Who are we to judge? International art curator Professor Bonaventure Ndikung on the Walters’ Prize

Artist Ana Iti has been awarded Aotearoa New Zealand’s most prestigious art award, the Walters Prize at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. Her sculpture and sound installation ‘A resilient heart like the mānawa’ is on display at the gallery.   Like the UK’s Turner Prize, The Walters Prize 2024 has four finalists in exhibition, chosen by a jury.  Yet, while that same jury awards the final Prize to one winner - and that jury has a solid representation of UK experts with the Turner Prize - the Walters Prize has since its inception been judged by an international curator, often coming to the Aotearoa art scene fresh.