23 September 2022

Kia ora koutou,  

It's been a busy week for the team here as we discuss over 660 Expressions of Interest for the Cultural Sector Regeneration Fund and support people and organisations to work up their Full Proposals. If you submitted an Expression of Interest on deadline day, you might not have heard from us yet. Don’t worry, we will be in touch shortly. 

Thank you to everyone that has taken the time to provide feedback on the 66 proposed initiatives that we have published on our website.  

We now have around 1,500 responses covering all the proposals – with hundreds and hundreds of people offering their enthusiastic support and expert advice. The feedback process is open until 11.59pm Monday 26 September, so it’s not too late to contribute.  

If you want to know a bit more about the rationale for the feedback, I had a good chat with Lynn Freeman on the RNZ ‘Standing Room Only’ show last week. We covered some of the common questions and concerns and how the feedback will feed into decision-making. The interview is available on RNZ’s website.  

We have been blown away by the depth, breadth, and quality of the initiatives proposed in the Expressions of Interest and Full Proposals submitted so far. As we work through these in detail, it is becoming clear that we will have a significant number of initiatives that align strongly with the Fund Outcomes – initiatives that will have a lasting impact on the sustainability and resilience of the arts, culture and heritage sectors. 

The converse of course is that we have many Expressions of Interest for initiatives that are unlikely to secure funding. We are getting in touch with people who have proposed these initiatives because we do not want them to spend their valuable time writing Full Proposals.  

If we reach out to you with this advice, please know that this does not mean we think your initiatives won’t make a difference – just that we have a lot of other initiatives that align more closely with the Fund. As I have said before, we are looking for initiatives that will have a lasting impact. 

We will share some more information on feedback received in next week's newsletter. 

Ngā mihi,    

Joe Fowler
Deputy Chief Executive Te Aka Tūhono Investment & Outcomes   

Regeneration Fund feedback opportunity closes Monday

The Cultural Sector Regeneration Fund feedback opportunity has less than a week to go. The feedback opportunity is open until 11.59pm Monday 26 September.  

Anyone can submit feedback once per proposal by completing a short survey. All proposals are listed on our website. 

We are most interested in feedback from people or organisations that will benefit from a particular proposal – or those with recognised and relevant expertise.  

Spotlight: Ngā Waiata Poipoia

Aspiring musicians had the chance to learn from some of Aotearoa’s finest recently, at a special development retreat of intensive learning, collaboration and inspiration, which culminated in the recording of original music in Ōpunakē, Taranaki.   

Supported by the Innovation Fund, Ngā Waiata Poipoia saw emerging artists being mentored by music industry experts, including Barnaby Weir (The Black Seeds, Fly My Pretties), Rebecca Johnson from Taranaki Arts Festival Trust / WOMAD, engineer Graeme Woller (Into the East) and photographer Joaco Dibbern.  

“It was awesome, the group was super cool and supportive of each other,” said organiser André Manella. “This was a pilot program, in collaboration with Matt Sephton from the Coro Sonic Lab and supported by Ministry for Culture and Heritage. We definitely hope to do it again!”  

Singer and performer Barnaby Weir said the small group of people across a range of ages and styles meant they could focus on each individual’s work in a friendly and gentle way. “It was a healthy environment to have discussions about any element of the songwriting process. It was a really meaningful development camp for up and coming musicians.”  

Ngā Waiata Poipoia received seed funding of $20,000 to pilot a music recording and mentoring programme where musicians are supported to develop tools and resources for a sustainable career in music.  

Photos credit: Joaco Dibbern.  

Contact us

If you have any questions about any of our 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
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