Eric Ngan

INFO

Name	Eric Ngan (he/him)
Born	1971
Country of Birth	Aotearoa
Place of Residence	Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
Ethnicities	Chinese
Artform	Theatre, Visual arts
Decades Active	1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s

ABOUT

Eric Ngan is a producer and sketch artist based in Tāmaki Makaurau. He has been an instrumental figure in the development and production of large-scale cultural festivals and events across both Pōneke and Tāmaki Makaurau, such as Auckland Lantern Festival, Auckland Diwali Festival, and the Lunar New Year city centre celebrations.

Ngan was born in Paraparaumu. Growing up, his family owned a greengrocer and fish and chip shop, North Beach Fisheries, in Paraparaumu. From a young age, he worked in several kitchens across his extended family’s businesses, including Kenny’s Cafe, an open-late restaurant on Courtenay Place in Pōneke.

He graduated from Whitireia Polytechnic in 1992, as part of the inaugural class of the Craft & Design Diploma. After graduating, he worked on four iterations of the biennial New Zealand International Festival of the Arts, from 1993 to 2000. He held various positions during his time with the festival, including Event Production, Artist Liaison and Stage Manager. As the Events Producer, Ngan was on the team that developed and delivered three iterations of Tu Fa’atasi, the Pacific strand of the festival in 1994, 1996 and 1998.

In 2001, he went on to work with Wellington Fringe Festival as their Outdoor Events Coordinator. Two years later, he joined the events team at Te Papa, where he remained for five years, eventually becoming the Events Manager. Ngan organised events including the opening of the exhibition Tangata o le Moana (2007) and Te Papa’s 10th birthday celebrations in 2008, a day-long event with performances and activities throughout the museum.

Ngan moved to Tāmaki Makaurau in 2008 to take on a managerial role in the festivals and community events team at Auckland City Council, a position he held for four years. In this position, he organised many large-scale public events marking significant occasions in the city’s cultural calendar. In 2010, when the seven councils in Auckland combined to create Auckland Council, forming what was known as the “super city”, Ngan moved to the newly formed council-controlled organisation, Auckland Tourism Events and Economic Development (ATEED). He was Manager Events until he completed his work on the 2011 Rugby World Cup, after which point he took on the role of Events Producer. In 2020, ATEED was merged with Regional Facilities Auckland to form what is now known as Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, where Ngan continued to serve as the Event Producer of Auckland Lantern Festival and Auckland Diwali Festival.

On both of these festivals, Ngan notes:

I’m conscious that I am not the subject expert in these respective cultures… In my wider team, I contract in programme coordinators, I contract in mentors and so forth that are relevant to those communities, that have standing in those communities, that are ongoing practitioners in those communities as well.

In discussing the importance of integrity over authenticity in the cultural festivals that he organises, Ngan states:

I challenge that word ‘authenticity’ a bit in terms of who is the judge of authenticity. Also, knowing full well that culture also moves, progresses and develops… If a family has been living in New Zealand for the last three generations and their ethnic origin is Indian ... what they want to do on our stage definitely has cultural integrity to it, but ... it’s three generations removed from the original place it came from.

Since joining the City Centre Experience team at Auckland Council in 2022, he has continued to be an instrumental figure in the cultural events that take place throughout the city. He has been the Director of the Lunar New Year city centre celebrations since 2024, of which he states “We want this festival to celebrate traditional culture, and also to embrace our unique diaspora of Asian Kiwis who celebrate Lunar New Year.” These celebrations held by Auckland Council focus on the pan-Asian community, while the Auckland Lantern Festival, now held at the Manukau Sports Bowl, is largely rooted in Chinese cultural practice.

Since 2012, Ngan has also been the Coordinator for the Auckland Chapter of Urban Sketchers, a global community of artists who gather to produce on-location sketches, drawings, and paintings. Since 2022 Ngan has been the Events Director on the Executive Board of the global Urban Sketchers organisation. He joined the community wanting to develop his own creative work and since being involved he has organised dozens of regular meet-ups, online events and symposia. His style of sketching focuses on in-situ subjects, of monuments, landmarks, buildings, and even people in a busy restaurant. His illustrated vignettes capture the short moment in time that he spends observing his subjects.

Outside of his creative roles, Ngan owns and manages a cattery with his partner in West Tāmaki Makaurau.