Conversatio

Conversatio looks at the astounding practice of leading photographer Anne Noble, set against the issues of ecosystem collapse and climate change and examining what an artist can do in response. Its creative focus is on that most important insect, the European bee. Reminiscent of an artist book in its extensive visual content, its appeal is to a wide readership curious about art, ecology, science, literature and their intersections. Through Noble’s art and newly commissioned essays, the book traverses Noble’s deep interest in how humans relate to bees.

Author Biography

Anne Noble is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most widely respected contemporary photographers; she has been at the forefront of photographic practice in New Zealand since the early 1980s. Creating bodies of work that mark sustained engagement with particular places, sites, histories, issues and, more recently, species, her images are known for their beauty, complexity and conceptual rigour and for their persistent inquiry into the ways we perceive and come to understand the natural world.

Zara Stanhope is a curator and writer connecting publics with artists across the global south. She is currently the director of the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery | Len Lye Foundation, and has previously held roles as curatorial manager, Asian and Pacific Art at Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) and principal curator at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, amongst others. She recently led the 9th and 10th Asia Pacific Triennials at QAGOMA (2018, 2021); initiated QAGOMA’s Asia Pacific Art Papers (2021–22); curated Unfinished Business: The art of Gordon Bennett with Abigail Bernal at QAGOMA in 2020; and was lead curator for Dane Mitchell’s Post hoc for New Zealand at La Biennale di Venezia in 2019. She writes regularly for art catalogues and journals and has been the commissioning editor of books including Ann Shelton: Dark Matter (Auckland Art Gallery) and The Māori Portraits: Gottfried Lindauer’s New Zealand, co-edited with Ngahiraka Mason (Auckland University Press and Auckland Art Gallery).

Anna Brown is a book designer, educator and researcher who works with visual artists, curators, art historians and musicians. She has taught editorial design, typography, and courses about the future of the book. Anna is currently the Director of Toi Āria — Design for Public Good, a research unit harnessing design for positive social change. Prior to joining Massey, she ran her own design business with a specialisation in book design.