Shannon Te Ao

(b.1978, Sydney, Australia, lives Wellington, New Zealand)

Shannon Te Ao is currently working on his MFA at Massey University, Wellington, and holds a Fine Art degree from The University of Auckland.  Working predominantly in video, photography and performance Te Ao has established a reputation for producing highly evocative works around the politics of place and localized histories.  Of Ngati Tuwharetoa descent, his work has increasingly addressed issues of land grievances and ‘suppressed’ memory, particularly pertaining to indigenous rights within New Zealand.

He has exhibited widely within New Zealand over recent years including; Freedom Farmers, Auckland Art Gallery, 2013; From Memory and Trace, Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts, Auckland, 2013; New Artists Show, Artspace, Auckland, 2012; Te Hiko Hou, The Film Archive, Wellington, 2012.  He has also been the recipient of a number of awards including; Elam School of Fine Arts prize for Contemporary Mãori Art, 2009, and the Rita Angus Artist in Residence, Wellington, 2012.