Trustees reaffirmed our strategy and refined priorities for Te Taumata to emphasise visioning, tactical leadership and advocacy; funding equity and strategic investment; and regional creative sector development and infrastructure.

‘Decolonise’ was added as a pou to the Te Taumata strategy, and ngā toi Māori development and centering te ao Māori were made a strategic priority.

An honorary role, ihorei, was created by the trust to acknowledge the trust’s intention to continue to access the wisdom of our retiring founding trustee, Sandi Morrison.

Co-investment from Manatū Taonga the Ministry of Culture & Heritage saw Te Taumata deliver, through the Tāmaki Makaurau Capability Network, a co-designed range of projects and initiatives designed to strengthen the capability of the creative sector in Tāmaki Makaurau. These included the Wāhine and Irawhiti Creative Leadership Programme.

Collaboration with Auckland Council to lead community engagement for a review of the regional arts and culture strategic plan, Toi Whitiki.

Te Taumata committed to support the development of a concept for a Māori artist-led collective, Te Manawa to lead transformational change in the toi Māori creative in Tāmaki Makaurau.

Cooperation with Auckland Council to co-convene the regional arts Investors’ Forum continued to shape a more strategic approach to investment in the creative eco-system of Tāmaki Makaurau

The trust’s collaboration on Toi Whitiki provided insight into the value that a sector-led national strategy could deliver for ngā toi arts, culture and creative sector. Advocacy for a national strategy became a key point in our response to an invitation from Manatū Taonga - Ministry for Culture & Heritage contribute to their Long-Term Insights Briefing.

Auckland Council’s proposed budget in 2021 included cuts to budgets and access to resources such as Council facilities The risk from the proposed cuts was the long-term hollowing out of the country’s largest creative ecosystem. Te Taumata worked with the Ngā Toi Advocacy Network and key sector leaders/advocates to develop an advocacy campaign, ‘StopTheCuts’. To provide Council with well-informed feedback, Te Taumata commissioned an impact survey to understand the potential effects of the proposed cuts on the city’s arts, culture and creative sector. We created an online StopTheCuts web portal to inform the sector and public of the potential impacts of the cuts. The hub also provided vital access to information, submission templates and guidance, and clear and compelling key messages to strengthen the sector’s capacity to engage in their own direct advocacy.

The third ‘state of the sector’ report was produced, and the report Ngā Toi Funding Ecosystem was updated.

Research was commissioned into the needs of the Asian arts community and what Asian arts practitioners felt was needed to build a stronger Asian arts sector. Information drawn from a survey, workshop, and a series of individual interviews with Asian arts practitioners was captured in the Enter The Multiverse report which outlined the key issues facing the sector and three key areas of focus for support. The report informed the development of the Asian Artists’ Fund by Foundation North and Creative New Zealand.

Creative governance webinar Future Models of Creative Governance and publication of think piece Future models of governance for the creative sector - Navigating towards a new future.

The development of Te Manawa continues

The third cohort recruited for the Wāhine and Irawhiti Creative Leadership programme

Creative sector governance ‘community of practice’ formed to help board members of creative organisations navigate the governance challenges of a complex postpandemic environment.

Te Taumata knowledge bank, Kete Mātauranga, opens online to make Te Taumata research, and reports and resources from across the sector, easy to access

Creative Capital podcast interviews bring diverse voices into the conversation about the arts and culture of Aotearoa

Hōhā and Hauora – Learning about Arts Advocacy report shares insights from Te Taumata on the trust’s experience with StopTheCuts, Arts Action Now, and other advocacy initiatives

Collaboration with other regional arts organisations to through the Regional Arts Network Aotearoa (RANA) to support the creation of a national strategy for Aotearoa arts, culture and creativity to provide a framework for the intentional development of the sector’s future.