Tim Melville

We asked local gallerist Tim Melville (Te Arawa, Te Atiawa) to choose his top 5 Everyday Needs items. Tim returned to Aotearoa in 2005 after 20 years in London. While there he completed a career-changing Art History degree and opened his Auckland gallery in 2007..

He is probably best known for his representation of emerging New Zealand artists, but his project has also introduced artists from Australian Aboriginal communities to New Zealand collectors and curators. He sees resonance in shared attitudes toward ‘country' in Australia and whenua in Aotearoa and he is interested in exploring their meeting points.

As one of the few Maori gallerists in the commercial art world Tim feels a particular responsibility to translate the values imbued within indigenous artwork for his gallery's predominantly European audience of friends and supporters. This kaupapa is supported by a business model whose integral values include aroha and manaakitanga.

Until recently Tim was a member of Haerewa, the Maori Advisory Group at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki. He has also served as a Trustee of the New Zealand AIDS Foundation. He is currently a member of the Board of Tustees for the Wairau Maori Art Gallery which is located in Whangarei's Hundertwasser Art Centre and is scheduled to open in December 2021.

1. Folded Metal Bookends

There are floor-to ceiling bookshelves behind my desk at the gallery. They’re simple library shelves made by Dexion..folded metal, inexpensive, sturdy-as … and these bookends are a perfect match. The colour range is great too.

2. Rush Table Mat

When I was living in the UK I coveted the bulrush matting that you’d see in smart flats and Country Houses. It always looked so rustic and warm and welcoming. Rush matting is impossible to find here but these tablemats are a nice consolation. There's a sprig of dried bulrush flowers sewn into each one..

3. Recycled Sari Ribbon

When gallery clients need an artwork to be gift-wrapped we use brown paper but we let them choose a wildly-coloured sari ribbon and it never fails to delight.

4. Glass Teapot

We keep a few of these in the gallery kitchen for guests. My colleague Olivia notices when we’re settled on the sofa and comes in to offer tea. There’s something unexpected and really very nice about being offered your own individual teapot, especially when it’s a beautiful glass one like this.

5. Nanette Cameron: Interior Design Legend

I grew up in Pakuranga in the 70s when it was a brand-new subdivision. Some of the kids at school knew about Nanette Cameron’s (now-legendary) house in Glenmore Rd with its super-modern interior design and its amazing swimming pool. I was never lucky enough to visit, but not long after I opened my gallery in the mid-2000s Nanette visited me. I was slightly star-struck, but as well as having a gimlet eye for style and an unrelenting curiosity she’s one of the kindest and warmest people you could hope to meet.