The Green Party will support the arts and cultural heritage sector to develop to its highest standard and be properly resourced. A Green government will collaborate with funders, the industry, and other stakeholders, including tangata whenua, who have the right to protect traditional and contemporary Māori art. We will nurture talent in our communities by providing educational opportunities in schools and communities and by expanding platforms for arts and cultural heritage.
Vision
Creative, cultural and heritage work is integrated within our communities in myriad innovative ways that empower people, spread happiness, and encourage intercultural appreciation and understanding.
Values and Principles
- Honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi: Revitalising and celebrating toi Māori, tikanga Māori and te reo Māori is key to ensuring a thriving arts industry. The Crown has a responsibility to ensure the protection and return of taonga, including Māori arts, culture, intellectual property and heritage sites. The Crown must support and contribute to but not determine the revitalisation of toi Māori, tikanga Māori and te reo Māori.
- Ecological Wisdom: The arts play a part in enabling the transition to a life-sustaining society by changing hearts and minds. Mātauranga Māori, as expressed through art and cultural practice, is inextricably linked to the natural world.
- Social Responsibility: The arts foster community and improve our daily well-being, empathy, equality and cultural diversity, as well as contributing economically.
- Appropriate Decision-Making: Those involved in arts and cultural heritage work must be involved in developing guidelines for funding. Local communities must be given the ability to protect places, buildings and heritage collections that are important to them historically and culturally. The tino rangatiratanga of hapū and iwi over their taonga must be affirmed, through Matike Mai mechanisms.
- Non-Violence: All art forms practised and recognised in Aotearoa New Zealand are included in this policy and their interconnectedness is acknowledged. The art forms of marginalised cultures and groups should be equitably supported.
- Resilience: Arts, culture and heritage are essential social infrastructure, not luxuries. The Government should help build their resilience in our communities and at professional levels.
- Professional: A vibrant and diverse professional arts sector contributes to all our lives, as well as the identity of Aotearoa New Zealand on the international stage.
Strategic Priorities
The Green Party’s strategic goals include:
“People will be part of caring communities with a strong heritage fabric”
Actions in this policy that will help achieve this include:
- Ensure cultural heritage infrastructure and funding provisions are sufficient to increase participation in community arts, provide arts and cultural heritage education, and support the professional arts to reach the highest standard. (1.2)
- Support and promote the protection of both traditional and contemporary Māori art and art forms. (2.1)
- Develop and resource the implementation of an ongoing arts education strategy from early childhood to tertiary level. (3.3.1)
- Developing a network of Art Spaces and heritage equivalents in every community that are accessible to all cultures and levels of ability, including programmes in prisons, and care and refuge spaces. (3.11)
Connected Policies
Providing platforms through Media to celebrate the arts is important for arts, culture and heritage to thrive. Ensuring sufficient income for those working in the arts, cultural and heritage sectors is part of our Livelihoods and Workforce Policies. The Crown’s responsibility to ensure the protection and revitalisation of natural and other taonga is explored in our Biodiversity and Environmental Regeneration and Kaupapa Māori Policies.
