Coffee & Croissants x Craft Curriculum: Cross-disciplinary practise

10.30am coffee pouring
11am talk begins

Level one, Objectspace
13 Rose Road, Ponsonby

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As part of our Craft Curriculum series, join Carin Wilson, Tony van Raat and Gary Hunt for a kōrero presented in conjunction with He maramara tupu aranga: Carin Wilson and 50 years of Aotearoa design.

Bringing creative practice into conversation across architecture, craft, design and art, this discussion explores the intersections between these disciplines, and the ways they inform one another through making, collaboration and shared histories.

Get your $10 ticket to attend this morning talk with a coffee & croissant in hand.

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Carin Wilson (Mātaatua, Ngāti Awa, Tūhourangi) began making furniture in Ōtautahi Christchurch in the 1970s, after leaving law school to pursue a creative career. Since then, he has become a pivotal figure in New Zealand’s creative landscape, particularly advocating for Māori participation in design and urban development. He was a leader in the country’s craft movement in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, promoting dynamic discussion towards defining an aesthetic reflective of Aotearoa and advocating for the value of craft practice. Alongside his furniture making, Wilson has exhibited sculpture extensively, has taught at tertiary institutions and is founder and director of Studio Pasifika, a multidisciplinary design and architecture studio. Wilson has also held a number of leadership positions across institutions, including as founding member and inaugural chair of Ngā Aho: Network of Māori Design Professionals, president of the Designers Institute (1991–93) and president of the Crafts Council of New Zealand (1982–85). His practice continues to span different disciplines and kaupapa, including the 2025 sculptural commission Ngā Poutiriao Torohū and the further development of Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi.

Tony van Raat has spent most of his life as an architect. For 15 years he was head of school at Unitec, he served five years on the Registration Board and two years as Auckland Branch chair of Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects. He founded the NZ Architectural Publications Trust and was NZ Commissioner for the 2014 and 2016 Venice Architecture Biennales. Currently van Raat maintains a small architectural practice and is a director of TEKTON Consulting Engineers, specialising in seismic analysis and strengthening.

Gary Hunt is, in his own words, ‘a self-taught breaker, fixer and maker’ – a designer, steel fabricator and craft maker who has worked in his various creative disciplines for more than four decades. From an early age, he made and played percussion instruments, and was the drummer in the Auckland punk bands Gary Havoc and the Hurricanes and the Terrorways. He worked briefly for furniture designer and manufacturer Michael Draper before setting up as an independent designer and maker. Metal was Hunt’s métier and has remained his favoured material; he usually works with mild steel. Throughout his career, he has subsidised his craft production with commissions for bespoke architectural componentry and commercial fit-outs. He has continued his instrument-making practice – a recent project was the design and manufacture of a suite of 14 percussion instruments – and he still performs with musicians from his wide and intergenerational circle of friends and acquaintances.

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Objectspace’s Craft Curriculum event series is developed to accompany Carin Wilson’s retrospective exhibition He maramara tupu aranga, extending his work in advocacy and education around Aotearoa craft and design.

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Coffee & Croissants is a conversation series supported by our friends at Allpress Espresso and Daily Bread.

Images:

[1] Installation view, He maramara tupu aranga: Carin Wilson and 50 years of Aotearoa design, 2026, Objectspace, photograph by Sam Hartnett

[2] Bladerunner Chair by Gary Hunt, 2023, photograph by Sam Hartnett