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MAHIA Atu (working title) is all about ‘Making Arts Happen In Auckland’. We’re interested in talking to artists, curators and arts event makers / producers about your experiences delivering arts and cultural events or any arts activation in Auckland. What works well? How could things be better?    

Keen to contribute? Please complete our survey and share your experiences about delivering arts and culture events or arts activations in Auckland.  

MAHIA Atu is a research and development project resourced by Arts Regional Trust and delivered by The Big Idea in consultation with the MAHIA Atu Advisory Group of arts activators and producers who have many years experience organising arts and cultural events in Auckland. We're very keen to hear from you.     

Why this project?  

Whether you are in the role of an arts practitioner / producer, or you are like us in an enabling and resourcing role, we all have a strong commitment to and passion for making the arts happen in Auckland. Our research indicates however, that there are barriers as well as capability and capacity gaps in arts communities that may be holding us back. This project seeks to understand and begin to address these problems with the aim of making it easier for artists, producers and arts activators to organise and deliver arts and cultural events in Auckland that have a public focus.  

A crucial part of our research is talking to people who are already active in the making and delivery of arts and cultural activations and events in the Auckland region (including freelance producers, artists and creative entrepreneurs and local groups and communities). We are also keen to hear from people who would like to do more of this work but are flummoxed over the many moving parts to be managed in creating successful experiences for audiences and participants.  

Overall, MAHIA Atu aims to develop the capability and capacity of community based organisations, artist-producers, local boards and neighbourhood groups; in fact, anyone or group keen to design, activate, produce and/or manage an arts / cultural event in Auckland. And we mean an event in the broadest sense, whether you’re keen on making murals happen in Manurewa, sculptures in Silo Park, a community dance event in Dannemora, an exhibition in Ellerslie, or brass band beach performances at Birkenhead.  

In the longer term and using the results of our research as a key driver, MAHIA Atu is keen to deliver  

• an Auckland-centric online hub where anyone in the role of organising an arts or cultural event or arts activation can find information that will help with the practical planning and delivery work that they need to do, and  

• a series of skills development workshops across Auckland, focusing on topics and disciplines that organisers to make their arts activations development and delivery in the arts and cultural space.