Visionary Dreams: Monica Brewster Evening speakers announced for 2026

The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery | Len Lye Centre is thrilled to announce the 2026 lineup for its popular Monica Brewster Evening monthly speaker series. The programme, titled Visionary Dreams, features Maria Lind, Tusiata Avia, Toeolesulusulu Damon Salesa, Vince Ropitini, Leki Jackson-Bourke, Katie Wolfe, Kimberley Moulton and Nathan Taare.

Together, these influential artists, writers, thinkers and cultural leaders will guide audiences through a year of conversations exploring how visionary dreaming can be grounded in place, ancestry, community and creative practice.

Continuing a legacy established in 1999, the Monica Brewster Evenings honour the forward-thinking spirit of the Gallery’s founding donor, Monica Brewster, whose commitment to contemporary art laid the groundwork for bringing bold ideas to Ngāmotu.

 “This year, we’re thinking about visionary dreams not as distant ideals, but as layered conversations shaped by place, ancestry, lived experience and the work of imagining otherwise,” says Lleah Smith, Head, Public Practice + Creative Enquiry, Cultural Experiences (Govett-Brewster Art Gallery | Len Lye Centre, Puke Ariki)

“Each speaker brings a distinct perspective on what emerges when communities, artists, thinkers and leaders choose to dream with clarity, courage and care.”

2026 Speakers:

• Tue 10 March: Maria Lind
  International curator exploring what it means to “dig where we stand”, drawing on creative practice shaped by the Swedish Arctic.
  
  
• Tue 14 April: Tusiata Avia
  Award-winning poet and performer reflecting on truth-telling, vulnerability and the power of language to challenge and transform.
  
  
• Tue 12 May: Toeolesulusulu Damon Salesa
  Scholar and AUT Vice Chancellor examining the Moana as a site of deep history, identity and visionary future-making.
  
  
• Tue 9 June: Vince Ropitini (Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāruahinerangi me Whakatōhea)
  Emerging Māori fashion designer exploring how Te Ao Māori worldview reshapes global fashion narratives.
  
  
• Tue 14 July: Leki Jackson-Bourke and Lalaga Youth Ambassadors
  A conservation on rangatahi leadership, Pasifika identity and their landmark creative journey to ASB Polyfest 2026.
  
  
• Tue 11 August: Katie Wolfe (Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Toa Rangatira)
  Acclaimed storyteller discussing empathy, difficult histories and the risks and responsibilities of truthful, emotionally grounded art.
  
  
• Tue 8 September: Kimberley Moulton (Yorta Yorta)
  Yorta Yorta curator reimagining museums as places of care, cultural continuity and Indigenous resurgence.
  
  
• Tue 13 October: Nathan Taare (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Tama)
  Multidisciplinary scent artist exploring fragrance as whakapapa, memory and intimate lived experience.

“Across the series, audiences are invited to consider how dreaming can be relational, grounded and deeply local – as well as expansive enough to hold global entanglements,” Smith adds.

“These conversations illuminate what becomes possible when we listen to where we stand, and to one another.”

Monica Brewster Evenings are generously supported by Govett Quilliam the Lawyers, with event support from L’Epicure catering and Michael Radich Winemerchant.

Events take place on the second Tuesday of each month at 6–7.30pm. Tickets are available from the Gallery’s reception or online at Tickets – Govett-Brewster Shop