Effective 1 September 2023, David Reeves is our new Tumu Whakaere Chief Executive. David has been the Director of Collections and Research at Auckland Museum since 2011, a role in which he has led transformational change in the Museum’s curatorial, collections and conservation practices. As a member of the Museum’s executive team, he has led innovative digital collection access projects, contributed to major building projects and been a driving force behind a number of meaningful cultural developments.
Reeves was raised in the small Manawatu settlement of Aokautere and attended Awatapu College. He studied Architecture at Victoria University of Wellington and Professional Photography and Museum Studies at Massey University. With a career spanning more than 35 years, Reeves has extensive experience across Aotearoa’s cultural sector and has held senior roles at major institutions including the Alexander Turnbull Library, Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Art Gallery and Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
His current professional affiliations and Board appointments include his role as trustee and Deputy Chair of UNESCO Memory of the World NZ committee and Board member of Museums Aotearoa, the national membership and advocacy body for the museum sector, trust advisor of the Rule Foundation, a philanthropic charity supporting rainbow communities, and past co-Chair of GALS, Auckland’s rainbow choir.
Reeves brings fresh perspectives on the galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAM) sector to the Chief Executive role, alongside a keen interest in how the sector is responding to and utilising the digital environment. He is a strong believer in working proactively and collaboratively with allied organisations to achieve the Museum’s aims in advancing understandings about our social and natural worlds. Reeves is also focused on strengthening the Museum’s bicultural approach to its work and engagement with communities.
Previously in his career, Reeves has been a member and Chair of the Library and Information Advisory Commission, and member and Deputy Chair of the Archives Council. He is a past Council member of the Australasian Registrars’ Committee, the professional body of museum registrars and collection managers in Australia and New Zealand, where he led the revision of the constitution to formally include Aotearoa. Prior to this, he sat on the National Digital Forum Steering Committee, Museum Qualifications Working Group, NZ Registrars’ Network, and was a trustee of the Thorndon Trust and Lesbian and Gay Archives of New Zealand.