Entries open for National Contemporary Art Award

Photo: National Contemporary Art Award 2023 winner, Tawhai Rickard, with his work ‘Scenes from a Victorian Restaurant’.

Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum and Gallery has announced that entries are open now for the National Contemporary Art Award 2025.

With a cash prize pool of more than $30,000, the National Contemporary Art Award (NCAA) competition reveals the cutting edge of Aotearoa New Zealand art through its blind-judging process.

The judge for 2025 will be acclaimed curator and writer Nigel Borell, who is of Pirirakau, Ngaati Ranginui, Ngaai Te Rangi, Te Whakatoohea tribal descent. Borell has had an active role in the arts and culture sector spanning the past 25 years and was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2022. He is currently Curator Taonga Māori at The Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira.

“The National Contemporary Art Award has always been an important opportunity for artists and the arts community and it’s a pleasure to be the judge in 2025,” said Borell.

“The Award is a chance for artists to showcase their best and I am excited to see what our talented artists produce.”

This previously annual competition was moved to a biennial cycle in 2023, and Liz Cotton, Director Museum and Arts at Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum and Gallery, states there is much anticipation for this year's entrants:

“We were thrilled by the unprecedented number of people who entered the National Contemporary Art Award last time it was run in 2023. Hundreds of entries flooded in from Aotearoa New Zealand artists at all stages of their careers, based in this country and overseas. It’s an incredible opportunity to share and experience a truly contemporary perspective,” said Cotton.

“I am very much looking forward to working with Nigel this year, seeing his process for the selection of finalists, and celebrating the winning selection for 2025 with the artists and our sponsors.”

The National Contemporary Art Award was launched in 2000 by the Waikato Society of Arts and has been facilitated and hosted by Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum and Gallery since 2006. The prestigious competition’s blind-judging process keeps entrant identities confidential, enabling the guest judge to focus solely on the art.

Leading New Zealand law firm Tompkins Wake is the principal sponsor and has supported the competition since 2014.

This year’s exhibition of finalists will be held at Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum & Gallery from Friday 1 August to Sunday 16 November 2025 and entry is free.

Key dates for 2025

• Call for entries: Tuesday 4 March

• Entry closes: 1pm, Thursday 1 May

• Finalists announced: Late May

• Opening gala and announcement of winners: Thursday 31 July

• Exhibition open: Friday 1 August to Sunday 16 November

For more information visit tewharetaonga.nz/NCAA

ENDS

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