Many creatives have been cheering the Artists Resale Royalties developments from the sidelines - but now, it's your turn to get in the game.

Manatū Taonga Ministry of Culture and Heritage (MCH) have today opened up a six-week window for public submissions on the proposals for the Resale Right for Visual Artists regulations.

This is the time to get involved - as MCH will use this feedback to illustrate how the creative community feels about the scheme.

To make a submission on the proposals for regulations, you can download the discussion document and the submission form, which is open until 25 May.

Also worth noting is that the Resale Right for Visual Artists Bill is currently open for consultation. The deadline to make a submission to the Social Services and Community Committee is by 27 April - that's about two weeks.

So while the scheme won't be introduced until 2024, the next month or so will play an important role in how it rolls out.  

So if you have any thoughts on ensuring the creators of visual arts are recognised and rewarded when their work is resold on the secondary art market - especially if you have skin in the game, now is the time to voice them.

Strong start to new funding platform

For some, the F word is one that makes blood boil and hearts sink. But there's been a positive start to a new initiative that is hoped to be a funding game-changer for many.

Funding HQ launched its Arts and Culture platform last week to a strong response. Backed by Manatū Taonga's Cultural Sector Innovation Fund, it's designed to support arts organisations who are looking for a financially sustainable funding model (read: pretty much everyone).  

It's run by fundraising veteran Jenni Giblin, who told The Lowdown "we've had lots of enquiries since we launched as there are many groups out there - especially in the arts and culture space - needing fundraising assistance.  

"I've been busy doing on-line demonstrations of the platform and the coaching support we offer. We've had the odd enquiry from artists but our focus is on charitable organisations not individuals.

"We've also had a lot of positive feedback from arts and culture groups being very excited this support is now available."

It's no secret that not all charitable organisations are created - or funded - equal, so anything that adds opportunity to even the playing field stands to make a world of difference.

“In order to be successful in securing funds, organisations need to have a clear and compelling case for investment, a diversified plan and be prepared to invest time into relationship management – without these three steps it is much harder to secure funding,” Giblin explains.
 

Gift that keeps on giving

One of the most sought-after acknowledgements of making excellence has been handed out for 2023 - with the Blumhardt Foundation announcing the latest recipients of the $10,000 Dame Doreen’s Gift.

Jeweller Octavia Cook of Port Chalmers and maker Steven Junil Park of Christchurch have been awarded the annual encouragements for an establishing artist and a mid-career artist whose craft/object practices are deemed outstanding and have garnered the admiration and respect of peers, sector leaders and institutions. The gifts are named after the late Dame Doreen Blumhardt, a notable potter and arts advocate who set up the Foundation to advance the craft/object sector. 

The announcement was made by Blumhardt Foundation Chair Philip Clarke at Auckland's Objectspace, where major survey exhibition Cook & Company: Octavia Cook is currently on display. Serendipitously Steven Park is a contributor. 

Clarke declares “Octavia and Steven have very different practices, but trustees discerned in both a fastidious commitment to exploring materiality that address relationships and wider cultural conversations. It is the combination of these attributes that rendered their work outstanding.”

Cook's career as a self-employed jeweller is into its 24th year, developing a very distinctive practice which has explored jewellery’s own history and capacity to express notions of value that's seen her work represented in leading national and international public collections like Te Papa, Auckland Museum, National Gallery of Victoria and Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts.  

She enthuses “the support of the Blumhardt Foundation is a beacon of positivity for Aotearoa New Zealand craft/object makers. Dame Doreen's Gift comes as I conclude work on a survey show that was 18 months in the making. This acknowledgement gives me renewed purpose to take into the workshop and the means to pursue fresh ideas and materials for my next body of work.”

Korean-born Park operates under the label 6 x 4 and makes clothing as well as shoes, jewellery and objects, all of which are made from second hand materials. Of his work, he explains “I think of making as a conversation between maker and material. I am drawn to making functional objects as they seem to hold secrets as to what it means to be human.

“It’s very heart-warming to have this recognition of my work as I've often felt outside of many fields. Having this support will allow me to focus solely on the shows I have coming up this year. I want to be ambitious and expansive and this gift will allow me to do so.”

Payne a big gain

Speaking of makers, One of the cultural cornerstones of West Auckland will have a new artistic lens from tomorrow (Friday 14 April), with Corban Estate Arts Centre opening the doors for its first exhibitions under new curator Melina Payne.

Having only started in February, Payne has built her career on creating spaces for emerging artists in Aotearoa and through previous positions as Co-Chair and Managing Director at MEANWHILE, Executive Director at Inverlochy Art School in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, as well as various roles at Enjoy Contemporary Art Space, RM Gallery, Thistle Hall Community Venue and the UK's Hundred Years Gallery.

Payne told The Lowdown "It’s quite fitting that the exhibitions, Dal (by Tāmaki-based ceramicist Jino Jeong) and Low Carbon Luxe (from Pōneke-based artists Christine Brimer, Bernadette Casey, and Barbara Wheeler), are two of my first in the role of Curator and Exhibitions Manager at Corban Estate Arts Centre. With a background in facilitating artist-run spaces and working at organisations with small budgets, I am very much used to embracing imperfection, as I can imagine many of us are in the arts. 

"It is in this way that spending time with these exhibitions has allowed me the great privilege of looking back on past projects and the ways in which my team and I took something, whether it be a busted old plinth, paint-splattered floor or abandoned road-side couch, and (sometimes reluctantly, sometimes excitedly) welcomed it with open arms."

The fascinating collection of pottery, weaving, macrame, sculptural basketry and quilting, will be on display in the Homestead Galleries until 27 May as part of EcoFest 2023.

Whau feels

Taking arts and culture back to the streets has produced some of the most joyous scenes of 2023 - and more of the same can be expected this Saturday (15 April) as the Whau Arts Festival jumps on board the 'Open Streets' golbal phenomena and takes over the main hub of Avondale.

It's set to have those inimitable community feels, with performances and exhibitions from local creatives, ranging from big names like King Kapisi to Young Gho$t through to visual artists Fiona Jack and Alex Scott, not to mention a diverse array of cultural performances that truly represent the area's communities.

Festival organisers’ Whau The People  - with renowned photographer and creative Janet Lilo the Co-Director -  have been able to close off traffic on Great North Rd from the length of Rosebank Road down to the iconic Spider sculpture, allowing the festival to spill out into the street.  

Lilo proclaims "we can celebrate our homegrown creatives and fully immerse in the many fantastic performances and activities programmed for the day. You can walk, run, bike or dance through the main street of Avondale, it’s going to be a day of celebration.

"Art is so important, especially as we navigate the COVID era. Now we face head on the impact of climate change. Artists produce work that mirrors and celebrates our experiences and identity; there’s nowhere else in the world to see this expression of our communities captured so uniquely by our incredible artists."

There's also an opportunity for the community to give back to one of their own - with the Whau Local Hero award open for nominations.

Rather than just getting a sash or a moment on stage, there's an opportunity to be immortalised through art.

The winning candidate will have a portrait painted of them by renowned painter Zarahn Southon (Ngāti Tūwhatetoa).

Lilo says nominations for any individual from the Whau catchment community deserving of acknowledgment are open until 15 April, with the winner coming from who gets the highest number of votes. You can email the name of your local hero and why they/you deserve the award (in less than 100 words) to kiaora@whauthepeople.com

Last year’s local hero Henga Amosa (below, painted by Jean Stewart) was singled out for her dedication, passion and mahi as Manager of Early Childhood Centre Aoga Amata.

Words to the wise

Busy times in Aotearoa's literary circles at the moment.

With the Auckland Writer's Festival and Ockham New Zealand Book Awards looming next month, there will be plenty getting a well-earned spotlight.

But there's more happening in the meantime, including the doors being opened for the first of Mātātuhi Foundation's two funding grant cycles for the year (closing 31 May).

With grants ranging between $5,000 and $20,000 for projects, new initiatives or business expansion ideas that relate to New Zealand literature fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry - it's a great opportunity to get a much-needed boost.

The New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA) have plenty showering writers with the glow of recognition too.

The shortlist for the Laura Solomon Cuba Press Prize has been announced - an award that celebrates fresh writing with a 'unique and original vision'. 

Of the 58 applications, Susanna Elliffe, Melanie Kwang, Wes Lee, Lee Murray, and Kathryn van Beek have made the cut - with the winner to be announced in June, where they'll receive a cash award as an ‘advance’ of $1000 and a publishing contract supplied by The Cuba Press who will edit, design, print, market, distribute and promote the book and e-book and pay standard author royalties.

NZSA has also put out the longlist for the 2023 Michael Gifkins Prize for an Unpublished Novel 2023.

The manuscripts of G.M. Allen, Jane Bitomsky, Tina Cartwright, Oliver Clifton, Thom Conroy, Rachel J Fenton, Danielle Heyhoe, Anne Lochead, Alex Lodge, Heidi North, Joe Parker, Tina Shaw, Andrew Spittle, Helen Waaka are in contention - with the winner to be revealed next month.

Keep your eyes peeled

If you're in the creative (or creatively-adjacent) fields in Tāmaki Makaurau, there's an opportunity coming up that won't just open doors in your career, it could blow the door off its hinge.

Can't say much more yet, but watch this space...