- Hon Carmel Sepuloni
The Government has announced further support for the recovery and resilience of the arts, culture and heritage sector as part of its COVID Recovery Programme's Innovation Fund.
"We're continuing to secure the recovery of our arts, culture and heritage in Aotearoa New Zealand by supporting transformational initiatives across the motu," Minister for Arts Culture and Heritage, Carmel Sepuloni said.
"Thirty-nine projects across the Tāmaki Makaurau, Te Tai Tokerau and Te Tairawhiti regions will receive funding that'll help support projects and drive the recovery and resilience of the cultural sectors," Carmel Sepuloni said.
"The latest tranche of projects have exciting potential for transformational impact. Auckland-based Hackman Limited are being supported to further develop the Together immersive live experience platform, which will open new possibilities that could result in new work, new markets and new audiences.
"Other projects have found innovative ways to safeguard and transmit mātauranga Māori. Together in partnership with local iwi and marae, the Russell Museum is one such project that'll develop a digital storytelling app to preserve the stories and histories of both tangata whenua and pākehā.
"There are also a number of local community projects that look to bring their communities together in clever and collaborative ways. The Tairawhiti Arts Festival, for instance, will allow the organisation to develop a digital portal with 3D virtual exhibition tours and e-commerce functionality for local art galleries and creative spaces.
"Our investment has supported 185 arts, culture and heritage projects across Aotearoa New Zealand, many of which, are projects that are leading the recovery through some fascinating and ground-breaking innovation and ideas.
"The Innovation Fund has been an integral part of our Government's COVID-19 recovery and has been delivered in a new events-based approach to arts funding. It was designed to ensure arts funding was delivered across the motu through a closer relationship between the cultural sector and Government.
"Te Urungi: Innovating Aotearoa recognised both the economic value and the critical importance of arts in our everyday lives and fostered new ways of thinking and creating that will help drive the recovery and resilience of our arts, culture and heritage sector. Te Urungi was about providing the resources, time and connections for people to fully explore and realise their ideas.
"Some of the ideas that came out of Te Urungi events are already in action. For example, Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts received funding to develop a new values-based ticketing platform which empowers audiences to choose their own ticket price, thereby increasing access and participation in the arts sector. That platform will be used by the Nelson Arts Festival next month in another project which received support from the Innovation Fund."
"At nearly a half billion dollars in support, this is the largest investment in the arts, culture and heritage sectors in Aotearoa New Zealand's history. We've remained steadfast in our commitment to these sectors over the course of the pandemic, protecting jobs and peoples livelihoods as well as helping to sustain the important contribution these sectors makes to the New Zealand economy," Carmel Sepuloni said.
Click here for the full list of Innovation Fund recipients
