Jump to content

Back

27 Sep 2024

A reflection on the past and the future

Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua.
I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on my past.

This whakataukī or ‘proverb’ speaks to Te Ao Māori perspectives of time, where the past, the present and the future can be viewed as being intertwined. We move forward by acknowledging the past and learning from things that have happened in our connection to life as a continuous cosmic process.

Creative Waikato is entering a new time of change. As we move forward, we reflect on the past and honour the mahi that has helped to shape who we are today. We recognise the contributions of all those people who laid the foundations, weaving their efforts into the fabric of our future.

Back in 2021, several initiatives, pilots and COVID response investments enabled us to expand our strategic goals and increase the services we provided to Waikato-based artists, creative organisations and cultural groups. Creative Waikato strategically identified these opportunities to expand the impact and sustainability of our core plans and visions, ensuring that while this government investment may have been short-term, it would contribute to the long-term strengthening of creativity in our communities.

Now, in 2024, we have reached the end of these government contracts from Te Manatū Whakahiato Ora (Ministry of Social Development) and Manatū Taonga (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), which funded development and initial delivery of several of our significant projects. Moving forward, the scale, scope and capacity of our mahi will change but our commitment to Waikato creative communities will remain the same.

With the end of these government contracts also comes the end of some of our staff contracts. These team members actively served our purpose and vision during their contracts and time here. Despite their departure, we continue to celebrate, utilise and engage with the enduring impact of the seeds they have sown. Resources and programmes were developed with a vision for their future activation and implementation. This means their work will keep flourishing and benefiting the arts, culture and creativity of Waikato and its people.

As we navigate the transition of these wonderful individuals into their new chapters, it has given us a moment to pause. It’s fascinating to reflect on the past few years of activity, community engagement, resource development, advocacy, research and impact. We have witnessed what increased government investment can enable in the regions, worked closely with local artists and creatives on numerous new initiatives, and seen how this mahi has built upon the foundations established in Creative Waikato’s early phases. We understand how this group of people set frameworks for the next iterations of our kaimahi to continue weaving, refining and redeveloping in order to best serve our communities.

We want to acknowledge and thank all those people who have shared their time, knowledge and creative passion with the organisation and the work we do in the region. We also want to celebrate the continued vital mahi undertaken by the artists, creatives, cultural groups, organisations, venues, and other participants all of whom contribute to this region and its wellbeing and creativity. 

So, to look backwards and look forwards, we wanted to outline a number of the projects and initiatives that have been developed to help provide the care, capability building, support and creativity that we have been working to provide to our community into the future. While these funded programmes reach an endpoint, we have worked strategically to ensure resources and support remain accessible into the future.

Our government contracts from 2021-2024 included:

We want to take a moment to express our gratitude to the Ministries. Thank you for trusting us and working with us to deliver these projects. We deeply appreciate your investment in Creative Waikato which allowed us to develop these resources, programmes and initiatives. Your support enabled our team to grow and expand the service to our community over this time. 

LOOKING FORWARD

Now, while we look back and acknowledge the past that got us to this point, we want to be clear about what lies ahead.

Creative Waikato will: 

  • Continue to serve the Waikato Region in alignment with the Waikato Arts Navigator and the support of our local funders. 
  • Continue to provide capability development, resources, support, strategy and advocacy for our region
  • Continue to work with regional partners and other collaborators to create opportunities to support arts, culture and creativity in our communities. 

We have utilised this period of increased investment to develop a number of resources and programmes that you might like to explore. These are grouped in alignment with our strategic pou:

 

Elevate | Hāpai – We help you to succeed through advice, training and support

  • ArtReach – Training workshops for Creative Organisations
  • Creative Development support (make an appointment with our team)
  • Creative Careers advice
  • Toi Maaori support (make an appointment with our team)
  • Pakihi Toi – support for Maaori creatives
  • Support for finding funding for creative opportunities

Connect | Tūhono – We connect you with the right people and places for stronger creative outcomes

Amplify | Whakarahi – We share stories far and wide and drive engagement with creative activity

Advocate | Taunaki – We stand up for arts, culture and creativity as they are essential to wellbeing

All these things and more will continue to be available for our communities into the future and we look forward to working with you to ensure that Waikato thrives with diverse and transformative creative activity.