Artspace Aotearoa is happy to announce Daniel John Corbett Sanders as the new Kaiāwhina Whakaaturanga Assistant Curator of Artspace Aotearoa for 2021/2022.

The role evolved from the curatorial internship that ran for over ten years. This position offers a clear curatorial development opportunity for a starting practitioner to work with the Artspace Aotearoa team on the 2021 and 2022 programmes.

Ka moe a Martinus Sanders i a Mies Sanders,

Ka puta ko Johannes Sanders.

Ka moe a Trevor Corbett i a Jennifer Zimmerman,

Ka puta ko Robyn Sanders.

Ka moe a Johannes (John) Sanders i a Robyn Sanders,

Ka puta ko au.

Ko Ngāti Hūrai me Ngāti Takatāpui oku iwi.

Nō Ngāmotu ahau.

Ko Tāmaki Makaurau toku kainga ināianei.

Ko Daniel John Corbett Sanders au.

“When I was a baby my Mum would take me to work with her as a nurse and cleaner in the rest home. She eventually came to manage one, and so I grew up around the rest home environment, a place of intense love and care. These are values I brought with me to art. Curation to me begins in the corporeal, in the physical and material well-being of the artist. As a queer artist, I have had my artwork thrown out, deleted, broken, and taken off the schedule. I’ve had my pay cut, told my work is too gay, not gay enough … there’s no winning really. I’m here for the underdog, for the artists with a statement that doesn’t fit the trends. And I’m here to demonstrate that it was the system that was broken, not them.”

– Daniel John Corbett Sanders, Kaiāwhina Whakaaturanga Assistant Curator

Having extensive experience in the creative sector from adolescence, Corbett Sanders has gone on to curate and contribute to numerous events based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. In 2020, Corbett Sanders founded Parasite Gallery on Karangahape road, this artist-run space was built out of ideas surrounding institutional critique, presenting new modes of art-making, in particular those that often situate LGBTQ+ artistic practice within a wider conversation on the socio-political context of everyday life. The gallery is excited to have Daniel join the team and look forward to working with them.

“We are very excited to have Daniel join the team. They have a deep and longstanding commitment to progressing a critical visual culture based in Karangahape Road, contributing throughout Tāmaki Makaurau and Aotearoa. We hope to stimulate a circular environment where we can learn from Daniel and further their ambitions within this new role.”

– Remco de Blaaij, Kaitohu Director