Artists in the wild:
Creative New Zealand and
Department of Conservation
announce partnership
A new partnership between Creative New Zealand and the Department of
Conservation, aimed at encouraging artists to create works inspired by New
Zealand's natural and historic resources, has been launched by Associate
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Judith Tizard and Conservation Minister Sandra Lee.
Artists in the wild:
Creative New Zealand and
Department of Conservation
announce partnership
A new partnership between Creative New Zealand and the Department of
Conservation, aimed at encouraging artists to create works inspired by New
Zealand's natural and historic resources, has been launched by Associate
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Judith Tizard and Conservation Minister Sandra Lee.
This partnership will involve three strands, the first of which is a
residency programme for artists called Wild Creations. Fifteen possible
residency locations have been identified by the Department of Conservation,
representing a diversity of conservation sites from Auckland to Central
Otago. Piloting of the Wild Creations strand will involve three artists
spending up to six weeks of next summer exploring the environment of a
particular conservancy to research new works. DOC will host the artists and
Creative New Zealand will pay them a stipend.
"Artists are being enlisted to record New Zealand's conservation heritage,"
Ms Tizard and Ms Lee said. "They'll be free to explore the environment and
challenges of their location through the artisic mediums of any cultural
tradition, including craft, choreography, photography, painting, sculpture,
literature or music."
Creative New Zealand Chief Executive Elizabeth Kerr describes the
partnership as a significant
and exciting initiative for New Zealand. "Artists have always responded to
their environment and
the New Zealand landscape has inspired great works, so a partnership
betweent the arts and the
natural environment is obvious and apt."
Director General of DOC, Hugh Logan believes this partnership is a major
step forward for New
Zealand. "In five years time, I can see some major travelling exhibitions
celebrating the work that
has been produced. I believe these residencies will result in something
spectacular, which will
be so stimulating it will capture the imagination of people in New Zealand
and overseas."
Creative New Zealand supports other projects and schemes that bring
together artists and the
environment - most notably, the successful partnership between Creative
New Zealand and
Antarctica New Zealand. For the past five years, New Zealand artists across
all artforms have visited Antarctica and returned to New Zealand to make
work inspired by their experiences. These include: writer Margaret Mahy,
visual artist Margaret Elliot, dancer Bronwyn Judge, musician Chris
Cree-Brown and sculptor Virginia King.
Margaret Elliot highlights the value of such initiatives to artists and New
Zealanders when she says
that through experiences such as visiting Antarctica, "We are confronted
with our transience
and our fragility. We need reminding to have more respect for our
environment; to realise the
interdependence of the environment and the living things its supports."
Ms Tizard and Ms Lee said the scheme was a good example of crown agencies
working together to offer opportunities to artists and increase general
awareness of New Zealand's cultural heritage and conservation values.
"For the Department of Conservation these artist residencies are a way of
promoting the
country's natural and historic heritage. For Creative New Zealand and the
artists it
supports, the residencies are a valuable opportunity to create work in our
protected spaces
and be informed by them."
The Ministers said the scheme will increase the artistic documentation of
the country's natural and cultural heritage. "Many New Zealanders treasure
and gain inspiration from our outdoors when they visit the many special
sites we have up and down our country. This scheme will help artists to
express the source of their inspiration and to share it with others."
Artists wishing to take part in the pilot programme will need to forward a
written expression of interest to DOC by 28 June. A panel comprising
representatives of DOC and Creative New Zealand will then select three
pilot residencies.
The scheme will run as a pilot project for the first year, and will then be
re-assessed. It is hoped it will become an annual programme. The first
three artists will be selected by mid 2002 and take up their residencies
over the summer of 2002/2003.
Further information:
Undine Marshfield, Media and Communications Advisor, Creative New Zealand
Tel: 04 498 0725, 025 965 925 undinem@creativenz.govt.nz