Full Name
Andy Lowe
Job Title
CEO
Company/Organization
Te Manawa Museum of Art, Science and Heritage Aotearoa (New Zealand)
Speaker Bio
Kia ora koutou, Buenos Dias, Bonjour, and Hi!
Armando Lowe – Andy (he / him) – is all about noticing who is at the table and in the room. He welcomes in friends and whānau, Māori as mana whenua, and Pasifika and others to co-author museum spaces. This includes LGBTQIA+, activists, migrants, artists, people with disabilities, youth, circus and street performers, some from vulnerable and marginalized parts of our neighbourhoods. There’s room for everyone.
Andy’s introduction to working in the museum world was in 1994 as a casual modelmaker at the National Museum of New Zealand, Wellington (the precursor to Te Papa). In 1996, Andy moved to the Project Office working towards the new bi-cultural national museum, Te Papa Tongarewa. He spent 14 years at Te Papa in exhibition development and construction, including international touring shows like Lord of the Rings: The Exhibition, E Tu Ake, and Whales: Tōhora. Andy began his own Trans-Formation (F2M) in 2000 while working on an exhibition called Body Odyssey, which was just a comic coincidence.
Andy studied anthropology, the arts and languages, automotive engineering, drama, Te Reo Māori, and creative writing. Before starting in museums, at age 21, Andy cycled over the Pyrenees on a 3-speed bike in a skirt made from men’s ties, lived in Greece working as a mechanic (where he remembers watching the village TV with a hundred others while playing on the Dolly Parton pinball machine on the night of Chernobyl), and was a puppeteer for TV ads and on the zombie movie Brain Dead – one of Peter Jackson’s early films. (Needless to say, he still doesn’t like custard.) Andy has been the CEO of Te Manawa Museum of Art, Science and Heritage for 8 years.
Armando Lowe – Andy (he / him) – is all about noticing who is at the table and in the room. He welcomes in friends and whānau, Māori as mana whenua, and Pasifika and others to co-author museum spaces. This includes LGBTQIA+, activists, migrants, artists, people with disabilities, youth, circus and street performers, some from vulnerable and marginalized parts of our neighbourhoods. There’s room for everyone.
Andy’s introduction to working in the museum world was in 1994 as a casual modelmaker at the National Museum of New Zealand, Wellington (the precursor to Te Papa). In 1996, Andy moved to the Project Office working towards the new bi-cultural national museum, Te Papa Tongarewa. He spent 14 years at Te Papa in exhibition development and construction, including international touring shows like Lord of the Rings: The Exhibition, E Tu Ake, and Whales: Tōhora. Andy began his own Trans-Formation (F2M) in 2000 while working on an exhibition called Body Odyssey, which was just a comic coincidence.
Andy studied anthropology, the arts and languages, automotive engineering, drama, Te Reo Māori, and creative writing. Before starting in museums, at age 21, Andy cycled over the Pyrenees on a 3-speed bike in a skirt made from men’s ties, lived in Greece working as a mechanic (where he remembers watching the village TV with a hundred others while playing on the Dolly Parton pinball machine on the night of Chernobyl), and was a puppeteer for TV ads and on the zombie movie Brain Dead – one of Peter Jackson’s early films. (Needless to say, he still doesn’t like custard.) Andy has been the CEO of Te Manawa Museum of Art, Science and Heritage for 8 years.
Speaking At
