Fearless: The Extraordinary Untold Story of New Zealand’s Great War Airmen (Adam Claasen, Massey University Press).Tāngata Ngāi Tahu: People of Ngāi Tahu (ed by Helen Brown & Takerei Norton, Te Rūnanga Ngāi Tahu and Bridget Williams Books).Dancing with the King: The Rise and Fall of the King Country, 1864-1885 (Michael Belgrave, Auckland University Press).Five Strings (Apirana Taylor, Anahera Press).Tess (Kirsten McDougall, Victoria University Press).

Baby (Analeese Jochems, Victoria University Press).

Iceland (Dominic Hoey, Steele Roberts Aotearoa).

Sodden Downstream (Brannavan Gnanalingam, Lawrence & Gibson).

Salt Picnic (Patrick Evans, Victoria University Press).

The Earth Cries Out (Bonnie Etherington, PRH NZ).

The Beat of the Pendulum (Catherine Chidgey, Victoria University Press).

The New Animals (Pip Adam, Victoria University Press).

This book is great start for anyone even just a little curious about art or planning to visit Te Papa’s renewed gallery space.Longlists for the 2018 New Zealand Book Awards have been announced. ‘Art with depth and strength may speak to people in different ways, but speak it does’. This was surprisingly comprehensive and interesting, with a great insight from McCredie.

I also cannot finish this review without mentioning the wonderful introduction by editor, Athol McCredie, who gives an overview of how Te Papa’s collection developed, how it acquires art and how it grew the diverse collection to what it is presently. I found Rebecca Rice’s commentaries particularly compelling and I enjoyed pausing between paragraphs to look at the opposite art, consider what she had highlighted or identified before absorbing more. The passion and delight of several curators shines through as they share the piece with the viewer. Each curator gives a short commentary on the painting, drawing, photograph, applied art object or sculpture.Ĭurators responses vary from historic influences to emotional connections, with the tone very casual and conversational. These commentaries translate well creating a more informal, casual approach to art that I think most readers will enjoy. It’s enough to guide the viewer to certain elements or aspects in an informed approach but still allows the viewer to draw their own response. I recognised quite a few artworks featured but knew very little else and it was nice to learn more. In this book, ten of Te Papa’s art curators have each picked ten pieces from Te Papa’s collection of over 16,500 works and explain why they are drawn to them and why they believe they matter. The collection is truly diverse, balancing international and New Zealand art, and with pieces dated from circa 1300 to 2015. This is a beautiful book covering the broad and diverse range of art at Te Papa as they prepare to renew their gallery space.

Ten x Ten by Athol McCredie