12 August 2022

Kia ora koutou,  

The team here have had a busy couple of weeks since we opened The Cultural Sector Regeneration Fund in late July. We have already received around 60 Expressions of Interest through our funding portal, and we have welcomed more than 450 people to our online Question & Answer sessions. Thank you to everyone that has attended these sessions so far – we have really enjoyed the conversations. 

We are pleased that, even at this early stage, there are already some strong proposals that align well with our ambition to find and fund strategic, sector-led initiatives, that will have lasting benefits for arts, culture, and heritage in Aotearoa New Zealand.  

We have had a few Expressions of Interest for initiatives that are not a great fit with the Fund – typically organisations seeking funding for one-off events, or to support their ongoing costs. I would urge anybody considering spending time on an Expression of Interest to look through the brief guidance we have provided online. 

Our team is busy on the phones and on Zoom calls providing feedback, clarifying aspects of proposals, and guiding people through to the next stage. We know that we are likely to see a flurry of Expressions of Interest in the last week (we close 7 September), so, if you are ready to send us your Expression of Interest, please hit the submit button as soon as you can so that we can get a conversation scheduled with you before the rush!  

We know that everyone in the arts, culture and heritage sectors will want this sizeable investment to have a lasting and significant impact. We feel the weight of that expectation and we will do everything we can to meet it. But, we do need your ideas! So, please get involved – attend a Q&A session, read or watch our online material to see if this Fund is for you, and spread the word to others to ensure they don’t miss the opportunity.  

Ngā mihi,    

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

Regeneration Fund: more sessions for your questions

As announced earlier this week, Manatū Taonga is providing four additional Q+A sessions for people interested in applying for the Cultural Sector Regeneration Fund.  

These 45 minute sessions provide a brief overview of the Fund and the Expression of Interest process, followed by breakout room question and answer sessions where you can ask questions of Manatū Taonga staff in small groups. More than 450 people have attended the sessions to date.   

The additional sessions are:  

• Friday 19 August, 11am  

• Monday 22 August, 11am  

• Monday 29 August, 10am 

We may add more sessions as required, which we’ll notify through this newsletter.  

The beat goes on! Support for live music renewed 

The Aotearoa Touring Programme has been extended until June 2023 with an additional investment of $1.5 million, Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Carmel Sepuloni has announced.  

The Programme, which initially concluded in June 2022 has so far supported more than 1,700 shows and over 250 artists to perform in 132 towns and cities across Aotearoa. It is administered by the New Zealand Music Commission and funded by the Arts and Culture COVID Recovery Programme.  

“The support we’ve received from the Aotearoa Touring Programme has been fantastic and made my current tour possible,” said New Zealand musician Reb Fountain.  

“Funding touring with the ATP is the most viable way of supporting musicians to do their work, to employ crew and venues and bring entertainment to folks across Aotearoa. It’s great to see the government prioritising our community and ensuring we can provide exceptional music events for all - long may that continue.” 

1News covered the announcement and spoke with musicians about live performance, which was made at the 2022 Pacific Music Awards, with this clip. 

Musician Reb Fountain said the Aotearoa Touring Programme made her tour of NZ possible. Credit: Steve Wheadon

Nelson Arts Festival runs innovative ticketing model    

The Nelson Arts Festival has announced it is delivering a first for a major arts festival in Aotearoa, offering a Pay What You Can ticketing model across all events – supported by a Cultural Sector Innovation Fund investment of $150,000. 

There will be a recommended ticket price, as well as a range of other prices for people for whom price is a barrier and those wanting to support others to engage with the festival. In its statement, the Nelson Arts Festival says: “This will open the door a little wider, allowing more people to experience and support the arts, artists and to connect as a community.” 

The Pay What You Can model being piloted at the Nelson Arts Festival was developed by the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts, which received $200,000 from the Innovation Fund. The new values-driven ticketing platform empowers audiences to choose their own ticket price, thereby increasing access and participation in the cultural sector.  

Applications open for Creative Arts and Cultural Wellbeing Prison Initiative    

Ara Poutama Aotearoa Department of Corrections, with the support of Manatū Taonga, has set aside $3m to fund a range of new creative arts and cultural wellbeing programmes in prisons between 2022 and 2024/2025. Applications for these programmes are now open.  

Ara Poutama Aotearoa acknowledges the value of creative arts and cultural programmes for people in prison to support their rehabilitation and reintegration. Music, dance, theatre, painting, weaving, and carving (to name a few) can give people new ways to express themselves, reconnect them with their culture, provide a positive learning experience and prosocial relationships. 

Information on the Creative Arts and Cultural Wellbeing Prison Initiative can be found at this webpage. Applications must be submitted by 5pm, Monday 22 August. 

Creative NZ launches business-focus course to support emerging Māori artists 

Toi Tipu Toi Rea, Creative New Zealand’s emerging Māori artists’ programme, opened for applications last week. Comprising three wānanga, the Toi Tipu Toi Rea support programme will teach participants how to build networks, write effective funding applications and develop business skills to set them on the road to self-sufficiency.  

Applications for this business-focused capability building support programme close at 1pm on the 31st of August. More information can be found at Creative NZ’s webpage. 

Spotlight: Te Papa’s Tuku Iho video series highlights Māori taonga and archiving 

Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand is launching Ngā Taonga Tuku Iho, a five-part series that considers the relationships that Māori have with taonga that rest in museums and archival institutions.

It explores the dark history of taonga collection, what reconnection looks like, and what Māori aspirations are for their taonga in the future.  

The series was supported by the Manatū Taonga Te Awe Kōtuku Mātauranga Māori Fund which funds initiatives which will support iwi, hapū, whānau and Māori communities to safeguard at-risk mātauranga from the ongoing threat of COVID-19. 

The first episode will go live today, Friday 12 August, and each episode will follow every Friday after that.

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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