2018

Peter is the founder and CEO of Rocket Lab. He has been recognised as a pioneer in New Zealand’s space community, including his instrumental role in establishing international treaties and legislation to enable orbital launch capability from New Zealand.

Peter founded Rocket Lab in 2006 following a decade and a half of propulsion research and market development in the international space community. Peter has since established Rocket Lab in both New Zealand and the United States as a premier institute for innovative space systems. Peter is the head visionary and chief engineer behind Rocket Lab.

Growing up in Invercargill, Peter was always hands-on. He pulled apart and rebuilt an old Mini with a turbocharger. After high school, he started a toolmaking apprenticeship at Fisher & Paykel gaving him access to top of the line machinery and materials after hours. In 2001 he got a job in Auckland at Industrial Research (now Callaghan Innovation) and continued working on his passion – rockets.

In 2009, Peter led the development and launch of ATEA-1, with Rocket Lab becoming the first private company in the Southern Hemisphere to reach space. Peter initiated the Electron orbital launch programme in 2012 which developed the world’s first fully carbon-composite launch vehicle, powered by the world’s first 3D printed, electric turbopump-fed rocket engine. He also oversaw the development of the first and only private orbital launch on the globe, located on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula

Peter is an acclaimed scientist and engineer, having been awarded a Meritorious Medal from the Royal Aeronautical Society for service of an exceptional nature, and the Cooper Medal, presented by the Royal Society (NZ) bi-annually to those deemed to have published the best single account of research in physics and engineering. In 2015, Peter was awarded New Zealander of the Year (innovation) and in 2016 was recognized as New Zealand EY Entrepreneur of the Year.

Cliff Curtis has featured in a string of local classics —Once Were Warriors, Whale Rider, The Dark Horse— while simultaneously carving a career as a sought-after Hollywood character actor, on everything from Three Kings to Fear the Walking Dead. Along the way he has worked with acclaimed directors like Martin Scorsese and Danny Boyle, and produced films (Boy, Eagle vs Shark) in New Zealand.

Cliff studied at Toi Whakaari before acting in a number of theatre productions, the TV roles, his feature debut in The Piano (1993) and the period melodrama Desperate Remedies for which he received his first NZ Film and TV award for Best Supporting Actor. The role that brought him to a wide local audience was in Once Were Warriors (1994). Curtis still gets New Zealanders calling out ‘Uncle Bully’ when they see him.

Cliff also studying at Teatro Dimitri Scoula in Switzerland. He won another award for mini-series The Chosen before joining Temuera Morrison and Harrison Ford in Six DaysSeven Nights. He started winning industry attention after roles in David O’Russell’s acclaimed Three Kings, Martin Scorsese’s Bringing out the Dead and Michael Mann’s The Insider. He went on to appear in Johnny Depp’s Blow, Oscar-winning drama Training Day, Danny Boyle’s sci-fi film Sunshine, Live Free or Die Hard and Colombiana.

In New Zealand, Cliff starred in Whale Rider, one of the most successful Kiwi films that decade. He won a local Best Supporting Actor award for his role as Porourangi, a well-meaning but troubled father to the central character.

In 2004 Cliff co-founded production company Whenua Films whose mandate is to foster the telling of indigenous stories. The team produced numerous short films which have debuted at film festivals. In 2007, Whenua Films produced Taika Waititi’s debut feature, Eagle vs Shark, which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and his follow-up Boy, which became one of the biggest hits on home soil and won the Grand Prize in its section at the 2010 Berlin Film Festival.

In 2014 Cliff starred in Kiwi feature The Dark Horse, putting on 60 pounds to play a bipolar chess champ fallen on hard times. The film won rave reviews after being chosen to launch the 2014 NZ International Film Festival in Auckland and Wellington.  In the same period Curtis spent a month living alone, preparing for the part of Jesus in the Kevin Reynolds movie Risen.

Art world powerhouse, Jennifer Flay has made huge contributions to the fine arts, and led the renewal of one of the most prestigious arts events in the world.

The General Director of Paris’ Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain (FIAC) or International Contemporary Art Fair since 2010 and the Artistic Director from 2003 – 2010, Jennifer revived the collapsing art fair. She transformed it into the major event FIAC is today; permeating throughout the French capital and making its presence known significantly every year. Many discouraged her from taking the role but the benefits FIAC provided her and her colleagues in the eighties were invaluable. She could not let FIAC completely disintegrate and wanted to provide something for future generations.  

Born in Auckland, Jennifer studied Art History at the University of Auckland before accepting a French government scholarship to pursue her postgraduate studies at the University of Nice.

From 1982 to 1987, she worked for major contemporary art galleries and was actively involved in travelling exhibitions by Christian Boltanski, alongside American curators Lynn Gumpert and Mary Jane Jacobs, and European curators Catherine Lampert, Jan Debbaut and Serge Lemoine. She also co-authored Christian Boltanski, Catalogue – Books, Printed Matter, Ephemera – 1966-1991. In 1990, Jennifer Flay opened the Galerie Jennifer Flay in Paris. The gallery made its name as one of the most important of its generation and earned an international reputation.

Jennifer was awarded the Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2012 which rewards those who have distinguished themselves and contributed to the arts in France. In 2015, she was awarded the Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur, the highest honorary decoration for civilians in France. Jennifer is truly an extraordinarily influential figure of the contemporary art world in France and beyond.