The mahi of well-known New Zealand artists and creatives Ralph Hotere, Mataaho Collective,Keri Hulme, Eleanor Catton, The Topp Twins, John Clarke, Parris Goebel, Black Grace, Bic Runga, Lorde and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa feature in the latest public push from Creative New Zealand (CNZ).

Creativity makes us – Auahatia! is the organisation's new arts advocacy campaign, "celebrating the power of creativity and its important role in our lives and national identity. " 

The Monday (10 February) launch comes with a slick video and new campaign website designed to be a celebration of the depth and breadth of talent within the creative community's ranks, as well as a call to action - Auahatia! translates to make! Create! 

Mainstream media will be the focus of this campaign, set to be rolled out publicly over the coming weeks on TVNZ+, Stuff and The Herald, street posters and social media. Future campaigns will run under the same banner.  

CNZ Chief Executive, Stephen Wainwright states “Aotearoa New Zealand is a nation brimming with creativity.   

“The more we recognise and celebrate this, the more we can all work to ensure our artists and creatives thrive. Creativity makes us – Auahatia! is an invitation for everyone to see themselves as part of this rich creative story.”   

 Made in partnership with creative agency, Curative, this is a key piece in the puzzle for CNZ's advocacy team.

Advocacy Manager Tracey Monastra told The Big Idea "Public campaigns provide an opportunity to highlight the value of art, culture and creativity in a way that everyone can see.

"As the national arts development agency, we have an important role in championing and promoting NZ art and artists.

"Over the long term, it’s also about building public understanding of the contribution the arts makes to us individually and as a nation, this helps deepen and shore up long-term support for the sector.

"We’ve been running public campaigns championing New Zealand art and artists for the past few years – including Art Work, Creative Wellbeing, Thankful for Art. Advocacy relies on repetition, so we wanted to develop a more consistent message, that would enable us to build greater public recognition over time. Creativity makes us – Auahatia! is the latest step, and we’re thrilled to be uniting this strand of our advocacy under one powerful ongoing message."

Monastra hopes this campaigns helps "To awaken more NZers to the power of art, culture, creativity and ngā toi Māori! To inspire more engagement, more connection, more joy. Ultimately, this work is about encouraging NZers to consider their own relationship to creativity – and how creativity makes us who we are as individuals and a nation. Then get out and experience the work of our artists more."

When asked what Aotearoa creatives should take out of this new initiative, Monastra responds "That CNZ is actively working to build more support for NZ artists.  

"This campaign is a collective celebration of artists’ work, and we hope they feel uplifted and proud as we tell that story to the NZ public. The campaign video celebrates everyday creative acts alongside archive footage of leading NZ artists, reminding us that NZ has always been proudly creative."

Any spending from CNZ that isn't on funding often raises hackles in the creative community. The organisation points out this campaign falls under CNZ’s advocacy programme and is part of it operating expenses, with the advocacy budget is approximately 2% of CNZ’s overall operational budget. The operational budget is separate to funds earmarked for artists and arts organisations. 

A full list of the creatives featured in the campaign can be found here on the campaign website.