Nostalgia for intimacy

Abstract

This essay, the edited text of a lecture by Robert Leonard, offers a personal and pointed account of the character of the New Zealand art scene from the 1970s to the 1990s. Basing his analysis on first hand engagement as one of this country's foremost curators and commentators, Leonard situates this period within the continuum of New Zealand art history to track a shift from nationalist to post-nationalist positions, using the notion of 'intimacy' rather than 'distance' as his discursive frame.