Josh Tengan (Kanaka ʻŌiwi) is a Honolulu-based independent curator, writer, weaver, and community arts organizer from Pauoa, Kona, Oʻahu, where he continues to live. He currently serves as Associate Director of Hawaiʻi Contemporary, which presents the Hawaiʻi Triennial.
Previously, he was Associate Director of Puʻuhonua Society (2021–2022), where he work with Native Hawaiian and Hawaiʻi-based artists to produce CONTACT (2014–2019), Hawaiʻi’s largest annual thematic contemporary art exhibition. In 2022, he was named an Independent Curators International Curatorial Research Fellow alongside Drew Kahuʻāina Broderick. Together, they developed ʻAi Pōhaku, Stone Eaters, a multi-site exhibition of Kānaka ʻŌiwi contemporary art co-curated with Noelle M.K.Y. Kahanu, presented across the University of Hawaiʻi System on Oʻahu in 2023. In 2024, Tengan co-edited the 808-page publication ʻAi Pōhaku, Stone Eaters: Native Hawaiian Contemporary Art in Hawaiʻi 1973–2023.
His writing on art, artists, exhibitions, and curatorial practice have appeared in publications such as ArtLink, Australia New Zealand Journal of Art, FLUX, Nella Media Group, Hawaiʻi Contemporary, and TROPIC. He serves on the board of directors for Tropic Editions, a Hawaiʻi-based nonprofit publishing imprint dedicated to artist books.
In June 2024, the Mayor of Honolulu appointed Tengan to the Commission on Culture and the Arts, which supports the City in promoting the arts and preserving its cultural heritage.
He holds an MA in Curatorial Studies with Distinction from Newcastle University (UK).
Previously, he was Associate Director of Puʻuhonua Society (2021–2022), where he work with Native Hawaiian and Hawaiʻi-based artists to produce CONTACT (2014–2019), Hawaiʻi’s largest annual thematic contemporary art exhibition. In 2022, he was named an Independent Curators International Curatorial Research Fellow alongside Drew Kahuʻāina Broderick. Together, they developed ʻAi Pōhaku, Stone Eaters, a multi-site exhibition of Kānaka ʻŌiwi contemporary art co-curated with Noelle M.K.Y. Kahanu, presented across the University of Hawaiʻi System on Oʻahu in 2023. In 2024, Tengan co-edited the 808-page publication ʻAi Pōhaku, Stone Eaters: Native Hawaiian Contemporary Art in Hawaiʻi 1973–2023.
His writing on art, artists, exhibitions, and curatorial practice have appeared in publications such as ArtLink, Australia New Zealand Journal of Art, FLUX, Nella Media Group, Hawaiʻi Contemporary, and TROPIC. He serves on the board of directors for Tropic Editions, a Hawaiʻi-based nonprofit publishing imprint dedicated to artist books.
In June 2024, the Mayor of Honolulu appointed Tengan to the Commission on Culture and the Arts, which supports the City in promoting the arts and preserving its cultural heritage.
He holds an MA in Curatorial Studies with Distinction from Newcastle University (UK).