We asked arts industry representatives what funding cuts and political indifference is doing to the arts. The answer? \u2018This is really fucked.\u2019<\/p>\n
This story was updated at 10am with comment from Paul Goldsmith.<\/p>\n
About two weeks ago, Carrie Rae Cunningham received an invitation to a one-on-one meeting with Creative NZ. \u201cI thought, \u2018Oh no, this can\u2019t be good news,\u2019\u201d said Cunningham. She\u2019s the CEO of Massive, a T\u0101maki Makaurau theatre company celebrating its 35th anniversary. So many people have come through Massive\u2019s doors that Cunningham and her staff play a game called Spot the Massive. \u201cYou\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, there\u2019s so-and-so,\u2019\u201d she told me. \u201cThey\u2019re directing, they\u2019re acting\u2026 they\u2019re in international films.\u201d<\/p>\n
The news wasn\u2019t good. Massive has received an average of $231,000 each year for the past four years from Creative NZ, a government organisation designed to \u201cencourage, promote and support New Zealand arts\u201d. That money goes towards Massive\u2019s free workshops, education programmes and live productions. After a $27m reduction in arts funding over four years was confirmed in this year\u2019s budget, Cunningham expected a small decrease in the money it receives, perhaps 10-15%. \u201cWe could manage that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
But Cunningham was stunned to learn its funding would be cut to just $90,000. \u201cA 60% cut is fucking huge for us,\u201d she told me. When we talked earlier this week, she admitted the shock \u201cstill hasn\u2019t worn off\u201d. Cunningham was busy planning, pivoting and thinking ahead, trying to work out how Massive will survive and keep offering opportunities to anyone who wants a career in the arts. \u201cTo have this huge blow delivered to us while we\u2019re celebrating our 35th [anniversary], it\u2019s like, \u2018Oh, wow, happy birthday, and here you go, we\u2019re taking a big chunk out of your budget\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carrie Rae Cunningham (Photo: supplied)<\/p>\n
Massive isn\u2019t the only one suffering. Across multiple interviews, industry representatives for theatre companies, dance studios, writers festivals and more expressed dismay about the impact of the latest funding decisions. Some were restructuring their companies, figuring out how to move forward. Others were considering giving up. When I asked Jo Randerson, who runs Te Whanganui-a-Tara\u2019s Barbarian Theatre, if her cut would be existential, she paused, then agreed. \u201c[Closing] is definitely one of the possibilities for us,\u201d she said. Then she told me she\u2019d just talked to an older colleague with 45 years of experience. \u201cHe\u2019s never seen it as bad as this.\u201d<\/p>\n
You don\u2019t have to look far to find others struggling with the paucity of funding. Zanetti, the artistic producer for T\u0101maki Makaurau\u2019s Tempo Dance Festival, should be focusing on this year\u2019s 25th anniversary celebration in October, with an entire week of shows. Dance is something more are turning to as a coping mechanism for life in 2026, Zanetti told me. \u201cBeing in a space with real bodies, doing real things\u2026 is really transformative,\u201d they said. Tempo\u2019s Creative NZ application for 2027 was rejected. \u201cIt\u2019s really gutting for everybody. It\u2019s going to be very hard for us, as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Others are reeling too. Just 10% of Creative NZ\u2019s funding went to the South Island, a statistic multiple people recounted to me with surprise. \u201cShocked, devastated and confused,\u201d wrote the Dunedin Arts Festival on Facebook about its unsuccessful application. Michael Bell, who runs \u014ctautahi Christchurch\u2019s beloved Little Andromeda theatre, had its application denied too. All his energy was now focused on trying to stay open until Christmas. \u201cWe didn\u2019t budget to be in this situation,\u201d he wrote on Facebook. \u201cJust come down and enjoy the theatre while it\u2019s here because, yet again, who knows what the future holds.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sometimes, emotions boiled over. After our interview, Cunningham emailed me his opinion of the National Party\u2019s Amplify arts strategy, implemented when it won the 2023 election. \u201cHere we are three years later looking at obliterated arts funding and investment,\u201d she wrote. \u201cThe strategy was doomed from the beginning and [paid] lip service to the industry. They do not give a shit. [Arts, culture and heritage minister] Paul Goldsmith has no fucks to give about the portfolio he holds and has actively worked to decimate our entire industry.\u201d Then she wrote: \u201cSo, yeah, we\u2019re pretty upset about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Goldsmith did not respond to two requests for comment for this story. Is this just the National Party being the National Party? Erin Harrington, an arts critic and senior lecturer at the University of Canterbury, said arts funding has stayed stagnant or declined over successive governments for the past 20 years. She pointed to Helen Clark\u2019s 1999 strategy as the last time a proper, well-thought-through policy was implemented by a sitting government. She was exasperated. \u201cWhy does it have to be this hard? Why do people have to struggle this much?\u201d Creatives should just be able to do the job that they\u2019re really good at.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paul Goldsmith (Photo: Getty Images)<\/p>\n