Funding | Te Waka Toi

For funding information in te reo please order or download our Funding Guide Nga Putea. Or you can download just the Te Waka Toi section of the Funding Guide Ngā Pūtea.

Te Waka Toi is the Maori Arts Board of Creative New Zealand. Maori artists are able to apply to Te Waka Toi for funding through five project funding programmes. Te Waka Toi also provides funding on an annual and three-year basis to Maori arts organisations, administers special awards and scholarships, and carries out initiatives.

The information in this section will help you identify which programme to apply to. For guidelines on how to put together an application , please refer to the Application Workbook supplement (available soon).

If your project focuses on local arts development or arts participation in the community it may be more appropriate to apply to the Creative Communities Scheme. Local arts projects are community-based arts activities or those that have more impact at a local rather than a national level.

The project funding environment is extremely competitive. In the 2006 calendar year, Te Waka Toi received 171 applications and was able to fund 76 (44%) of them. Grants ranged from $3000 to $40,000.

Four key questions

• Are you eligible to apply for funding from Creative New Zealand? (go to Step 1, Can I Apply?)
• Do you meet Te Waka Toi's "for Māori by Māori" criteria? (go to Step 2, Which funding bodies can I apply to?)
• Are you in the most appropriate section of this guide? (See Step 2 and Step 3)
• Do you know the closing date for project funding applications?
  25 July 2008 (for projects beginning after 25 October 2008)
  29 February 2008 (for projects beginning after 29 May 2008)

Te Waka Toi funding programmes

Te Waka Toi has five funding programmes and each funding programme has a different aim. The funding programmes and their aims are:

• Heritage Arts - to support projects that contribute to the maintenance and preservation of the heritage arts of Māori
• Te Reo - to support projects that promote and strengthen the use of Te Reo, oral and written, across artforms
• New Work - to support the creation of original artworks by tāngata whenua across artforms
• Indigenous Links - to support projects that strengthen links between tāngata whenua artists and the indigenous peoples of the Pacific and other nations
• Experiencing Māori Arts - to support projects that provide opportunities to experience Māori arts.

Each application to Te Waka Toi must be made under one of these programmes. To decide which programme to apply under, first identify the aim of your project.

What's the aim of your project?

If your project meets more than one of the aims below, identify the one description that fits best and then apply under that programme.

Is your project's aim:

• to contribute to the maintenance or preservation of the heritage arts of Māori? Go to the Heritage Arts funding programme
• to promote or strengthen the use of Te Reo, oral or written? Go to the Te Reo funding programme
• to create original artworks within and across artforms? Go to the New Work funding programme
• to strengthen links between tāngata whenua artists and indigenous peoples of the Pacific or other nations? Go to the Indigenous Links funding programme
• to provide opportunities for audiences to experience Māori arts? Go to the Experiencing Māori Arts funding programme.

Arts education for young people

We don't fund arts education resources, activities or projects that are part of a language learning programme at a kohanga reo, kura kaupapa, primary, secondary or tertiary institution. This includes teaching resources focussed on national education curriculum outcomes and/or qualification requirements. Young people are those falling within the 5 to 25-year-old age group.

However, some support may be available for projects that will deliver high-quality arts outcomes for both the young people and professional artists involved.