Professional Summary

As a researcher, educator, and composer, I have the privileged role of responding to the educational aspirations of many communities. My personal belief is that outstanding achievements are invariably the result of planned and sustained collaboration. This is especially true when the team has diverse skills and are kaupapa-driven, committed and hardworking, therefore I also acknowledge those who work with me. I especially have had the benefit of many mentors in my lifetime and want to acknowledge those who have supported me to be where I am today. Over the last 15 years, I have worked as a lecturer, academic convenor and supervisor at Te Ara Poutama and as Head of Postgraduate Studies for School of Art and Design an AUT, then transitioned to  Ngā Pae o Te Māramatanga as Pou Whakaaweawe role and now have the privileged position of Kai Rangahau Matua at Te Manawahoukura, TWoA.

Research

I am privileged to work for Te Manawahoukura Research Centre at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa as Kairangahau Matua (Toi) research fellow. My practice-led research reflects a deep devotion to the development of Māori and Indigenous scholarship. I seek to contribute in ways that my research enhances Māori communities, academic and artistic communities.

Leading on from the PhD, Ōtairongo was included in Māori Curator, Nigel Borell’s groundbreaking Toi Tū Toi Ora: Contemporary Māori Art at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki (2021) as the only sonic artist. Ōtairongo achieved the distinguished Toitanga Purple Pin and three Gold Pins at the Designers Institute of New Zealand Best Awards in 2020.

Throughout 2024, 2025, Sheehan’s research deepens the interplay between Māori sonic practices, ecological sound studies, and compositional practice, contributing to innovative Indigenous-led rangahau. Sheehan was honoured for her research from Royal Society Te Kōpūnui Māori Research Award recognises innovative Māori research with a promising trajectory for her innovative scholarship, focused on audio portraiture and sonic practices that has elevated the voices and identities of wāhine Māori.

I am privileged to work for Te Manawahoukura Research Centre at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa as Kairangahau Matua (Toi) research fellow. My practice-led research reflects a deep devotion to the development of Māori and Indigenous scholarship. I seek to contribute in ways that my research enhances Māori communities, academic and artistic communities.

Leading on from the PhD, Ōtairongo was included in Māori Curator, Nigel Borell’s groundbreaking Toi Tū Toi Ora: Contemporary Māori Art at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki (2021) as the only sonic artist. Ōtairongo achieved the distinguished Toitanga Purple Pin and three Gold Pins at the Designers Institute of New Zealand Best Awards in 2020.

Throughout 2024, 2025, Sheehan’s research deepens the interplay between Māori sonic practices, ecological sound studies, and compositional practice, contributing to innovative Indigenous-led rangahau. Sheehan was honoured for her research from Royal Society Te Kōpūnui Māori Research Award recognises innovative Māori research with a promising trajectory for her innovative scholarship, focused on audio portraiture and sonic practices that has elevated the voices and identities of wāhine Māori,

Currently, Sheehan is working as a collaborator in Toiaa Taiao with Tihikura Hohaia (Taranaki Iwi) Alex Monteith (Born  in Béal Feirste (Belfast), Na Sé Chontae (The Six Counties), their exhibition ‘Whiria ko te iwi tuna: Underwater worlds of the tuna in Te Whanganui, Taranaki (working title)” and Te Kāhui o Taranaki Kaitiaki Taiao, delve into visual and sonic immersive storytelling of the underwater world of Te Whanganui, Taranaki. Here, the HMS West Niger attacked the undefended village of Warea kainga and the entirety of the village was forced to flee inland. This project responds to threats facing aquatic life and marine biodiversity exacerbated by settler-colonial mismanagement. The project engages Te Whanganui, Taranaki geographies and relational artistic research paradigms, emphasising iwi and hapū relationships and knowledges that reflect their responsibilities to the environmental, emphasising kaitiakitanga and the research artistic communities that encompasses both human and more-than-human entities. This will be exhibited at Govett Brewster Gallery in New Plymouth, Opening February 28th, 2026.

As a contributing artist for Artists for Waiapu Action (AWA), their installation He Uru Mānuka, He Uru Kānuka 2024 lead by Dr Natalie Robertson (Ngāti Porou/ Clann Dhònnchaidh ) and Graham Atkins (Ngāti Porou, Rongomaiwahine).  AWA revitalises customary net-making and stone fishing weir-building, enabling members of their hapū (clan) and iwi (tribe) to reconnect with the river and its health. They aim ‘to “re-story” lifeways, linking creative practices with ecology to perpetuate cultural and environmental relationships to the lower reaches of the Waiapu’. Sheehan contributes to the sonic soundscape that brings forth Te hā o te awa, te hā o Waiapu — Amplifying the breath of the river through sound and vision in He Manako He Pānga Pōuri, He Kōingo  — Afflicted with desire, sadness, and yearning 2024 with Monteith and Robertson, and in a Single-channel 4K Video projection. Exhibited at 11th Asia Pacific Triennial. Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane / Queensland Art Museum / Gallery of Modern Art. Retrieved from https://www.qagoma.qld.gov.au/exhibition/the-11th-asia-pacific-triennial-of-contemporary-art-apt11

Thailand Biennale 2025 in collaboration with Dr Alex Monteith (University of Auckland) and Apiwat Thongyoun. An immersive audio-visual installation for the Phuket Biennale 2025-2026 will document and relate the healthy mangrove systems of Surin Islands with the threatened mangrove ecosystems of Phuket. The installation will feature multi-channel underwater videography, soundscapes, and focus on marine life, mangrove root systems using underwater visual perspectives, and consider the impacts of fishing technology, addressing the ethics of the blue economy and advocating for legislative improvements to protect marine habitats. The installation's audio soundscape led by Dr. Maree Sheehan, will use hydrophone recordings to capture natural mangrove sounds, as well as industrial sonic pollution from shipping and boat traffic. This will highlight the impact of noise pollution and human activities on the health of mangrove ecosystems.

In 2022, Sheehan was invited by Dr Valance Smith to join Te Reo o Waonui a Tāne as Research Leader for the Te Oro o te Ngāhere strand, funded by Te Tira Whakamātaki and MBIE. Focused on supporting kauri ora in Te Tai Tokerau, this collaboration centres the revitalisation of te reo, tikanga, and mātauranga Māori to ensure these cultural knowledges remain integral to both the research and its outcomes.

In 2022, I received external research funding from Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (NPM) Matakitenga Research Fund to explore whenua and waterways ecosystems through Lidar scanning sonic-mapping at Motiti Marae. The collaborative research project offers deep temporal and spatial insights that can help to re-shape our understanding of ecosystems, and sustainability for the future of our whenua.

In 2021, I had the honour of being appointed the kaitaiaki and creative leadership role in the Song(s) of Solomon project that draws together the works of Ralph Hotere and Cilla McQueen with fourteen prestigious Māori singer songwriters, poets, spoken word artists and performers. Within this project, Kaupapa Māori research practices are intrinsic in the ways I develop and build relationships with communities. As noted in RE, this project has acquired both external funding and internal AUT funding.

The invitation to write a chapter for The Routledge Handbook on Women's Work in Music (2021) provided a platform to honour and affirm the contributions of wāhine Māori in Aotearoa music industry. My 2020 articles, Contemporary popular Waiata provide a place of Belonging (MAI Journal); Mana Wahine: Māori Women in Music (Te Kaharoa Journal); Audio Portraiture –The Sound of Identity, an Indigenous Artistic Enquiry (Audio Engineering Society) focus my interest in sonic portraiture, Māori women in music, sonic artistic practices and sound technologies.

Music Composition

My music composition practice spans decades within the popular contemporary music arena. This has been recognized through several awards in the New Zealand music industry and acquired multiple public broadcast and presentations locally and internationally. Sheehan brings her signature blend of innovation and cultural resonance to Toitū Visual Sovereignty which premiered at the New Zealand International Film Festival August 2025. Winstanley’s documentary follows the journey of curator Nigel Borell as he navigates the constraints between institutional authority and Māori self-determination. Borell’s curatorial vision is clear – Māori art must be authored, not simply advocated for. For the artists, this represents a chance to be seen on their own terms, and is an initiative that ultimately leads some to the global stage of the Venice Biennale. Deepening her long-standing creative relationship with celebrated director Chelsea Winstanley.

The pair first collaborated in the music and sound design for Apple’s Toi Tū Toi Ora exhibition, reaffirming her position as a leading voice in music that bridges Indigenous sound worlds and contemporary media and then in 2022 Art Gallery of New South Wales new building opening in Sydney, co-directed by Shari Sebbens and Winstanley, and have since continued to explore new frontiers in storytelling through sound and image.
https://www.nziff.co.nz/2025/film/toitu-visual-sovereignty/

Toitū Visual  Sovereignty, Premiere Night 6 Aug, 2025, NZIFF Photos by Abigail Dell'Avo

In 2024, Sheehan composed the music for Puti, written and directed by Aroha Awarau (Ngāti Maru, Ngāti Porou, Niue, Samoa), Puti screened at the Beverly Hills Film Festival in Los Angeles and Aotearoa’s own Māoriland Film Festival in Ōtaki. An award-winning short film, which honours the resilience of Māori youth, has been named a finalist at the New Zealand International Film Festival.

The short film "Puti" tells the story of a young Māori girl living in the city and the sacrifices she makes to support her family. It highlights the resilience of urban Māori and Pasifika youth and the challenges they face. The film specifically focuses on the pressures faced by young people who have to leave school to work and contribute to their household.

In 2021, I was awarded the Professional Development Award for Screen Composition from Australian Performing Rights Association (APRA) as well as the APRA Art and music award for composition in 2022. This signifies the recognition of my composition practice by the New Zealand music industry.

In recent years, since engaging in my PhD, it has also been a natural progression to develop my composition and sound design practice in film, television and sound art.

This year, I was invited to compose for the television series, Queer and Here, a six-part documentary series, broadcast on Māori Television and funded by NZ on Air – a series, I was proud to contribute to because it highlights many LGBTQI courageous and heroic stories that celebrate these communities. I was also requested to compose for the short film, Disrupt in 2021 by Koru Productions – a story about a Māori grandmother who refuses to give up on her P-addicted grandson, more so it resonates with many communities globally. In 2020, I composed the music score for the documentary film PLUCK produced by Bella Pacific Media and directed by Kirsty Griffin. PLUCK is a moving and uplifting film that follows 73-year old Jean Neshausen’s journey to weave her final korowai for her daughter as she faces her own mortality. Disrupt and PLUCK have featured in film festivals here and internationally with PLUCK also winning film awards.