Image: Glass Rose 2023
Digital print made from the 3D animation program Maya
Courtesy of the artist, Hye Rim Lee

It’s the very last Artswire for 2025, so there was no better time to ask the team to pitch in with their reflections of the year. For those unfamiliar with Rose, thorn, bud, it's a way of structuring and balancing reflection – you might use it for a friend catch-up, to wrap up a collaborative project, or to get out of writing too much in the last week of work. Roses are positive, they’re highlights, successes, or things that energised you. Thorns are negative – frustrations, things that went wrong, or difficult challenges. Buds are potential for the future – positive things that are just beginning to form, new ideas, or future goals.

Here are ours from 2025:

Samuel Walsh

🌹 My rose is all the writers who’ve written for The Big Idea this year. Watching our contributor pool grow and take shape has had my heart in a flutter, so I’m very grateful to everyone who's had a hand in adding to the texture of our editorial coverage.  

🌵 Not to sound too grinchy but the inevitable fog and lethargy are kicking in and it’s taking me longer to type emails, walk up the stairs, write this piece for Gabi – so my thorn is this feeling of collective fatigue. It can be exhausting trying to keep your head above water and the weight of uncertainty (and all its ebbs and flows) can manifest itself in prickly ways – so here’s wishing all the artists, administrators, organisations and stakeholders who keep the cogs turning a very restful summer and fingers crossed 2026 brings with it some renewed energy and optimism. 

🌱 Buds are my bud. Working in the arts can sometimes feel like an endurance test so having a support network to turn to has been super grounding and regenerative. So I’m looking forward to more monthly coffees, sporadic lunches, voice message marathons, and neighbourhood walks in 2026.

Kate Rylatt

🌹 Since I started in this role just over a year ago, I have had so many interactions with people from all corners of the arts sector in Aotearoa – some via email, some on video meetings, and some kanohi ki te kanohi which has been delightful. I have especially loved meeting with new folks from the parts of the sector that were previously less familiar to me (with my background mostly in the performing arts). Arts people are the most hard-working, resilient, and loyal people while also being creative, kind, empathetic, and generous. It’s an absolute joy to work daily with such wonderful people and it replenishes my faith in humanity. I only wish a few more of us would move into politics…

🌵 & 🌱 My thorn and my bud are kind of the same thing, which I think is fair because there is always a little bit of stress or hard mahi involved when you are motivated or inspired by something isn’t there? There has to be just the right amount of pressure to push against or you’ll fall over.

I am so excited about all the cool things we will be able to do when we have the new website up and running next year – and I have to give a shout out to Flight Digital because they are amazing at what they do and have brought a lot of great ideas to the process.

Obviously the first step is to create a user-friendly, smooth-running site but once it’s all ironed out I think we’ll be able to do so much more with it in the future. I am enjoying dreaming about that. But before we get to that point, we have to do lots of testing, lots of data migration, and potentially some trouble shooting, managing of teething problems, and still do quite a bit of work with the old site which has really been the thorn in my side all year!

Sananda Chatterjee

(Kiss from a) 🌹 I’m deeply grateful for the current TBI team – we found the final piece of our puzzle this year in Gabi, and it feels like we’re all aligned around the same overarching goal: uplifting the arts, the practitioners, the admins, the spaces, and the connections between them. We come from different artistic practices and each of us is connected to the ecosystem in our own way. The arts are not a business; it is a nourishment, an embodiment, a response to life, politics, and the environment. We care deeply about this sector, and we come together to return to those roots and keep feeding the ecosystem. Added bonus – Samuel (THE BOSS) tolerates mild workplace trolling, and the chaos demon in me is ecstatic. I was summoned by him, so I'm his demon to contend with. Ba ya ya ba ya ya ba ya ya (you get it). 

🌵 The thing that has made me saddest this year is the massive brain drain from our artistic community. I don’t blame anyone for leaving – it is hard to be here, hard to make work when you’re constantly told your art only has value if you can prove it to CNZ, or if it’s “groundbreaking,” or prize-winning via one of the three sanctioned and hunger-games style contested “mid-career” opportunities in all of Aotearoa. Artists should be allowed to practise whatever they like, without the pressure to constantly innovate – just like finance bros in middle management. We need time for boredom and even mediocrity for nuance to flourish, and sadly Aotearoa doesn’t have the infrastructure to support that. So-called Australia (among others) does, or at least the market is big enough to let people fail and still put food in their bellies. So I’m not resentful – just sad that I don’t get to see many of my friends anymore, casually gathered on the Basement Theatre stoop.

🌱 One of the seeds we’ve planted this year is the new regional column Road Trip along with the Toi Ōtautahi monthly collab. I’m excited to see how far we can push this exploration – there are opportunities waiting to be tended to! It genuinely thrills me to stay connected with the cool cats of the arts across Aotearoa. More, more, more.

Gabi Lardies

🌹 Change is my rose. A few months ago a friend told me she admired my ability to let go of things that make me miserable and jump into something new, and that is part of the story of how I got to be here at The Big Idea. I’ve joined at a time of re-invention, and there’s a lot of potential, and trust, for me to try new things. Change is often a gradual process – it takes time to shape the new from the old – so expect it to keep coming, bit by bit.

🌵 My thorn is that Sam stole my rose. It’s been such a joy to commission pieces, receive them back from writers a couple of weeks later, and then dive into their words. There are always things that surprise and delight me – things I didn’t know, or wouldn’t have seen from their particular angle. Questions I wouldn’t have thought to ask. A way of saying something that adds a certain whimsy. I’ve also loved having the power to nudge stories into being, and feeling like an alchemist when I choose the perfect pairing of writer and subject. There is another thorn on this rose though – writing is demanding, and making a living from freelance writing is near impossible, especially as opportunities to be published and paid are drying up. I’m so grateful for the writers that continue to give their time and energy to it despite all the difficulties.

🌱 My bud is the 2026 general election. I think the campaign seasons leading up to elections are when politicians listen to the public most, and try to please us – they need votes after all! It's the time to demand policies that would benefit the arts, and get parties to put them on paper so we can hold them to their word. I know that political promises mostly fall flat, but I’m an optimist and I’m hoping that a certain party that bombed at the last elections and has been languishing in opposition will consider some bold offerings, since what they did last time was a failure. I'm hoping we're offered more to vote for than tax cuts and back pocket boosts. Even if it's all vanilla milquetoast again, I must say I do enjoy the buzz, and I hope our sector gets loud!

💥News on the wire

Martino Gamper coming to Aotearoa in 2026

Yes, the London-based Italian designer famous for his 100 chairs and much more, is coming here, thanks to the commission of a major new exhibition by Objectspace. It will begin the gallery’s 2026 programme, with a new body of work in the main Ockham Gallery and an accompanying exhibition and publication collaboration between Gamper, James Goggin and Shan James in the smaller Chartwell Gallery. After its Auckland debut, an edit of the show will travel to Objectspace’s satellite space in Ōtautahi in mid-2026. 

New gallery in Matakana

The Mahurangi Network Gallery is the latest venture from the Mahurangi Artist Network, the group behind the popular annual Studio Trail. At the moment it's a six-month pilot project, located in an industrial space at the Matakana Workshops at 64 Matakana Valley Road and open from 10am – 4pm Thursday – Sunday. The gallery will showcase and sell ceramics, sculpture, painting, jewellery, woodwork, and textiles to reflect the diverse creativity of the Mahurangi region and the network of artists.

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Comedy’s Topp prize goes to Tofiga Fepulea’i

Samoan New Zealand comedian, actor, musician, entertainer and radio host, Tofiga Fepulea’i has won the Topp Prize. He is known as the Humble King of Comedy, and has spent more than two decades on stage and screen, first rising to stardom as one half of The Laughing Samoans. “I am just happy to be the recipient in terms of all the other people that I carry with me, in terms of family and those who have supported me. Always grateful to be able to represent my family, and especially good old Kiwis, as a Samoan made in New Zealand,” says Fepulea’i.

Other big winners at the NZ Comedy Guild Awards 2025 last week were Lesa MacLeod-Whiting with four wins, Booth the Clown, Guy Montgomery, and Covert Theatre. The full list of winners can be found here.

Toi Whakaari, Whitireia, and WelTec partnering to deliver Performing Arts programmes in 2026

The new partnership will see the delivery of Whitireia and WelTec's Performing Arts programmes at Toi Whakaari starting next year. This includes Diplomas in Drama, Dance, and Performing Arts (Musical Theatre), and allowing students to finish the final year of the Bachelor of Creativity (Performing Arts). Learners will be enrolled with Whitireia and WelTec (the TEC-funded providers) while Toi Whakaari will deliver the programmes in Newtown, Wellington, at Te Whaea, the national dance and drama centre. Enrolments are open now.

“Our creative sector is under pressure, and it is our responsibility to tautoko and educate the next generation of creative practitioners,” said Tanea Heke, Tumuaki of Toi Whakaari. 

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British playwright Simon Stephens leading new masterclass series in 2026

Thanks to support from British Council New Zealand, Pacific’s Connections Through Culture, and private donors, Auckland Theatre Company is launching a new masterclass project in February next year. It will kick off with a visit from one of the UK’s most influential contemporary playwrights, Simon Stephens, who is celebrated for works including the stage adaptation of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. 

“I haven't been to New Zealand for twenty years. I remember my last visit with real clarity. It was one of the happiest times of my life and remains one of the most beautiful places I have visited,” says Stephens. “I think we are living and working in a cultural moment when travel will act as a life source for the arts and creativity. In coming decades, creativity, imagination and collaboration will be more urgent than ever before.”

He will lead a programme of workshops and events exclusively for Aotearoa theatre practitioners including an intensive workshop for mid-career to established playwrights, a professional development workshop for drama and literacy teachers, and a writing workshop for students and ATC Youth Arts participants and practitioners. Applications for the playwright’s masterclass are open.

Mixit finalist for 2026 New Zealand Community of the Year

Mixit, an organisation that aims to empower young people from refugee, migrant and local backgrounds through performing arts, is one of 10 semi-finalists in the community category of the New Zealander of the year awards.

The organisation has worked tirelessly for 20 years to support former refugee and migrant background youth. "I think Mixit is important because you can be, for example, a young Muslim woman and a joyful performer, and both sides are part of who we are and will be respected. Any place, any faith, any family situation and any other parts of who we want to be. At Mixit, we are learning to navigate who we are, versus who the world expects us to be,” says one Mixit participant.

On 24 and 25 January, Mixit participants are coming together under the guidance of senior arts leaders, together with emerging artists, to create a performance called Hope: Standing on the Edge – Eying Up Our Future at Pitt Street Theatre.

Sculpture on the Gulf announces artists for 2027

That’s not a typo – the event is over a year away, opening 26 February 2027. The Co-curators, Heather Galbraith and Benjamin Work, have created a curatorial framework inspired by Waiheke Island’s long history of offering shelter to those seeking safety and connection – The Ocean Remembers the Shore. “The ocean is not just a body,” they say, “it is a memory keeper. Sculpture becomes a way of listening to the ocean’s memory. The shore and the coast are where land and water, humans and non-humans, the past and the future come together in an ongoing dialogue.”

The artists announced so far are: Chris Bailey, SJ Blake, Elliot Collins, Sean Kerr, Judy Darragh, Qianye Lin, Qianhe Lin, Sione Faletau, Anton Forde, Gill Gatfield, Sean Hill, Stevei Houkamau, Ioane Ioane & Martin Loire, Fiona Jack, Emily Karaka, Reuben Kirkwood, Virginia King, Michelle Mayn, Gabby O’Connor, Ben Pearce, Elisabeth Pointon, Ngaroma Riley, Taarn Scott, Ann Shelton, Sally Smith, and Evan Woodruffe.

Two NZ films to premiere at Sundance

Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant and Big Girls Don’t Cry will have their world premieres at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival 2026 in January in Utah. Both are supported by The New Zealand Film Commission.

Big Girls Don’t Cry is the first feature to emerge from Dame Jane Campion’s A Wave in the Ocean programme, by writer and director Paloma Schneideman (also known as musician Pollyhill). The film follows a 14-year-old going through a transformative summer in 2006. “It’s a reckoning with identity, with shame, with desire, and with the parts of ourselves we were once told to hide,” says Schneideman. “Being selected to premiere in competition at Sundance is madness – something I wished for since we began production”.

Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant is a body-horror comedy that pushes boundaries with heart and humour directed by duo THUNDERLIPS. “We're beyond thrilled that our cinematic love letter to horny little Kiwi towns has resonated with programmers overseas – and we can't wait to bring the movie home to local audiences next year,” say Sean Wallace and Jordan Mark Windsor.

Splore 2026 to be the last

The festival’s long-time owner, John Minty, says Splore 2026 will be the last, due to lower than hoped for ticket sales. “I have been involved with Splore at Tāpapakanga for 20 years and I feel now is a time to move on… it’s becoming more difficult to sustain a festival of Splore’s quality and depth so rather than diluting it I’d rather it finish with a bang”. He says that the financial viability of the festival hit headwinds with Covid postponements, cancellations, and the cost of living crisis. The festival applied for funding from the government’s $70 million Event Boost Fund but did not receive any. 

👔 Human resources

Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki appoints Dr Zara Stanhope as Director 

Dr Stanhope will start 2 March 2026, leading the gallery’s strategic direction while overseeing its collection (the most extensive collection of national and international art in Aotearoa), exhibitions, education and public programme. Stanhope has more than 30 years’ experience across Aotearoa and Australia, including being Principal Curator at the gallery from 2013 to 2017. Most recently, she was the Ringatohu/Director of Cultural Enterprises at New Plymouth District Council where she oversaw the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre, Puke Ariki museum and library and the district’s community libraries. She has held senior roles at Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) in Brisbane, Heide Museum of Modern Art in Melbourne, Adam Art Gallery in Wellington, and Monash University Museum of Art, Naarm Melbourne. 

“It’s an honour to re-join the dedicated team at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki,” she says. “I look forward to working together to ensure our commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and uplifting artists of Aotearoa, Te Moana nui-a-Kiwa and our region within purposeful public programming and in the collection.”

Fiona Wilson and Jono Palmer the 2026 Aotearoa Academy Choir music directors

Auckland conductors and educators Fiona Wilson and Jono Palmer have just been announced as the 2026 music directors for the Aotearoa Academy Choir – a high-level development programme for over 250 trained singers aged 13 - 25 and a reserves pool for award-winning national choirs, the New Zealand Youth Choir and the New Zealand Secondary Students Choir. 

Matthew Hanson appointed as Assistant Curator at Artspace Aotearoa

With Robbie Handcock flying the nest for London after two years, the K’ Road gallery has been recruiting for an Assistant Curator. Last week they announced the appointment of Matthew Hanson, who has until recently been based in Zürich. “Artspace was a crucial place for me when I first started engaging with art,” he says, “it gave me access to ideas that opened up my thinking about what art could be. I am honoured to now be part of its mission and to have joined an amazing team who have been so welcoming.”

Hanson’s curating and writing work examines artistic methodologies and the psychic life of the art institution. He’s curated exhibitions in Germany and Switzerland and is a graduate of University of Auckland and the Zurich University of the Arts.
 

Ngā Taonga Board co-chair changes 

Emily Loughan, Co-chair since 2021, has finished her tenure.  During her time as Chair, Ngā Taonga successfully completed, in collaboration with National Library and Archives NZ, the Utaina project – the largest audiovisual digitisation project ever undertaken in Aotearoa. Current Board of Trustee member, Amit Prasad, has been appointed as the new Co-Chair to work alongside current Co-Chair Lynell Tuffery Huria.

👂🏻 Further reading and listening

To honour his friend and colleague Jen Lal who died last month, Sean Rivera remembers the Treasurer of the Swim Club 2025, Aunty, sports fan, Lalstar and sis in a moving obituary.

Shaquille Wasasala (Half Queen) has been on a break this year. In this month’s instalment of Talanoa with a Tusitala, she discusses why with Danielle Kionasina Dilys Thomson.

Charlotte Ryan has put together a playlist of New Zealand music for summer! 

The exhibition at Eastside Gallery listed in this month’s Toi Ōtautahi Dispatch caught my attention. It’s titled 15 Minutes From Home and all 18 artists live within a 15 minute walk of the gallery – the quality and breadth of the works is astounding, and I’m especially taken with the life-sized fantastical figurative sculptures by Rebecca Stewart.

The latest in our Tahuna Te Ahi (Setting the World Alight) series features Sarah Owen, who started her career working in a record label's distribution warehouse in the school holidays and is now the Kairangaranga of Ka Korokī Ka Maranga, the Māori Music Industry Collective.

📧 See you next year!

This is the last Artswire until February next year, however the jobs, opportunities and events listings will still be active on our site. Even if you are hunting through them, I hope you find some time for fun, rest and restoration over the holiday period. 

Xoxo

Gabi