Founder Lecture 2026: Catherine Hammond – A Thousand Words: Photographic Archives in Aotearoa

Founder Lecture 2026: A Thousand Words: Photographic Archives in Aotearoa

Catherine will discuss the role and impact of photographic archives as complex repositories of memory and research, drawing on her career working with artists archives in major cultural institutions in Aotearoa over the past two decades. It will include discussion of the recent book and touring exhibition, A Different Light: First Photographs of Aotearoa as well as reflections on meaning-making in archives ranging from Marti Friedlander to Frances Hodgkins, feminist photographic practice to whānau portraiture.

About the Speaker

Catherine Hammond is Director of Collections and Research at Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira, has worked in leadership roles in the arts and cultural sector in Aotearoa New Zealand for over two decades including Hocken Librarian at the University of Otago, and Research Library Manager at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. Catherine is a trained librarian and published writer, editor, and curator, and has led the development of award-winning cultural heritage websites. Her research interests centre around the intersection of archives and Aotearoa art histories. She is Chair of the Guardians Kaitiaki of Alexander Turnbull Library and a Trustee of UNESCO Memory of the World Aotearoa New Zealand.