
Canadian curator and writer, Kitty Scott, the first woman to be appointed to the role of Chief Curator of the Shanghai Biennale, will visit Tāmaki Makaurau in February for a five-day research trip.
The 15th Shanghai Biennale, titled Does the flower hear the bee? (November 8, 2025 – March 31, 2026), will explore new modes of sensorial communication between artwork, audience and environment. Inspired by recent scientific discoveries regarding interactions between honeybees and the flowers that “hear” the vibration of their wings, the exhibition operates at the intersection of differing models of intelligence, both human and nonhuman. It is based on the belief that recent art provides us with a privileged space for such investigations, offering an embodied and interconnected sphere in which communities may form stronger bonds in harmony with what eco-philosopher David Abram has called “the more-than-human world.” The Shanghai Biennale does so in a moment of great uncertainty and global emergency that has given rise to a widespread sense of disorientation; our world is transforming, and it is doing so at a pace that eludes our capacity for comprehension, leaving us with an extreme sense of derangement bordering on vertigo. If a return to the past is impossible, art offers us potential pathways out of despair, helping us to find emergent forms-of-life amid this instability.
The Biennale’s hopeful vision rests on art’s ability to orient us towards the unknown, the future. Conceived in collaboration with a global array of highly-engaged artists, curators, intellectuals, musicians, poets, scientists and writers, Does the flower hear the bee? recognizes that much depends on our ability to sense the world around us and attune ourselves to its diverse variety of intelligences.
Taking place in the Power Station of Art (PSA), and inaugurated in 1996, the Shanghai Biennale is China’s longest running contemporary art biennale, and is one of the most influential art events both in Asia and globally.
To find out more about Kitty Scott, click here.
Kitty Scott’s visit has been organised by the Office for Contemporary Art Aotearoa in partnership with Gregory Burke and HUs Art.
Office for Contemporary Art Aotearoa (OCAA) works in partnership with other organisations and individuals, both from Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally, to encourage exchange and dialogue between visual arts practitioners from New Zealand and their international counterparts and to enable and facilitate the presentation of work by New Zealand artists at major overseas exhibitions.
Gregory Burke is a curator, writer and Director of Insight Art Services. Positions he held In Aotearoa prior to 2006 include Chief Curator City Gallery, Director Govett-Brewster and inaugural curator for the NZ pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Based in North America and Europe for the last 20 years, from 2025 he returns to Aotearoa splitting his time between Tāmaki Makaurau and Berlin.
HUs Art is an organisation formed in 2010, working to bridge the gap between arts and culture in China and New Zealand. Led by Jennie Hu, a dedicated advocate for culture and the arts, she has successfully initiated and led numerous influential art events and projects in both countries.
The research trip has been made possible through the very kind support of Kent Gardner and Ngaere Duff, Jenny Gibbs, Michael Lett Gallery, and Jenny and Andrew Smith. Kitty’s stay in Auckland is generously hosted by the Park Hyatt, Auckland’s luxury 5-star waterfront hotel with a strong commitment to art and artists, having commissioned important works by Māori artists for both their public spaces and many of the hotel rooms.