Kingsley Baird

Professor Kingsley Baird serves as Professor of Fine Arts at Massey University's School of Art in Wellington, New Zealand. A doctoral supervisor and visual artist, his work bridges academic research and public memorial practice through international collaborations with major war museums across five continents.

His educational background includes a Diploma in Arts from Victoria University (1997) and Master of Fine Art from RMIT University (2000). His research platform investigates memory, memorialization, and national identity primarily through the lens of war, manifested in commissioned public memorials and conceptual artworks.

Baird's creative scholarship explores new material and conceptual approaches to memory forms, integrating textual outputs with physical installations. His work consistently examines presence/absence dynamics, cross-cultural memory, and the mythology of national identity through edible and permanent memorial structures.

Baird chairs two international research networks: WHAM (War History Heritage Art and Memory) connecting institutions including the Imperial War Museum and Musée de la Grande Guerre, and The Memory Waka linking Syracuse University and York St John University. His supervision focuses on doctoral candidates exploring memorial practices and war heritage.

Notable projects include the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior (Wellington, 2004), The Cloak of Peace (Nagasaki, 2006), and the Anzac Pair bronze sculptures (2017), alongside biscuit-based memorial installations using 18,000-20,500 WWI soldier-shaped biscuits at European war museums.