Gallery congratulates Sorawit Songsataya—Walter’s Prize finalist for Govett-Brewster exhibition Fibrous Soul
Artist Sorawit Songsataya has been announced as one of four nominees for the 2027 Walters Prize—Aotearoa New Zealand’s most prestigious contemporary art award - for their works in the exhibition Fibrous Soul, developed by the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in 2024.
Fibrous Soul also included works by Maata Wharehoka.
Working across sculpture and moving image, Songsataya’s works in Fibrous Soul considered the multiple ways states of transition and the passage of time are measured across cultures and environments. Experimenting with organic and synthetic materials, as well as contemporary and customary approaches to practice, Songsataya, whose works sit alongside those Maata Wharehoka in the exhibition, meditatively sought to make porous boundaries between our living, physical world, and other possible realms. The exhibition was curated by Simon Gennard, the Govett-Brewster’s Curator of Contemporary Art and Collections.
Left: Sorawit Songsataya, Body Language, 2024, acrylic, sedge mats, rattan, recycled paper, digital print. Right: Sorawit Songsataya, Song of Songs, 2024, Ōamaru stone, rattan, sedge mats, aluminium tube, dried plants. Image courtesy of the artist. Photo: Cheska Brown.
The prize recognises an outstanding work of contemporary art produced by a New Zealand artist between February 2024 and February 2026. Held every three years, the prize aims to make contemporary art a more widely recognised and debated feature of cultural life.
The three other finalists include Edith Amituanai (whose works are held in the Govett-Brewster collection), Richard Frater and Ammon Ngakuru. The finalists will present an exhibition at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki from early 2027, and the winner will be selected by an international judge.
The Govett-Brewster is the only gallery in regional New Zealand to have its programme recognised among this year’s nominees. Songsataya’s nomination follows the previous edition of the award which went to Ana Iti (Te Rarawa, Ngāi Tūpoto, Ngāti Here), who was nominated for her work in the Govett-Brewster exhibition Swallowing Geography (curated by Megan Tamati-Quennell, 8 October 2021–13 February 2022). Brett Graham (Ngāti Korokī Kahukura, Tainui) was nominated alongside Iti for his landmark exhibition at the Govett-Brewster Tai Moana, Tai Tangata (curated by Anna-Marie White, 5 December 2020-2 May 2021).
The finalists were selected by an independent jury of leading arts professionals: Tyson Campbell (Te Rarawa/Ngāti Maniapoto), artist and curator; Abby Cunnane, Manutaki Director, Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery; Becky Hemus, independent curator, writer, and editor of Current; and Hanahiva Rose, contemporary art curator at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and PhD candidate, Victoria University Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington.