2 September 2022

Kia ora koutou,  

I have been in Tāmaki Makaurau for a couple of days this week – discussing arts and culture funding arrangements with other major public and philanthropic funders, spending some time talking to individual creatives about their passion and the challenges they face, and fretting about what men in their 50s should wear to the Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate event! 

The last couple of days have reminded me how much we have missed human contact over the last couple of years – it is so much easier to make connections, engage in debate, and learn together when you are in the same physical space. I do however feel slightly guilty that I am away from the office whilst the team are working so hard to support organisations submitting Expressions of Interest for the Cultural Sector Regeneration Fund before the closing date of Wednesday 7 September. Please note that we will be prioritising calls and meetings with people and organisations who are aiming to submit full proposals in the first ‘window’ – scroll down for a bit more information on dates and deadlines, as well as some useful information on other funding opportunities.  

We sailed past 200 Expressions of Interest earlier this week, with around $100m requested for the $28 million Fund. Now comes the hard part: working through those Expressions of Interest to identify strategic, sector-led initiatives, that will have the most significant lasting benefits for arts, culture and heritage in Aotearoa New Zealand. Obviously, with so many proposals on the table, there will be a lot of people who will be disappointed when we complete funding decisions in Autumn 2023.  

Over the coming weeks we will be providing honest feedback and advice to people and organisations that have submitted Expressions of Interest. If you receive advice that your initiative is unlikely to be successful because it is not a strong fit with the fund outcomes, please know that we are providing this advice because we don’t want you to spend lots of time working up a full proposal.  

I have given some examples of initiatives that are less likely to be successful in previous communications and during our online Q&A sessions. The most common examples we are seeing are requests for funding for single events, initiatives that focus on the creation of a new piece of work, and projects that are clearly about enabling an organisation to continue something for another year or two (without any plan for sustainability thereafter). The initiatives that are aligning strongly with the fund outcomes are those that focus on leaving a lasting impact – they are primarily focused on enabling people and organisations in the arts, culture, and heritage sectors to do more amazing things in the future. 

We’re really grateful to the hundreds of you who’ve shown interest in the Fund, and who’ve taken the time to attend our online information sessions and submitted an Expression of Interest. We have some great initiatives on the table already, and we will do everything we can over the coming months to select the things that will make the biggest difference. Don’t forget that a summary of everything we are considering at each decision round will be published in advance on our website and there will be an opportunity to offer your support or submit comments to us before we make any decisions. 

Ngā mihi,    

Joe Fowler, Deputy Chief Executive Te Aka Tūhono Investment & Outcomes   

Regeneration Fund – what comes next?  

Applicants who have submitted an Expression of Interest into the Cultural Sector Regeneration Fund, especially those who are applying to the first decision round, can expect to hear from one of the team at Manatū Taonga (if not already).  

Due to the numbers of EOI’s we have received to date, we are prioritising scheduling calls with applicants who are ready to submit full proposals by 7 September 2022. All applicants who have submitted an expression of interest will be considered for the Fund. Prioritising those who are ready to submit allows us the time we need to talk with each applicant.  

The online information sessions have now concluded; however any questions can be emailed to support.culture@mch.govt.nz and one of our team will be in touch with you.  

Regeneration Fund – what you need to know 

As the deadline for Expressions of Interest into the $28 million Cultural Sector Regeneration Fund draws near (Wednesday 7 September), interest across the arts, culture and heritage sectors continues to be strong.  

By Friday morning 222 Expressions have been received, requesting $98.4 million to support initiatives that aim to deliver lasting benefits for arts, culture and heritage in Aotearoa New Zealand.  

Key dates 

• Expressions of Interest for ALL decision rounds must be submitted by 7 September. 

• If you would like your proposal to be considered in the first evaluation round, you must have submitted your Full Proposal by 7 September 

• If you need more time to develop your Full Proposal, there will be two further opportunities to submit. You can submit by 18 October 2022 to be considered from the second evaluation round, or by 24 February 2023 to be considered from the third evaluation round onwards. 

Creative NZ's Toi Ake fund now open for applications 

The Regeneration Fund is not the only part of the Arts and Culture COVID Recovery Programme currently open for applications. Applications for Creative New Zealand’s Toi Ake – Mātauranga Māori Te Awe Kōtuku Fund are open now and close on 16 September 2022.  

As part of the wider Mātauranga Māori Te Awe Kōtuku programme, Toi Ake – Mātauranga Māori Te Awe Kōtuku provides funding to support marae, hapū, iwi, whakapapa-based rōpū and mātāwaka to protect, cultivate and retain mātauranga Māori related to heritage ngā toi Māori (Māori arts) and foster the distinctive arts and cultural practices and knowledge of hapū and iwi.   

You can check out the projects that have received funding in this initiative here and here. 

If you have an initiative which could benefit from this funding, find out more and apply to the Toi Ake – Mātauranga Māori Te Awe Kōtuku Fund here. 

He Toa Reo Māori, 50 years on 

A national commemorative event will be held at Parliament to mark the 50th anniversary of the Māori language petition (Te Petihana) on 14 September (during Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori). The event recognises the people behind Te Petihana in 1972 and how their bravery and work inspired today’s Māori language movement.

The Māori language petition had 30,000 signatories by Māori and non-Māori and was led by rangatahi from Te Reo Māori Society and Ngā Tamatoa. While the 1972 petition called for te reo Māori to be taught in all schools, subsequent action called for te reo Māori to be widely seen and heard in our media and for te reo Māori to be given equal status to English. It will also be livestreamed on Whakaata Māori via MāoriTV+. 

For more information and other events around the motu, visit ReoMāori.co.nz. 

Contact us

If you have any questions about any of the Manatū Taonga funding opportunities, please email us at Support.Culture@mch.govt.nz   

More information

• For the latest information on other initiatives in the Arts and Culture COVID Recovery Programme, see the Manatū Taonga website
• If you have specific questions, email us at support.culture@mch.govt.nz
• ​Received this email via a colleague? Why not subscribe to receive the next update directly.