It’s somehow been more than 10 years since the Pantograph Punch’s humble beginnings as a little old blog put together by a small group of friends in Tāmaki Makaurau.

Since then we’ve changed and grown up in ways that we almost definitely wouldn’t have foreseen at the time:

• We established ourselves as a charitable trust with a focus on developing emerging writers and championing the arts and criticism.
• We gained the support of Creative New Zealand which has been our core source of funding since 2014.
• We’ve worked with and published more than 600 of Aotearoa’s most incredible writers.
• We transitioned from a labour of love to a team of core staff who we’ve worked to pay and value properly (which, tbh, is still a work in progress).
• And we’ve done proper grown-up arts org stuff like develop a strong, skilled and caring governance body.

Today I’m really excited to announce the latest steps in that growing up.

Firstly, out of an amazing and quite humbling field of applicants, we are delighted to welcome three talented leaders to the Pantograph Punch Poari, bringing a broad range of experiences, skills and perspectives that will strengthen our governance and strategic oversight.

Nigel Borell (Pirirakau, Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi, Te Whakatōhea) is a curator, writer, educator and artist specialising in Māori art in both customary and contemporary fields of research. Most recently he curated the large survey exhibition Toi Tū Toi Ora: Contemporary Māori Art at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, where he was the Curator Māori Art from 2015-2020.

Amie Mills is Pou Tuku Pūtea / Head of Funding at Irirangi Te Motu / NZ On Air. She has a background in media, digital strategy and production, with previous roles at TVNZ, Saatchi & Saatchi, and Tokyo Digital.

Rachel Trow (Kāti Māmoe, Kāi Tahu | Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) is a writer, editor, and librarian based in Te Matau-a-Māui. She is a VUW graduate and former Co-Editor of Salient Magazine.

Myself and the rest of the board can’t wait to welcome Nigel, Amie and Rachel at our first hui next month.

The other bit of growing up we’re doing at the moment: we’re recruiting for a new Kaitohu. Lana Lopesi, who stepped in as an interim director at the start of the year, has done amazing work during what has been a pretty tumultuous time for the arts sector. They’re very big shoes to fill, but we’re really excited to hear from anyone out there who has a strong vision for PP and the energy to make it happen. More details about the application process are here.