Jonathan Mane-Wheoki

Jonathan Ngarimu Mane-Wheoki CNZM (1943 – 10 October 2014) was a New Zealand art historian, academic and curator. Of Ngāpuhi, Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Kurī and English descent, he was a pioneer in the study of contemporary Māori and Pacific art history.^[1]

Born in 1943,^[2] Mane-Wheoki grew up in the Hokianga.^[1] He was educated at the University of Canterbury and the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, gaining a Bachelor of Arts, Diploma of Fine Arts (with honours in painting) and a Master of Arts.^[3][4] He began his academic career at the University of Canterbury in 1975, rising to became dean of music and fine arts.^[1] In 2004 he became director of art and collection services at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa,^[5] and in 2009 he was appointed professor of fine arts and head of the Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland.^[6] He stepped down as the head of Elam in 2012,^[4] was an honorary research fellow at Te Papa from 2012, and in 2013 he took on the part-time role of head of arts and visual culture at that institution.^[5] After the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, he supported the retention of ChristChurch Cathedral, arguing that the church was part of the city's identity and its "heart".^[1]

In 2008 Mane-Wheoki was awarded an honorary LittD by the University of Canterbury,^[7] and in the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours he was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the arts.^[8]

He died from pancreatic cancer in Auckland on 10 October 2014,^[9] having recently visited the Hokianga to see where he would be buried.^[1]

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