Creative New Zealand the Arts Council of New Zealand have announced a major overhaul of its funding structure, with their 8 new funds in place from the start of next year. It follows consultation with the creative sector, after the funding agency admitted - having faced criticism - that its current arts grant system is no longer fit for purpose.
Artists and organisations now apply to seperate funds from each other and the overhaul includes what many in the arts have long been calling for: funding streams based around supporting artists to create, that aren’t dependant on final project production.
New also is an Early Career Fund, including the support of mentors, a Residencies, Internships and Fellowships Fund and a programme to support new leaders.
None of the newly announced funds impact CNZ's exisiting Totara and Kahikatea Investment programmes for established organsiations, or the Creative Communities Scheme.
Meanwhile, the recipient of a $5.3 million contract through Creative New Zealand to develop a digital arts service last December is again under fire.
Speaking to the National Business Review, composer and sound engineer Ant Smith has criticised We Are Indigo, for not having enough arts experience and for being more focused on creating Non-fungible Tokens aka NFTs than their CNZ funded work. Ant Smith is known for his work with bands Salmonella Dub, Fat Freddy's Drop and Trinity Roots and in the film world.
Creative New Zealand have made it clear that We Are Indigo's NFT business is separate from Toi Hourua, the digital arts commissioning and capability service they've funded, which has a focus on Māori and Pasifika artists.
The NBR reports that in June Smith, fellow digital media producer Joff Rae, and a collective of other artists quit working with Toi Hourua after only a few months. Rae is executive producer of the agency iSPARX, an unsuccessful applicant for the Creative New Zealand contract.
The New Zealand's screen producers' guild, SPADA have this week called for the government to regulate international streaming platforms by requiring them to pay a levy on their New Zealand revenue. President Irene Gardiner notes they currently pay no tax in New Zealand, face no regulation, and use broadband infrastructure partially funded by our Government while at the same time impact local broadcasting viewership and advertising revenue. Gardiner says many other countries have introduced ways to regulate streamers.
In brighter news New Zealand Opera have unveiled their 2024 programme under new General Director, Brad Cohen. It includes the New Zealand premiere of chamber opera Mansfield Park - that's the Jane Austen novel - set to music by contemporary English composer Jonathan Dove a Rossini comedy, Le Comte Ory, and Verdi's Rigoletto.
Manatū Taonga the Ministry for Culture and Heritage have this week released annual statistics showing that the arts and creative sector contributed $14.9 billion to New Zealand's GDP for the year ending March 2022.
The arts and creative sector percentage of the total economy, at 4.2%, is the highest since recording started in 2000. The report states that for more than 115,000 people, the creative sector is their primary employment. 32% of those creatives are self-employed.
Finally: lines continue to be drawn and redrawn over how and where artists can speak out about the violence in Gaza. Increasing pressure is going on the institutions and platforms that represent them to support them..
This Wednesday In Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau took action to preserve what she called the role of art to help us, she says, digest unimaginable harm and things that we may struggle to comprehend. She directed council staff not to remove a painted sign in a city park calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
It was painted in a space in the city reserved for free expression, but where earlier in the week council staff had removed a 'Free Palestine' sign.
Earlier this month hundreds of prominent New Zealand artists, from Jermaine Clement to The Beths signed an open letter to government as Artists4Ceasefire. The open letter has been published in New Zealand leading art website Pantograph Punch.
Tensions over free speech continue to grow. On Thursday well known Chinese artist Ai Weiwei said his new exhibition in London has been cancelled because he'd made pro-Palestinian comments on social media referencing the Israel-Gaza conflict.
In another high profile fallout, in New York the editor of one of the world's leading art publications Artforum David Velasci was fired after publishing a letter signed by 1000s of artists and others calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and Palestinian liberation. Some are now threatening to boycott the magazine. To complicate things, the original open letter, since added to on Artforum, made no mention of the Hamas attack on Israel.
Also making newspaper headlines this week: the entire curatorial committee of one of the most prestigious art events in the world Documenta in Germany resigned on mass over a dispute with Documentor's administrators related to the Israel-Hamas War.
As the Wellington City Council example this week suggests Aotearoa has not been exempt. In October Auckland Museum apologised for the hurt caused after it staged a light display in support of Israel after the Hamas attacks.
This weekend in New Zealand an open letter started circulating via social media asking New Zealand cultural institutions to call for a ceasefire.
