Dr Kirsten Garner Lyttle is a proud Māori wāhine academic, artist and creative practice-led researcher (Iwi/Tribe: Waikato, Waka/Canoe: Tainui, Hapū/Subtribe: Ngāti Tahinga).

She was born in Sydney, spent her childhood in Pōneke (Wellington), New Zealand and grew-up in Narrm (Melbourne), Australia, where she is still based. In her research practice, she is committed to an Indigenous research agenda, connecting Indigenous self-determination, rights and sovereignty to each research project. Her primary research interests are; Indigenous-centred methodologies and knowledge systems, Indigenous customary art practices and their application to technologies such as photography and video.

She has over 10 years of teaching experience and has lectured and taught photography, art history and visual art, at a range of universities including; Master of Photography - RMIT University, Critical Art and Theory - Victorian College of the Arts and the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music at The University of Melbourne, Deakin University and Photography Studies College.  She is currently the inaugural Post-Doctoral Research Fellow for Wominjeka Djeembana Indigenous Research Lab, Monash Art Design and Architecture Faculty, Monash University.

Kirsten has exhibited widely in Australia and internationally. She was a participating artist in the National Gallery of Victoria’s Melbourne Now 2023, for which she was commissioned to make a new work that has been acquired by the gallery. She was also commissioned to make new work for the TarraWarra Biennial 2023: ua usiusi faʻavaʻasavili, curated by Dr Léuli Eshrāghi . Other recent highlights include participating in exhibitions at the Immigration Museum, Museums Victoria, Melbourne, 2022, 2018–2019; Gertrude Street Projection Festival, Melbourne, 2021; Ballarat International Foto Biennale, Ballarat, Victoria, 2019; Counihan Gallery, Melbourne, 2019; Horsham Regional Art Gallery, Horsham, Victoria, 2019; Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne, 2018 and 2016; Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne, 2018; and the Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne, 2018. 

Her work is held in numerous private collections and has been collected by the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; State library of Victoria, Deakin University, Melbourne; Merri-bek City Council and the Patrick Corrigan AM collection.

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Recent exhibitions


March — August 2023


April — July 2023