Emma Bugden

Emma Bugden focuses on artists-run spaces, which are sites for creative and intellectual research, workplaces, and launching pads for professional development.

I am a curator and writer who has held various roles in public institutions, most recently as Senior Curator / Programmes Manager at Hutt City Museums (2011-2017). Prior to that I was Director of ARTSPACE Auckland and Curatorial Director of Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts. I have also served on professional organisations in the arts sector, including as a New Zealand Nominator for the Signature Art Prize 2017 at the Singapore Art Museum and a member of the Jury for the Walters Prize at Auckland Art Gallery, 2016.

In addition to my current doctoral research I am co-founder and co-editor of Small Bore Books, a specialist art and design publisher dedicated to connecting historic texts with new audiences.

My research topic focuses on artist-run spaces, that is, galleries initiated and managed by artists. Artist-run spaces are sites for creative and intellectual research, workplaces and launching pads for professional development. The role of artists in establishing exhibition spaces is both celebrated for its emancipatory possibilities and yet simultaneously highly contested. The scope of my research is interdisciplinary, extending from museum studies, art history and curatorial studies into sociology, organisational studies and cultural policy.