We caught up with Ruth at home in Tāmaki Makaurau to find out how she’s settling into the role of Kaitohu Director at Artspace Aotearoa.
Having spent 19 years away — almost half her life — artist Ruth Buchanan is back living in Aotearoa. Ruth describes the reasons for returning as many and complex, but key to the impulse was following the trajectory established in her artistic practice. We caught up with Ruth at home in Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland to find out how she’s settling in.
Kia ora Ruth, so what prompted your move home? After a decade of working with art institutions to make large-scale exhibitions, it felt like a natural next step to consider leading one myself. I was hired as Kaitohu Director by Artspace Aotearoa which, since its founding, has been artist-forward, so it was the right position at the right time to make the move. Like many of us who have lived ‘elsewhere’ I was keen to be back with whānau and wanted my family to access a slightly softer, slightly wilder life after the particular challenges of the pandemic in Berlin.
Each year, Artspace Aotearoa focuses on one question, and in 2024 it’s ‘Do I need territory?’. As well as guiding your curation of exhibitions, how have you found this relates to your life? Big change in life opens up many areas to reconsider, and moving across the world with my family to take on a key role in our arts ecosystem was certainly a big life change! This particular question has been resonant for me in many ways as I navigate the spheres of directing an arts organisation and practising as an artist. Taking on this role allows me to reappraise where I understand my art practice to happen. Previously I thought it was alone in my studio and while this is partly true, I now understand that practice happens wherever it needs to: with my daughters, around the staff room table, in exchange with others.
You’ve landed in a lovely spot here in Freemans Bay — what are you enjoying most about life at home with your whānau? We were lucky to move into this ’70s townhouse when a friend moved out, and it became available to rent. We so enjoy this home as it’s light, open and has an excellent floor plan, which is key! The ranch sliders remind us of our apartment in Berlin which we built as part of a co-housing project. We love the bird life; the immense, virulent green on our street — one of our neighbours is an expert regenerative gardener; the mix of density in our neighbourhood — houses, apartments, schools, public facilities. After living landlocked for over 15 years, I love the accessibility of the ocean, and the gentle and mana-enhancing nature of the educators I’m engaging with through my children.
Packing up life to move across the world can be a challenging and cathartic process — how did you choose the pieces to bring back? What was most wonderful about packing up 13 years of Berlin life into a container was realising how we loved almost everything we live with. Much of what we live with acts as access points to people or experiences. I love the way one home, through the artworks, treasures, objects, books, photos, teapots, tiles, can conjure the many layers of our family’s life.
Your dining table looks like it could share a few stories — tell us about its origins… I’m number seven in a family of eight and grew up in a very dynamic household. In the ’70s it was clear that we needed a bigger table and when a local fabric shop in Taranaki closed down, Mum and Dad purchased the cutting table and turned it into our family table! The table is a single piece of kauri so it’s fundamentally full of life. With the size of our family, dinners were pretty animated! Most recently it’s been cared for by my sister Felicity in Island Bay, but it came to us in June. We were amazed at how well it fits into our space, almost perfectly, and we’re looking forward to many animated sessions to come!
I always admire a well-stocked bookshelf — what’s filling yours? Books are essential to our whānau! Moving them was the biggest weight in the container we shipped back from Berlin. Our collection is somewhat niche, from my side a lot of literature and poetry from powerful women voices, including my sister Rachel Buchanan, Janet Frame, J.C. Sturm, Lucille Clifton, Toni Morrison, Emily Perkins. Meanwhile, my partner Andreas is an architect who moved to Berlin only a few years after the wall came down so his collection includes works on radical urban design and planning as well as architecture classics. I always read several things at once. My mind is now turned to considering the Artspace Aotearoa question for 2025 so the reading I’m doing orbits this. I’m returning to Ali Smith’s delightful Artful, Audre Lorde’s extraordinary collected works Your Silence Will Not Protect You, and Keri Hulme’s confronting The Bone People.
What advice do you have for people wanting to broaden their understanding of the arts? I would say approach arts and culture with a deep sense of curiosity. Feel ready to be transformed, transfixed, but also occasionally nonplussed by the content too, that’s okay! At Artspace Aotearoa we encourage our audience to feel confident about themselves as visitors, that each of us knows ‘enough’ to have an experience with an artwork and that over time, through being curious, through talking, thinking, sharing, these experiences can in turn become richer, more additive to our overall quality of life.
How would you describe your approach to living with art? I grew up with a creative mother who valued individual expression and doing things differently, so I feel like I learnt from the best in terms of how to inhabit space. Our approach to home is very much about keeping things lively. We move furniture, artworks, and special treasures around in response to the seasons and our mood.
I’m in heaven pottering around the house, pushing furniture, rotating rugs, rehanging. The artwork we live with reflects special relationships — gifts from friends and family — but it’s also flimsy and the kids trying things out. It should feel fun and explorative, asking ourselves: what could be otherwise in this instance? What happens when this is with that? When we need to squeeze past that to see that? I take a similar approach to exhibition making. We’re always considering contrast, tension and the potential of connection.
What daily rituals help fill your cup? Walking as much as I can, having RNZ running in the background, drawing with my kids, learning by listening (mega fan of On Being, a podcast that explores the human condition), and family dinner around the table.
What does home mean to you? Home is essential to my creative engine. It is a privilege to have a home where I can nourish that and share with my family. Home should be an experience of dignity, that we can all access.
studio-ruthbuchanan.net; artspace-aotearoa.nz
Interview Alice Lines
Photography Greta van der Star