrives in Aotearoa and it is at its best when it is hand-in-hand with visual art. This was proven at the 2025 PANZ Book Design Awards last Thursday evening.

Auckland-based graphic designer Katie Kerr took out the supreme award for Best Book for with Sight Lines: Women and art in Aotearoa, the seminal feminist art history written by Kirsty Baker (who has so far featured in two out of three Artswires!). It's a gorgeous object, a cloth-covered hardback with confident but restrained design choices that are striking and practical. Kerr is deep in the book and graphic design worlds – she runs Gloria Books, an independent studio, and is part of a group reviving graphic design journal The National Grid. I don’t know who else could pair bright orange with a muddy green and make it work.

The book next in line for the award was another art book, worm, root, wort... & bane by Ann Shelton, designed by Duncan Munro. The book is almost like a scrapbook or reference book, as it assembles fragments of historical knowledge in text and images alongside 19 photos from Shelton’s series i am an old phenomenon. It won two other categories – the HarperCollins Publishers Award for Best Cover and the Bookhub People’s Choice Award (shared with Fenoga Tāoga Niue I Aotearoa: Niue Heritage Journey In Aotearoa).

But how do such beautiful – and unusual – books come to be? 

Well, in June I was lucky enough to ask both these designers about their practices. I chaired a panel at Object Book Space, a symposium to celebrate book design hosted by ObjectSpace, called Books make friends: On collaborating over time. The 45 minutes passed far too quickly in a haze of public-speaking-anxiety, but this is what I remember. The most important thing was the relationship between the artist, or author, and designer and the designer understanding the purpose, honouring the content and having fun with the process. 

Ann Shelton and Duncan Munro are perfectly attuned, having been partners in life, and many other books before worm, root, wort... & bane. On the panel Katie Kerr was paired with another of her collaborators, Raukura Turei, and their rapport was based on a shared understanding of their project (a beautiful monograph released on Friday). From there, Kerr was trusted to shape the book as she saw fit. Sight Lines came together similarly – Kirsty Baker told the Sunday Star Times, “It was immediately evident that Katie had a deeply insightful understanding of what this book was trying to do, so from my perspective the design process was straightforward – I just trusted her to do the best work for the material.”

News from the wire

NZ Galleries and artists named “hottest” at Sydney Contemporary

A review of the largest art fair in Australasia is completely overrun with mentions of New Zealand galleries and artists. Michael Lett “ratcheted [fun] up to steroid proportions” with a cash-and-carry booth featuring Mike Hewson sculptures. “So cheeky,” wrote the Aussie reviewer. Lisa Reihana’s installation referencing a waharoa was deemed “fabulous”.

The fight for Art History has reached an impasse

The heads of 28 art galleries from around the motu have signed an open letter to Erica Stanford, Minister of Education titled Why Art History Matters, and most media outlets have run stories in some form or another sympathetic to those arguing for the value of the subject.

The minister has given an interview to The Post, who first reported the cuts (paywalled). Stanford said she is “very comfortable” with the decision because not many students took the subject last year. She claimed only 794 students achieved NCEA in the subject last year, but NZQA figures show 1809 students took it.

Stanford said the Education Ministry has “looked at everything, and they are not going to change their position on this”.

Auckland's ephemera lovingly archived

A new Instagram account, @09.tdec, is digitally (im)mortalising the ephemeral of Tāmaki Makaurau. Fliers, menus, bookmarks, postcards, tickets, and catalogues are being scanned and uploaded, unlocking many memories for residents of the big smoke.

Bic is back

After a decade, Bic Runga has a new album, Red Sunset, due out in 2026. There’s a lovely interview with her on The Post (paywalled).

World of WearableArt won by latex ceramic vases

The supreme winners of the 2025 World of WearableArt were revealed last Thursday evening (at the show of course). Dawn Mostow and Ben Gould (United States) took the prize for their work Tsukumogami, a tribute in latex to Japanese classical ceramics and the mythology of objects. Both have been WOW finalists multiple times. The idea came from Dawn’s time living in Japan and the Japanese belief that objects can be imbued with spirit after centuries of use.

 The runner-up garment was Fifi Colston’s Meine Erste Liebe, inspired by the tragic love story of a 19th century German botanical artist and his wife. Colston has said that this will be her final WOW entry after being a constant feature of the show since 1990.

A new award for recognising and celebrating excellence in Māori art, craft and design, Te Tohu Toi Rākei, was awarded to Anna Hayes-Moeau (Ngāti Kahungunu ki te Wairoa) for her work Ko au ko Harakeke, Ko Harakeke ko au.    

Though the exciting night is over, the 2025 WOW Show: RISE is on until 5 October at Wellington’s TSB Arena.

Robyn Kahukiwa exhibition opens in London

In April, Robyn Kahukiwa (Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, Ngāti Konohi, Te Whānau-a-Ruataupare) passed away. While she was alive, she was working on a show scheduled for May at Phillida Reid in London. The show was redeveloped, with Kahukiwa's daughter, Reina Kahukiwa, and instead opened on Friday.

The Arts Foundation aiming to raise $250,000 

As part of its 25th birthday celebrations, The Arts Foundation has launched its most ambitious campaign to date, raising $250,000 in just one month through Boosted, its crowdfunding platform. The money will go to 10 up-and-coming artists.

Human resources

SOUNZ Centre for New Zealand Music has announced Manawatū composer Kane Parsons as the recipient of their 2025/26 Community Commission Te Tono Mahinga ā-Hapori. Parsons plans to assemble a 200-strong choir of rangatahi for a project that will be “a celebration of resilience, hope, and the power of collective wellbeing.”

On Wednesday, Te Uru Contemporary Gallery, the one behind the usual green facade on a ridge overlooking the lush bush of Titirangi, announced their incoming curator. Anja Lückenkemper, a curator, researcher, and writer from Berlin is set to begin the role in early December. 

Further reading

I finally put together my thoughts on Nui te Kōrero. Here are 10 important and useful takeaways, and one very present absence. 

A group of NZ experts have put forth a tried-and-true solution to the struggles that our small music venues face. A sector-to-sector funding scheme could redistribute profits from large events run by multinational entities (think Ticketmaster) to the grassroots infrastructure that holds up local music. France has been doing it since 1986!

My review of Kirsty Baker’s Sight Lines for The Spinoff last year, A carefully exclusionary art history.

Music historian Gareth Shute chatted to Tony Stamp on RNZ’s Mixtape about his new book, our music history and its intersections with his own life.

Ahi Karunaharan visited Wellington's Eastern Sound Collective and spoke to its founder to put together a beautiful story of the group that uplifts and supports Asian voices in Aotearoa's music scene.