Susan Margaret Smith (born 1962), known as Huhana Smith, is a contemporary New Zealand artist and academic, and head of Whiti o Rehua School of Art at Massey University. Between 2003 and 2009, she was senior curator MÃÂori at Te Papa.
Born in 1962 in Yarrawonga, Victoria, Australia, Smith is of MÃÂori descent and affiliates to NgÃÂti Tukorehe and NgÃÂti Raukawa ki te Tonga. Smith had an art practice in Melbourne, Australia in the late 1980s. She came to New Zealand in 1993 to pursue studies in MÃÂori language. She was the first graduate from the Toioho ki ÃÂpiti (Bachelor of MÃÂori Visual Arts) programme at Massey in 1997. She also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Museum Studies (1998) and a PhD in MÃÂori Studies from Massey University.
Smith has worked at Te Puni KÃ Âkiri and at Te Papa. Whilst at Te Papa she was the general editor of a number of books about MÃÂori arts where she profiled contemporary artists such as Wi Taepa, Lisa Reihana, Kura Te Waru Rewiri and Saffronn Te Ratana, and also taonga tuku iho (ancestral MÃÂori treasures) from Te Papa's collections.
In 2016 Smith took the head role at Whiti o Rehua School of Arts at Massey University in Wellington.
Smith's recent research, part of a large interdisciplinary project with Vision MÃÂtauranga Deep South Challenge National Science Challenge funding combines mÃÂtauranga MÃÂori methods with science to actively address climate change concerns for coastal MÃÂori lands in Horowhenua-KÃÂpiti. It was exhibited in the Dowse Art Museum as part of the exhibition This Time of Useful Consciousness: Political Ecology Now in 2017.
Smith was a finalist in the Art Waikato National Art Awards in 2000 and 2002.
In the 2023 King's Birthday and Coronation Honours, Smith was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to the environment.