Giles Peterson is a distinguished educator and independent curator at Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design, where he focuses on Fashion and Sustainability.
His teaching practice is deeply rooted in intersectional and decolonial methodologies, emphasizing the empowerment of students through culturally relevant curricula that honor indigenous Māori and Pacific perspectives. Peterson’s pedagogical approach fosters a holistic learning environment, encouraging students to engage critically with their cultural narratives while promoting sustainability in fashion.
Giles Peterson is a distinguished educator and independent curator at Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design, where he focuses on Fashion and Sustainability.
His teaching practice is deeply rooted in intersectional and decolonial methodologies, emphasizing the empowerment of students through culturally relevant curricula that honor indigenous Māori and Pacific perspectives. Peterson’s pedagogical approach fosters a holistic learning environment, encouraging students to engage critically with their cultural narratives while promoting sustainability in fashion.
Peterson’s impact extends beyond the classroom, as he actively collaborates with indigenous knowledge holders and community curators to enhance the visibility of Māori and Pacific designers and artists. A recipient of the Ako Ako Aotearoa and the Tertiary Education Commission Tapatoru Ako Professional Practice teaching Award., his research outputs, including journal articles and curated exhibitions, reflect a commitment to showcasing localized creative practices and advocating for greater representation within the creative industry sector. Through his work, and 29 year teaching and curatorial career, he has facilitated numerous community workshops and projects that strengthen ties between educational institutions and local Pacific communities, fostering a sense of belonging and empowerment.
His contributions to the field are further evidenced by his participation in conferences and the publication of academic articles and book chapters that explore interconnected communal practices and the significance of indigenous cultural narratives. By engaging with key industry stakeholders both in Aotearoa and internationally, Peterson champions the visibility of indigenous creative practices, ensuring that the voices of young Māori and Pacific designers and creatives are heard and celebrated. His dedication to tuakana – teina mentorship and community engagement continues to inspire the next generation of creative leaders, making a lasting impact on the arts community across the Moana Pacific Oceania region. Mātauranga , Mana Moana, and Knowledge led communal Pacific rim relational ecologies of practice that strengthen and empower young people, are central to his teaching and curating.
Born and raised in Papua New Guinea, Peterson has been an arts educator at Whitecliffe College (Auckland] for over twenty years. He is a founding member of the Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust and has mentored three generations of Tautai artists. He has focused his curatorial practise on working with young, urban Pacific artists and designers and analysing the intersections between customary and traditional values and contemporary performance art, sustainable and regenerative design ecologies; design activism, cultural sustainability and community arts and design and social practice/ activation, art making and intergenerational storytelling. Moana – Pasifik way finding and world building. And holistic student centred teaching are central to his practice . Recent exhibitions include Samoan: Art Urban, (De Young Museum, San Francisco 2010),Tīaho: Photography from Oceania, Insituto de Latino, Mexico City (2010) Garden of Memories: Extending Quilt Making Traditions from around the Pacific, Malcolm Smith Gallery, Auckland (2019) and the co – curation with Whitecliffe alumni Katharine Atafu Mayo of the group Oceania exhibition at Tautai Gallery, Auckland SALTWATER /Interconnectivity, (2019-2020).
