BoardTe Poari

Te Papa’s Board is accountable to the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage. The Minister appoints the Board, which currently has eight members.

View minutes from Board meetings

Christopher Swasbrook (Chair)

Head and shoulders photo of a man in a blue suit and tie.

Christopher Swasbrook is an experienced financial markets executive with a strong commitment to arts and culture.

He is currently Chair of the Auckland Future Fund, a Founder/Director of NZX-listed New Zealand Rural Land Company, Founder/Director of Elevation Capital, Director of Merx Funds Management and Executive Chair of McCashin’s Brewery Limited. He is also a Board Member of the Financial Markets Authority (FMA), Chair of the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki Advisory Board, and Chair of the Helen Clark Foundation.

Since graduating from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Commerce (Economics) in 1996, he has undertaken Executive Education courses at Columbia University (New York), New York University (NYU), London School of Economics (LSE), and the Harvard Kennedy School in Boston, Massachusetts.

Prof. Dame Juliet Gerrard

Portrait of Juliet standing in the Marae

Professor Juliet Gerrard FRSNZ, FHonFRSC trained at Oxford University and moved to Aotearoa in 1993 where her career has included roles in both Crown Research Institutes and universities. Juliet’s research background is broad and interdisciplinary, with particular interests in fundamental and applied protein science. She has held an Industry and Outreach Fellowship with Callaghan Innovation, founded a start-up company, chaired the Marsden Council, and served on the Board of Directors of Plant and Food Research.

In Juliet’s appointment from 2018–2024 as the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, Kaitohutohu Mātanga Pūtaiao Matua ki te Pirimia, she has worked from a base of four founding principles: rigour, inclusivity, transparency, and accessibility. She has supported the science and science advisor community to provide advice to the PM, ministers, and the public on a wide range of topics, including advice on the Christchurch mosque shootings, the response to the Whakaari | White Island eruption, and the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2019, the Office released a major report, Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa New Zealand, which created a vision for a new relationship with plastic.

Juliet was named a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to science in the 2021 New Year Honours.

Prof. Jacinta Ruru

Raukawa, Ngāti Ranginui

Jacinta Ruru, 2019. Te Papa

Jacinta Ruru is an award-winning Professor of Law at the University of Otago, fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi, and recipient of the New Zealand’s Prime Minister’s Supreme Award for Excellence in Tertiary Teaching.

Her extensive research considers Indigenous’ peoples’ rights, interests and responsibilities to own and care for lands and waters. She holds a PhD from the University of Victoria, Canada, and has multi-disciplinary research collaborations around the world. Jacinta advocates for the flourishing of Māori research and learning and is passionate about local community solutions for building resilience.

Jacinta is a past Co-Director of Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga New Zealand’s Centre of Māori Research Excellence and has held several governance and advisory roles including as a Minister for the Environment appointment to Kāhui Wai Māori.

In the 2022 New Year Honours, Jacinta was named a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori and the law.

David Wilks

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David Wilks brings rich strategic and commercial acumen and an extensive understanding of the creative sector to the Board.

He has previously held roles as Director of the Commercial Business Unit at the Department of Conservation, General Manager of Tourism Development at Tourism New Zealand, and is currently General Manager at Wētā Workshop.

David’s diverse governance experience is reflected in his current roles as Chair of the Taupo Destination Management Plan Leadership Advisory Group, trustee of Wellington College and Director at Daffodil Enterprises Ltd.

Paul Brewer

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Paul Brewer brings extensive experience working in cultural sectors in New Zealand and overseas. He was the founding Director of Marketing and Communications at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa from 1998–2009. He later served two terms as a trustee on the Auckland War Memorial Museum Board. Paul also has international museum experience, mainly in Denmark and Russia.

He is a long-standing trustee of The Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation, which supports young New Zealand classical singers with exceptional potential. Paul was Chief Operating Officer at Regional Facilities Auckland, a wholly owned subsidiary of Auckland Council, with stewardship of more than $1.8 billion worth of cultural and sporting assets.

His engagement in policy, risk management, sponsorship and strategic relationships within Auckland’s cultural sectors includes the Auckland Art Gallery, the New Zealand Maritime Museum, Auckland War Memorial Museum, and the city’s performing arts venues. Paul was appointed a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO) by Queen Elizabeth II in 1995.

Jamie Tuuta

Jamie Tuuta, of Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Maru, Te Ati Awa, Taranaki Tūturu descent, is an experienced Director and respected Māori leader who has held governance positions over the past 20 years in the areas of iwi development, agribusiness, fishing sector, investment, health, housing, Māori development, tourism, philanthropy, and education.

Christina Barton

head and shoulders photo of a woman with her hands in front of her. She is sitting in front of a bookshelf.

Christina Barton MNZM, DLitt is a respected art historian, curator, writer, editor, and educator. She brings deep knowledge of art, strong relationships with artists, collectors, gallerists and institutions throughout Aotearoa New Zealand, and a record of effective leadership in the cultural sector.

Since completing her MA in Art History at the University of Auckland (in 1987) she has held academic positions at the University of Auckland (1985–1988) and Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington (1995–2023), where she has developed her teaching and research in the discipline of art history. Between 2007 and 2023, she led Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery at Victoria University, where she was responsible for developing the exhibition programme and building the University’s art collection. Prior to this, she was Curator Contemporary New Zealand Art at Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand (1993–95) and Assistant Curator Collections at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki (1992–1994).

She has published widely on New Zealand art and artists and has curated a wide range of exhibitions, from large-scale contemporary surveys to major single-artist retrospectives. In 2020, she was awarded MNZM for her services to art history and curating and in 2021, she received a DLitt in recognition of her scholarship.