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The COVID-19 Cultural Recovery Programme Impacts Report 2021/22 looks at the impact of COVID-19 funding for the arts, culture, heritage, media and broadcasting sectors delivered between June 2021 and July 2022. 
COVID-19 Cultural Recovery Programme Impacts Report 2021/22
The Government is making it easier for the screen sector to access support in order to attract more domestic and international productions to help grow the economy.
Supporting a strong future for screen sector
More than forty cultural sector initiatives have been announced today as the latest recipients of the Cultural Sector Regeneration Fund, giving them the backing they need to make a lasting impact for the arts, culture and heritage sectors.
Third Regeneration Fund decisions to support key cultural infrastructure
Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa is calling for public nominations for ngā toi Māori artists, arts practitioners to be recognised at this year’s Ngā Taonga Toi a Te Waka Toi Awards 2023. The purpose of Ngā Taonga Toi a Te Waka Toi Awards is to recognise artistic excellence, achievement and the contribution of Māori artists working in customary and contemporary ngā toi Māori to Aotearoa New Zealand. Three awards are open for public nomination from 5 May to 12 June 2023.
Nga Taonga Toi a Te Waka Toi 2023 Nominations Open Now
Shakespeare’s greatest love story returns to the Royal New Zealand Ballet in a passionate re-telling choreographed by Andrea Schermoly (Stand to Reason, Within Without). Exquisite sets and costumes by Academy Award-winning designer James Acheson, first seen onstage in 2017 to universal acclaim, bring to life all the splendour and seduction of Renaissance Verona, swept up in Prokofiev’s exhilarating, sensuous score. Touring nationwide, the latest production finishes in Napier on 10 June.
RNZB presents Romeo & Juliet
Saturday 1 July and Sunday 2 July will see senior Māori performers from around the country take the stage in Te Papa’s Soundings Theatre. More than a dozen groups from the far north to Te Waipounamu are travelling to Te Papa to perform kapa haka over the two days. The event is free to the public, and the performances are live-streamed by Te Papa on Facebook and YouTube to reach a national and global audience – in the past more than 100,000 people have viewed live-streams of the performances.
Taikura Kapa Haka returns to Te Papa Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 July
The New Zealand Symphony will perform selections from a landmark work by legendary Baroque violin virtuoso Heinrich Biber from Kerikeri to Blenheim in June.
Bohemian rhapsody: NZSO to perform Baroque masterpiece
Significant damage caused at the National Erebus Memorial site by recent extreme and unprecedented weather events in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, means a new enduring home for the memorial needs to be found.
New site required for National Erebus Memorial due to safety concerns
As the Mānawatia a Matariki exhibition opens, Te Papa is sharing nationwide research and visitor insights that show how New Zealanders are embracing the indigenous New Year. The museum has also released its Matariki events programme including Taikura Kapa Haka, and launched new online resources at https://tepapa.nz/matariki.
Te Papa research reveals how New Zealanders mark Matariki

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Kāinga Te Tahua Arts and Culture COVID Recovery Programme CARE Fund

CARE Fund

Te Tahua Whakahaumaru  
Creative Arts Recovery and Employment (CARE) Fund 

This fund is now closed


The CARE Fund was designed to support the cultural sector to adapt to the COVID-19 environment by funding projects that enhance access to, and participation in, the cultural sector and create employment and skill development opportunities. It included some contestable initiatives as well as projects in partnership with other agencies. Projects funded through CARE are underway and will continue to 2024.  

Ngā Wāhi Auaha  
The Creative Spaces initiative   

The Creative Spaces initiative is designed to increase participation in creative activities for people experiencing barriers to participation and create employment for creative professionals. Funding was available for organisations or groups providing access to art-making activities and creative expression for people who experience barriers to participation, which include: 

  • intellectual or physical disabilities 
  • neurological conditions or mental illness 
  • age-related vulnerability (seniors or youth) 
  • cultural or social isolation or poverty. 

Creative spaces could apply for up to $150,000 a year, for a total of up to $450,000 in total over the three years. Through two rounds of funding, 54 organisations received a total of $17.12 million.   
 
View list of funding recipients

Ngā Kaiwhakaoho Ahurea  
Cultural Activators Pilot  

The Cultural Activators Pilot funded cultural activators in eight communities for a year to increase access and participation in cultural activities.  

Established cultural sector practitioners collaborate with their communities to tell their stories, build their creative skills, and connect them with opportunities in the wider cultural sector.  

Through this fund, eight organisations were funded a total of $1.44 million to host eight activators. 

View list of host organisations  

Ngā Puninga Toi ā-Ahurea me ngā Kaupapa  
Cultural Installations and Events  

Cultural Installations and Events was designed to create employment and skill development opportunities for cultural practitioners and allow more people to participate in our cultural sector.  

Funding was for free events in easy to access spaces people regularly go or are easy to discover, such as community hubs, shopping malls, parks, beaches, marae, churches, reserves, or along a waterfront.  

Through this fund, 73 installations and events received a total of $1.209 million. 

View list of funding recipients 

The planned round two of Cultural Installations and Events will no longer go ahead. 

Future of the CARE Fund 

There are no further rounds of the CARE Fund initiatives planned.  

The CARE Fund was one of three original delivery funds for the Cultural Sector Regeneration Fund. The others were the Cultural Sector Capability Fund and the Cultural Sector Innovation Fund.   

To provide support for the cultural sector in light of the Delta and Omicron outbreaks, some adjustments were made to the Cultural Sector Regeneration Fund and funding reprioritised to emergency funding initiatives. 

In July 2022 it was announced that the remaining funding from the Cultural Sector Regeneration Fund would be delivered as a single fund. This revised Cultural Sector Regeneration Fund combines the outcomes of the three previously separate funds.

Updated on 13th December 2022