Dr Maree Sheehan

As a researcher, educator, and composer, I have the privileged role of responding to the educational aspirations of many communities. My personal belief is that outstanding achievements are invariably the result of planned and sustained collaboration. This is especially true when the team has diverse skills and are kaupapa-driven, committed and hardworking, therefore I also acknowledge those who work with me. I especially have had the benefit of many mentors in my lifetime and want to acknowledge those who have supported me to be where I am today. Over the last 15 years, I have worked as a lecturer, academic convenor and supervisor at Te Ara Poutama and as Head of Postgraduate Studies for School of Art and Design an AUT, then transitioned to  Ngā Pae o Te Māramatanga as Pou Whakaaweawe role and now have the privileged position of Kai Rangahau Matua at Te Manawahoukura, TWoA.

Research

I am privileged to work for Te Manawahoukura Research Centre at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa as Kairangahau Matua (Toi) research fellow. My practice-led research reflects a deep devotion to the development of Māori and Indigenous scholarship. I seek to contribute in ways that my research enhances Māori communities, academic and artistic communities.

Leading on from the PhD, Ōtairongo was included in Māori Curator, Nigel Borell’s groundbreaking Toi Tū Toi Ora: Contemporary Māori Art at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki (2021) as the only sonic artist. Ōtairongo achieved the distinguished Toitanga Purple Pin and three Gold Pins at the Designers Institute of New Zealand Best Awards in 2020.

Throughout 2024, 2025, Sheehan’s research deepens the interplay between Māori sonic practices, ecological sound studies, and compositional practice, contributing to innovative Indigenous-led rangahau. Sheehan was honoured for her research from Royal Society Te Kōpūnui Māori Research Award recognises innovative Māori research with a promising trajectory for her innovative scholarship, focused on audio portraiture and sonic practices that has elevated the voices and identities of wāhine Māori.

I am privileged to work for Te Manawahoukura Research Centre at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa as Kairangahau Matua (Toi) research fellow. My practice-led research reflects a deep devotion to the development of Māori and Indigenous scholarship. I seek to contribute in ways that my research enhances Māori communities, academic and artistic communities.

Leading on from the PhD, Ōtairongo was included in Māori Curator, Nigel Borell’s groundbreaking Toi Tū Toi Ora: Contemporary Māori Art at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki (2021) as the only sonic artist. Ōtairongo achieved the distinguished Toitanga Purple Pin and three Gold Pins at the Designers Institute of New Zealand Best Awards in 2020.

Throughout 2024, 2025, Sheehan’s research deepens the interplay between Māori sonic practices, ecological sound studies, and compositional practice, contributing to innovative Indigenous-led rangahau. Sheehan was honoured for her research from Royal Society Te Kōpūnui Māori Research Award recognises innovative Māori research with a promising trajectory for her innovative scholarship, focused on audio portraiture and sonic practices that has elevated the voices and identities of wāhine Māori,

Currently, Sheehan is working as a collaborator in Toiaa Taiao with Tihikura Hohaia (Taranaki Iwi) Alex Monteith (Born  in Béal Feirste (Belfast), Na Sé Chontae (The Six Counties), their exhibition ‘Whiria ko te iwi tuna: Underwater worlds of the tuna in Te Whanganui, Taranaki (working title)” and Te Kāhui o Taranaki Kaitiaki Taiao, delve into visual and sonic immersive storytelling of the underwater world of Te Whanganui, Taranaki. Here, the HMS West Niger attacked the undefended village of Warea kainga and the entirety of the village was forced to flee inland. This project responds to threats facing aquatic life and marine biodiversity exacerbated by settler-colonial mismanagement. The project engages Te Whanganui, Taranaki geographies and relational artistic research paradigms, emphasising iwi and hapū relationships and knowledges that reflect their responsibilities to the environmental, emphasising kaitiakitanga and the research artistic communities that encompasses both human and more-than-human entities. This will be exhibited at Govett Brewster Gallery in New Plymouth, Opening February 28th, 2026.

As a contributing artist for Artists for Waiapu Action (AWA), their installation He Uru Mānuka, He Uru Kānuka 2024 lead by Dr Natalie Robertson (Ngāti Porou/ Clann Dhònnchaidh ) and Graham Atkins (Ngāti Porou, Rongomaiwahine).  AWA revitalises customary net-making and stone fishing weir-building, enabling members of their hapū (clan) and iwi (tribe) to reconnect with the river and its health. They aim ‘to “re-story” lifeways, linking creative practices with ecology to perpetuate cultural and environmental relationships to the lower reaches of the Waiapu’. Sheehan contributes to the sonic soundscape that brings forth Te hā o te awa, te hā o Waiapu — Amplifying the breath of the river through sound and vision in He Manako He Pānga Pōuri, He Kōingo  — Afflicted with desire, sadness, and yearning 2024 with Monteith and Robertson, and in a Single-channel 4K Video projection. Exhibited at 11th Asia Pacific Triennial. Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane / Queensland Art Museum / Gallery of Modern Art. Retrieved from https://www.qagoma.qld.gov.au/exhibition/the-11th-asia-pacific-triennial-of-contemporary-art-apt11

Thailand Biennale 2025 in collaboration with Dr Alex Monteith (University of Auckland) and Apiwat Thongyoun. An immersive audio-visual installation for the Phuket Biennale 2025-2026 will document and relate the healthy mangrove systems of Surin Islands with the threatened mangrove ecosystems of Phuket. The installation will feature multi-channel underwater videography, soundscapes, and focus on marine life, mangrove root systems using underwater visual perspectives, and consider the impacts of fishing technology, addressing the ethics of the blue economy and advocating for legislative improvements to protect marine habitats. The installation's audio soundscape led by Dr. Maree Sheehan, will use hydrophone recordings to capture natural mangrove sounds, as well as industrial sonic pollution from shipping and boat traffic. This will highlight the impact of noise pollution and human activities on the health of mangrove ecosystems.

In 2022, Sheehan was invited by Dr Valance Smith to join Te Reo o Waonui a Tāne as Research Leader for the Te Oro o te Ngāhere strand, funded by Te Tira Whakamātaki and MBIE. Focused on supporting kauri ora in Te Tai Tokerau, this collaboration centres the revitalisation of te reo, tikanga, and mātauranga Māori to ensure these cultural knowledges remain integral to both the research and its outcomes.

In 2022, I received external research funding from Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (NPM) Matakitenga Research Fund to explore whenua and waterways ecosystems through Lidar scanning sonic-mapping at Motiti Marae. The collaborative research project offers deep temporal and spatial insights that can help to re-shape our understanding of ecosystems, and sustainability for the future of our whenua.

In 2021, I had the honour of being appointed the kaitaiaki and creative leadership role in the Song(s) of Solomon project that draws together the works of Ralph Hotere and Cilla McQueen with fourteen prestigious Māori singer songwriters, poets, spoken word artists and performers. Within this project, Kaupapa Māori research practices are intrinsic in the ways I develop and build relationships with communities. As noted in RE, this project has acquired both external funding and internal AUT funding.

The invitation to write a chapter for The Routledge Handbook on Women's Work in Music (2021) provided a platform to honour and affirm the contributions of wāhine Māori in Aotearoa music industry. My 2020 articles, Contemporary popular Waiata provide a place of Belonging (MAI Journal); Mana Wahine: Māori Women in Music (Te Kaharoa Journal); Audio Portraiture –The Sound of Identity, an Indigenous Artistic Enquiry (Audio Engineering Society) focus my interest in sonic portraiture, Māori women in music, sonic artistic practices and sound technologies.