Three of the seven laureates have Pacific heritage, including the Samoan multi-disciplinarian artist Yuki Kihara who has won the main visual arts award.
Kihara is also representing New Zealand at the 2021 Venice Biennale.
Acclaimed poet, writer and performer Tusiata Avia has won the female arts practitioners award while the South Auckland queer arts collective FAFSWAG is the laureate for interdisciplinary arts.
All winners received a $NZ25,000 grant to help with their work.
