Nigel Borell
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Borell in 2022
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| Born | Nigel John Floyd Borell 1973 (age 50–51) |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | Massey University - BMVA Elam School of Fine Arts - MFA |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Contemporary Māori Art |
| Institutions | Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira |
Nigel John Floyd Borell MNZM (born 1973) is a New Zealand Māori artist, museum curator, and Māori art advocate. He curated the exhibition Toi Tū Toi Ora: Contemporary Māori Art at the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki in 2020, the largest exhibition since they opened. In 2021 the Art Foundation of New Zealand created an award (He Momo – A Moment in Time Award) to acknowledge the work of Borrell in this exhibition.[1]
Borell was born in 1973 and grew up in Ōtāhuhu and Manurewa in South Auckland. He is a twin and has two older siblings. Borell is Māori of Pirirākau, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui, and Te Whakatōhea descent.[2][3][4]
His early influences include artist Cliff Whiting and the Peter Gossage series of Māui illustrated books. He completed a Bachelor of Māori Visual Arts at Massey UniversityinPalmerston North in 2000. There he studied under Robert Jahnke , Kura Te Waru Rewiri , Shane Cotton and the Toioho ki Apiti programme. He followed this by completing a Master of Fine ArtsatElam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland in 2003.[3][5] He has hands-on experience in Māori arts, working on three meeting house projects under tohunga whakaio Pakariki (Paki) Harrison 1995-2000 and kowhaiwhai artist Peter Boyd, and has been influenced by Māori curators Megan Tamati-Quennell and Ngahiraka Mason.[6][5]
Borell was Associate Curator Māori Art at Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira from 2013-2025 and Curator Māori Art at Auckland Art Gallery from 2015-2020. At the gallery he worked for years on the largest exhibition since the gallery opened over 130 years ago called Toi Tū Toi Ora: Contemporary Māori Art. It featured work by 110 artists and brought in more visitors than any other exhibition since 1989.[7] The documentary of the exhibition is by Chelsea Winstanley.[8] Borell resigned from his role at the art gallery in December 2020 two weeks after Toi Tū Toi Ora opened stating that there was a lack of control awarded to him in the lead up and calling for 'colonial institutions to share power more equally'.[6][1]
In 2022 it was announced he would return to Auckland War Memorial Museum as Curator Taonga Māori, the role previously held by Chanel Clarke.[6] Borell is a trustee and curator of The Wairau Māori Art Gallery in the Hundertwasser Building in Whangārei, the first public Māori art gallery solely dedicated to profiling Māori artists and curators.[2][9][1]
Borell’s meetinghouse projects include: The kowhaiwhai and mural work for "Te Pou Herenga Waka' meetinghouse, James Cook High School Marae, Manurewa (1993-94) The kowhaiwhai and mural work for "Matukurua" meetinghouse Manurewa Marae, Manurewa (1994-95) The papaka kowhaiwhai panels for "Rakairoa" meetinghouse Harataunga Marae, Kennedy Bay, Coromandel (1995-96) The kowhaiwhai rafter panels for "Kete Uruuru Matua" meetinghouse Ngā Kete Wānanga Marae, (1999-2000) Manukau Institute of Technology, Ōtara.[3] The kowhaiwhai rafter panels for "Te Puna Matauranga" meetinghouse Northtec Marae, Whangārei (2015) The kowhaiwhai panels - assisting Saffronn Te Ratana for "Te Whaioranga o Te Whaiao" meetinghouse Te Rau Karamu Marae, Massey University Wellington (2016-2018)
Borell, N (Ed). Toi Tū Toi Ora: Contemporary Māori Art, Penguin Random House New Zealand; 202
Borell, N. Māori Art: From the Margins to the Centre. In: Nagam, J; Tamati-Quennell, M & Lane, C (Eds), Becoming Our Future, Global Indigenous Curatorial Practice , ARP Books, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. 2020
Borell, N. He Whariki Toi, He Whariki Tangata. In: Friend, R (Ed), Toi Koru - Sandy Adsett. Pataka Museum and Art Gallery, 2021.
Borell, N. The Māori Portraits, Scenes of Māori Life and Custom. In: Mason, N & Stanhope, Z (Eds), Gottfried Lindauer’s New Zealand: The Māori Portraits. Auckland University Press, 2016.
Borell, N. Ngā Momo Whakaaro -Kura Te Waru Rewiri. In Mason, N (Ed), Five Māori Painters. Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, 2014.
Te Atinga: 25 years of Contemporary Māori Art. Wellington, New Zealand: Toi Maori Aotearoa, 2013. ISBN 9780958234146
Borell, N Ed). Kura: Story of a Maori Woman Artist. Mangere Arts Centre- Nga Tohu o Uenuku, 2012.
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