01 May 2026
Tū mai rā Toi Aotearoa ki to ao hurihuri
Last month we were excited to launch our two new strategies - Toi Ora, a strategy for ngā toi Māori and Tū Mai Rā, Toi Aotearoa our organisation-wide strategy. I mentioned at the time of their release that each strategy outlines ambitious and bold visions but that to fully realise these, we will need to adopt a different focus and approach to how we operate at Creative New Zealand.
Many of you have called for Creative New Zealand to expand our focus on the development of the arts on a national basis including strategic investment and planning, advocating for the arts, global positioning, artform and practice development as well as fostering effective joint planning and investment. There is also an urgent need to secure increased investment to the arts. In the months ahead you will start to see us placing our operational focus around five interconnected areas in order to achieve these ambitions.
These are:
- Changing Opinion: building stronger public understanding of the value of artists, the arts and ngā toi
- Growing investment: bringing more resources into the sector, from more places
- Strengthening capability: supporting artists, organisations and networks to be resilient and connected
- Boosting international impact: backing Aotearoa artists to connect, lead and succeed globally.
- Empowering communities/Tuku rauemi: placing decision-making closer to artists and communities
The biggest shift that you’ll see is the establishment of regional partnerships, enabling regions to make decisions about their arts development needs. This is central to Tū Mai Rā, Toi Aotearoa and its Empowering Communities priority and runs through both Toi Ora and the Pacific Arts Strategy. It reflects what we’ve heard consistently; that local knowledge matters, relationships matter, and communities know what they need. It also reflects our committment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, to ngā toi Māori leadership, tino rangatiratanga, and to work in ways that genuinely share power.
From 2027 we’ll partner with trusted and independent organisations across the country to tuku rauemi (distribute resources) and back their regional leadership to support artists through funding and capability, connections and opportunities. We also want to help grow the overall pool of investment in their region’s art, ngā toi and creativity.
This will look different in every region, echoing their uniqueness. Irrespective of region you will see:
- Funding processes that are easier to access and shaped locally
- Priorities that reflect real needs and ambitions distinct to a region
- Stronger local creative networks and more connected communities
- More joined up and strategic investment in the arts and ngā toi
From 1 January 2028 all regionally based activities will be supported through regional partners, and Creative New Zealand will expand our role holding the national overview of arts development, including focussing on supporting national impacts. This national pathway will have a strategic mandate to support the provision of arts services, activities or initiatives to national audiences and communities, or towards maintaining critical national leadership functions within an artform or practice.
In conjunction with the regional and national eco-systems, we will focus on boosting our international impact. We understand the criticality of the international market for career sustainability and artform development in Aotearoa. We will continue to invest in individual artists and organisations for international success at critical points in their careers and offer more flexible, multi-year funding when demand and success are evident.
Our approach for global markets will be art-form and art practice led and as well as our own direct investment, we will also empower external experts and mātanga to develop and deliver industry-led approaches.
Underpinning this work will be the imperative for us to secure increased investment to the arts. This may be via Creative New Zealand or directly to the arts ecosystem. To achieve this we will work in a more deliberate way to seek cross government support, explore global investment both private and inter-agency as well as promoting internal regulatory settings to foster increased domestic support for the arts. Foundational to achieving success in these areas will be increasing our efforts around evidence based advocacy.
As we move towards our future way of working over the coming months we will continue to offer a range of funding and development opportunities.
- You can see our development opportunities on our website
- Tū Mai Rā, Toi Aotearoa: Our long-term strategy to 2040
- Toi Ora Strategy 2025–2030
I look forward to sharing more information about our upcoming changes with you in the time ahead.