Getting funded

Glossary

This glossary explains the terms used by Creative New Zealand within our Contestable Funding programme. Many of these terms may also have other quite valid definitions, but this glossary is to help people understand how we at Creative New Zealand use these terms.

A B C D EFG H IJK L M NOP Q R S TUV WXYZ

A

Activities

include activities such as:

arts related creative or professional development workshops, wānanga, fono, symposiums, residencies, etc
the presentation or re-presentation of artwork such as productions, concerts, exhibitions, publications, tours, etc ;and/or
other kinds of arts based projects or events such as an arts festival

An activity might be undertaken by an individual, a group and/or an arts organisation.

Artform

one of various forms of arts practice, for example theatre or dance.

Artform development

Developing the arts involves identifying and encouraging progression on a number of levels:

the development of high-quality and innovative art
the development of individual artists and arts practitioners through improving their artistic quality, their ability to be innovative, or their productivity, so that they can reach their potential and achieve their goals
the development of arts organisations through improving their artistic quality, organisational effectiveness, and financial health
the development of New Zealand’s arts infrastructure, arts communities and audiences.

Arts development

Developing the arts involves identifying and encouraging progression on a number of levels:

the development of high-quality and innovative art
the development of individual artists and arts practitioners through improving their artistic quality, their ability to be innovative, or their productivity, so that they can reach their potential and achieve their goals
the development of arts organisations through improving their artistic quality, organisational effectiveness, and financial health
the development of New Zealand’s arts infrastructure, arts communities and audiences.

Audience development

An audience development programme or initiative aims to have audiences more engaged and participating more often, and to encourage new audiences.

Audiences

Includes viewers, readers, listeners, purchasers and/or attenders of artworks.

B

Best practice

activities or methods that are shown to produce the best results.

C

Community

A community may be based around a place, a cultural tradition, or commonly held interests or experiences.

Community arts

Creative New Zealand recognises three core strands of activity as community arts and these are:

Community Cultural Development

collaboration of arts practitioners with communities to achieve artistic and social outcomes
processes of collective creativity
community-based issues focused on through the arts (for example in relation to the environment or to issues of social equity).

Maintenance and Transmission of Cultural Traditions

Māori and Pasifika Heritage Artforms
defined groups of interest (such as migrant communities) maintaining and preserving their distinctive artistic and cultural traditions from one generation to the next.

Leisure and Recreation Activities

community-based arts groups devoted to the recreational pursuit of diverse artforms.

Community arts participation

By supporting initiatives that encourage participation in the arts, Creative New Zealand’s focus is mainly on people’s active involvement in the arts. There are also community arts activities. e.g. workshops, wānanga or fono — in which participants are involved actively and receptively in the learning, practice, presentation and appreciation of their traditional arts practices. This means that participants may not be actively involved in the activity but may be present at the activity, listening, learning and acquiring skills and knowledge.

Craft/Object art

Craft/object art includes traditional applied arts and contemporary practice, as well as Ceramics, jewellery, glass, textiles, metal, woodwork, and studio-based design.

Creative non-fiction

writing projects which use literary techniques to create factually accurate work. They are assessed on their literary merit. All non-fiction projects must demonstrate literary merit to be considered for support.

Cultural diversity

Creative New Zealand’s concept of cultural diversity is set out in the Cultural Diversity Strategy endorsed by the Arts Council at its June 2006 meeting. Developed in partnership with tangata whenua, the strategy’s notion of cultural diversity encompasses both ethnic and community diversity, and has the following features:

promoting inclusion: all of New Zealand’s cultural and ethnic communities have a voice in the arts,
preserving uniqueness and cultural identity: New Zealand’s unique cultures are protected and preserved,
diversification of artforms: arts programmes will reflect the range of artforms, values and beliefs of New Zealand’s diverse artists. This can include the reflection and encouragement of traditional artforms of ethnic artists, as well as the hybrid artforms that are created through a fusion of New Zealand’s unique range of cultural influences,
raising awareness, understanding and respect for culturally diverse arts,
encouraging and supporting active participation in the arts by all New Zealanders: ensuring that more culturally diverse art is visible and available to all New Zealanders,
diversification of audience profile: audiences have access to arts that reflect the communities of New Zealand,and/or
increasing employment opportunities: there are increasing opportunities for people from a range of ethnic groups to work in the arts, including in management and governance positions.

Cultural tradition

Relates to the particular artistic heritage that the project or activity is part of, for example:

a dance project with a focus on tango would be Latin American
an Indonesian wayang kulit (shadow puppet) production would be Southeast Asian
a project featuring a group of ueillian bagpipers would be Anglo-Saxon / Celtic

It does not relate to the individual applicant’s ethnic affiliations or geographical origins.

D

Dance

Dance includes classical and contemporary dance; street, experimental and integrated dance; and traditional and contemporary Maori and Pacific Island dance.

Design

Creative New Zealand can support non-commercial projects that recognise and build on the interaction between design and arts practice. Creative New Zealand supports 2D design projects focused on typography, poster design, graphic design and publication design through the Visual arts artform category. 3D design projects are supported through the craft/object artform category and can include furniture and object-based design projects.

Digital environments

All online, mobile and broadcast media, and offline passive and interactive digital devices and platforms, that produce, distribute and consume creative digital content.

Distinctive

for the purposes of international touring or exhibiting, an artwork is ‘distinctive’ if it has been created by a New Zealand citizen or resident and has at least two of the following four features:

it has distinguishing characteristics that are typical of New Zealand art, music, dance, poetry and such like
it conveys or expresses experiences, attitudes and styles unique to the New Zealand way of life or to New Zealand’s history
it has representational, symbolic or iconic significance for New Zealand when taken abroad
it displays an authenticity and originality peculiar to the artist or artists who created it.

Distribution

The action of spreading or dispensing a work throughout a region. Distribution may involve the physical touring of a work (through, for example, exhibitions or performances), or the publishing and promotion of a literary work, or the digital transfer of an artwork by means of digital files passed between devices (such as computers and mobile phones) that are capable of reading digital formats.

Distribution agents

Are practitioners and organisations that have a proven ability to organise effectively and efficiently the physical distribution of the arts within New Zealand. This includes:

festivals
theatre and dance producers
music tour managers
organisers of visual arts and craft/object touring exhibitions
the organisers of a writers’ tour where a group of writers travel together to read and promote their work at a series of local venues
regional venues and galleries that receive touring work.

E

Emerging artist

An artist who:

has received recognition for the public presentation of at least one work in the area of arts practice for which they’re applying funding
is recognised by peers or experts in the artist’s area of arts practice, which can include kaumātua or kuia, or other people of standing within the artist’s community
has specialised training or practical experience in their area of arts practice (training need not have been at an academic institution)

Also see Public presentation

Established artist

An artist who:

has recently achieved the successful public presentation of at least three high-quality artworks, events or programmes in an area of arts practice, and
has endorsement and support for their work from at least two peers or experts in their area of arts practice, and
is recognised as being established in an artform practice.

Also see Public presentation

G

General Manager

The person who has overall responsibility for the financial and organisational management of a company or group. A General Manager will be retained by the company or group by means of a mutually agreed, written contract based on a clear job description. The contract will outline the rights, responsibilities and authorities of the General Manager, their remuneration and any reporting requirements to a Board or owners of the company.

Genre

A category of artistic, musical or literary composition characterised by a particular style, form or content; a kind or type of work.

H

Heritage arts

Artistic expressions and forms reflecting a particular cultural tradition or traditions that continue to be celebrated and practised by New Zealand artists and practitioners, and that are appreciated and supported by New Zealand communities.

High-quality

Assessors for Arts Grants, Quick Response and the Toi Tōtara Haemata and Toi Uru Kahikatea programmes pay particular attention to the strength of the idea; the viability of the process; the experience and ability of the people involved; and the soundness of the budget. Applications that can demonstrate strength in all four areas are seen as having the greatest potential to realise a high-quality work or project. Applications that can demonstrate strength in some of these areas are seen as having the potential to realise a quality work or project.

I

Innovation

Involves the creation of value out of new ideas, products, arts experiences, services, or ways of doing things. An ‘innovative’ arts practitioner will understand the skills and techniques required by their area of arts practice, but will not rely on established ideas, forms or ways of working. They will be actively investigating new ways of working and will be taking artistic risks.

Actual innovation will depend on context (when and where the project is to happen). It may exist in the form of the work, the process of creating the work, the way the work is presented, the ways the work engages with its audience, or the way in which skills and techniques are passed on.

Integrated programme of work

A programme that has more than one work/event and which:

has as its main focus the development or presentation of the arts or participation in the arts
has an overall artistic vision and is conceived, produced, curated, marketed and presented as an integrated package
occurs within a defined area or region and within a defined period of time.

An integrated programme of work may be offered in a variety of contexts, including programmes offered by an arts festival, an artist-run gallery, or a theatre company.

Inter-arts

Inter-arts projects integrate existing art forms and/or cultural arts practices into their own distinct art form with a singular artistic vision. An inter-arts project is likely to include experimental and hybrid practices, and exploratory or integrative processes.

Inter-arts practices

Forms of arts practice that use skills and techniques drawn from the range of artforms or cultural arts practices that Creative New Zealand supports. These are craft/object, dance, literature, Maori arts, media arts, music, Pacific arts, theatre and visual arts.

Inter-arts applications will have a singular artistic vision that combines artforms and/or cultural arts practices, or integrates existing artform practices, processes and techniques into their own distinct artwork(s). The application is likely to include details on a practice that is experimental and hybrid in nature, for example, an exploratory or integrative process.

Intercultural engagement

involves people from different cultural traditions or artistic backgrounds actively collaborating on a specific project or activity. It includes the development and promotion of artistic links between tāngata whenua and other first-nations peoples.

International-ready

An ‘international ready’ artist or company will have:

a track record of work that demonstrates the three criteria of international quality, distinctiveness and viability
infrastructure and the skills to work internationally and to support international engagement
a proven track record of successful work (for example, they’ve had at least three books or scores published, or had three works tour New Zealand, or had works exhibited in at least three solo or group exhibitions)
a proven track record of the distribution of their work in New Zealand
already achieved international success, and
a desire for international engagement and a strategy for undertaking it.

Internationally viable

An artwork by an international-ready artist or company is internationally viable if there is clear evidence that taking it overseas is feasible and practicable. There needs to be evidence of:

adequate financial resources
professional expertise of the individuals involved
robust infrastructure to support taking the work overseas
the use of appropriate marketing tools

The artwork’s potential for continued life overseas beyond the proposed presentations will also be considered.

Internship

A period of work placement where a person works alongside and learns from a more experienced person working in their field, such as a gallery curator. It is expected the learning area (or areas) will be identified as part of any internship proposal.

Investment

Making a monetary or other tangible contribution to a project or activity with the expectation of some form of return to the investor. Creative New Zealand expects its allocation of public funds to result in identifiable returns and benefits for New Zealand. The returns we seek are the outcomes stated in our Strategic Plan and Statement of Intent. We are more likely to contribute towards (‘invest’ in) projects that can clearly demonstrate an ability to deliver the results we are seeking.

K

Kaupapa Pasifika

When the Pacific Arts Committee assesses applications it considers the extent to which Kaupapa Pasifika is evident in the practice and results of the proposed project. Kaupapa Pasifika is based on these two concepts:

Kaupapa – awareness of the unique cultural perspectives of a distinct group of New Zealanders.
Pasifika – the unique cultural perspectives and beliefs embodied in the values, customs, rituals, dance, song, language and cultural expressions of the individual Pasifika nations.

The combination of the two attributes reflects the unique context of Aotearoabased Pasifika communities, their Pasifika aspirations, values and principles and desire to express cultural values and world views that relate to their experience as Pasifika peoples living in New Zealand.

When the Pacific Arts Committee is assessing a culturally-specific heritage arts application, it will replace the concept of Kaupapa Pasifika with the specific island group, for example, Kaupapa Samoa or Kaupapa Fiji. This is similar to the terms Fa’a Samoa or Vaka Viti meaning ’the Samoan way’ or ’the Fijian way’.

Key role

Refers to specific aspects of the New Zealand arts infrastructure that Creative New Zealand funds arts organisations to carry out. The term key role is used in relation to the Arts Leadership Investment (Toi Tōtara Haemata) programme. When determining Toi Tōtara Haemata key roles, Creative New Zealand identifies its own responsibilities in funding specific areas of arts practice, taking account of the funding responsibilities of other central and local government funders and support provided by the private sector.

L

Landed costs

Include fees and expenses incurred where the arts activity takes place overseas. Landed costs will generally be paid for by a presenter and include:

accommodation
artists fees
ground transport
marketing, technical support and presentation
per diems (daily allowances).

Literature

Literature includes autobiography, biography, memoir, children's fiction, creative non-fiction, essays, fiction, graphic novels with a strong literary element, histories, illustration of children's books, literary criticism, narrative non-fiction, poetry and writing in te reo.

Local arts

Community-based art acticities that are mainly intended to benefit local communities

M

Market development

A programme that maximises opportunities for developing sustainable markets for the arts through strategic investments and partnerships, either nationally and internationally.

Masterclasses

Classes, workshops, seminars or other training offered by experienced and respected artists and practitioners (see also Wānanga).

Media arts

Media arts includes a variety of artistic practices that use digital or analogue technologies within a screen-based, electronic, internet or mobile device domain.

Media arts projects may include animation, dance films, experimental films, experimental sound/audio, moving-image arts projects, network cultures and web-based art.

Mentoring

When an established artist or practitioner passes on skills or knowledge to a less-experienced artist or practitioner.

Moving-image

Moving-image projects can include fine-art video projects, installations, and experimental multidisciplinary arts projects.

Multimedia

Projects involving more than one material or artform.

Music

Music includes classical and contemporary music; orchestral, choral, and band music; opera; jazz and improvised music; sound art; contemporary popular music; 'world' music; and traditional and contemporary Māori and Pacific Island music.

Māori arts

Māori arts includes Māori heritage arts practice such as tāmoko, tarai waka, waiata, mōteatea, rāranga, whakairo, te reo, whaikōrero, karanga and traditional Māori games.

Māori arts also includes the work of Māori artists across all forms of contemporary arts practice, including theatre, music, dance, literature, visual arts, media arts, sculpture, painting, clay, ceramics, fibre, jewellery, printmaking, photography, drawing and installation.

Mātauranga Māori

Generally refers to Māori knowledge systems and values. All funding proposals submitted to Te Waka Toi are assessed in terms of how far Mātauranga Māori is evident in the practice and results of the proposed activity.

Mātauranga Māori literally translated means ‘Māori knowledge’. It’s a modern term that broadly includes traditions, values, concepts, philosophies, world views and understandings derived from uniquely Māori cultural points of view. It traverses customary and contemporary systems of knowledge. In everyday situations, Mātauranga Māori is an umbrella term that draws on knowledge systems such as whakapapa (genealogy), tikanga Māori (Māori protocol), manaaki (hospitality and consideration), taonga tuku iho Māori (treasured arts and heritage).

The term can be specific to iwi or hapū or whānau, and the unique characteristics of these groups are taught and passed through generations to maintain their own distinctive identities. Mātauranga Māori is not necessarily accessible to everyone. In traditional Māori society, certain aspects of ritual, lore and whakapapa were restricted to particular individuals or groups because of the sacred or dangerous nature of the knowledge.

N

Network cultures

The field of network cultures revolves around the interaction between forms of media such as the internet and mobile telephony, where the users themselves shape the technology.

New Zealand art

Works created, curated, written or presented by New Zealand citizens or residents. This may include the presentation of works originally written, created or composed by a New Zealander (for example, Lilburn, Hodgkins, Tuwhare, Mason), as well New Zealanders performing work originally written, composed or created by someone who lived or lives overseas (for example, Beethoven, Shakespeare, Puccini, Gershwin, Stoppard, Kushner).

New Zealand work

Original work created by a New Zealand citizen or resident (whether living or dead), and to subsequent presentations or exhibitions of that work.

P

Pacific arts

The unique cultural perspectives and beliefs embodied in the values, customs, rituals, dance, song, language and cultural expressions of individual Pasifika nations, such as Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Niue, Tokelau, Cook Islands and Tuvalu.

The Pacific Arts Committee supports the development of the arts and artists of New Zealand’s Pasifika communities across all forms of arts practice. This includes encouraging the practice and maintenance of Pacific heritage arts within New Zealand, as well as contemporary forms of arts practice.

Pacific arts

Under the Pacific arts category, Creative New Zealand supports Pasifika artists undertaking contemporary and heritage arts projects in all art forms – craft/object art, dance, inter-arts, literature, media arts, music, theatre and visual arts.

Pan-artform festivals

Pan-artform festivals involve a series of events occurring within a defined region in a defined period with an overall artistic vision and programme that is curated, presented, promoted and marketed as an integrated package. The festival will involve at least three art forms, be focussed on the development and presentation of the arts and offer community arts participation and engagement opportunities.

Per diems

Daily allowances

Practitioners

The term encompasses a wider group than the term ‘artists’. It includes people involved in organising the project and can include producers, stage managers, technicians, publishers, editors, translators, curators, agents and dealers, as well as community-based practitioners. The term includes those people who may not necessarily classify themselves as artists, but who may be necessary to creating, presenting or distributing an artwork.

Producer

The person responsible for the organisation of a production and is responsible for planning and overseeing the execution of all the elements required to ensure that a production occurs on time and on budget. A producer may be an individual or a company.

Professional artists

Are individuals who:

have acquired advanced knowledge or training within their chosen artform (this includes artists from diverse cultural backgrounds whose artistic or cultural knowledge has been developed through oral traditions; professional artists who are self-taught; and artists of professional calibre who must work outside the arts to generate income)
have received the recognition of their peers through the public presentation of their work in a professional context (this includes publishing, performing and exhibiting)
have a serious commitment to their arts practice and consider it a major part of their working life, rather than as a pastime, and
have maintained professional practice for at least three years.

Project

A self-contained activity that is time bound with an identifiable start and end date.

Public presentation

May include an exhibition, installation, publication or a performance. Venues may include (but are not confined to) a marae, theatre, gallery, bookshop or found space. For the presentation to qualify as a ‘public presentation’:

it must be open to members of the public to attend, view, read, or buy the work being presented
there must be public notification of the time and place at which the presentation will be available to the public, and
the presentation must seek and encourage critiques, reviews or peer evaluations of the presented work.

Performances, presentations, publications, exhibitions and showings made as part of a course of study do not count as public presentations.

Q

Quality

R

Remount

A reworked production or a new version of an existing work, piece or exhibition.

Residency

A host organisation supporting an artist to work with a community in a specific environment for a set period of time. The artist is expected to have meaningful interactions with the community. The host is expected to provide the artist with opportunities to develop new skills or directions in their work, or to produce a substantial body of new work.

S

Sector

The ‘New Zealand arts sector’ refers to the New Zealand arts community and all the artists, practitioners and organisations that contribute to creating, presenting and distributing the arts of New Zealand. The term ‘sector’ can also be used to refer to the artists, practitioners and organisations that make up a particular form of arts practice, such as the dance sector, the music sector and the literary sector.

Self-publishing

Is the publication of any book by the author of the work, without the involvement of an established third-party publisher. It is generally done at the expense of the author. Creative New Zealand does not support self-publishing.

T

Theatre

Theatre includes both classical and contemporary theatre, and all genres such as Comedy, drama, physical theatre, devised theatre, street theatre, musical theatre, circus, puppetry, mask and theatre for children.

Toi Tōtara Haemata

Also know as the Arts Leadership Investment programme. This Programme with the Arts Development Investment (Toi Uru Kahikatea) provide ongoing funding over several years to artists, arts practitioners and arts organisations to support continuous programmes of activity and ongoing infrastructure.

Toi is te reo for Arts. The tōtara is a native tree to Aotearoa: Haemata refers to the human qualities in this case growth, development, power, strength, protection, and leadership.

Toi Uru Kahikatea

Also known as the Arts Development Investment programme. This programme with the Arts Leadership Investment (Toi Tōtara Haemata) provide ongoing funding over several years to artists, arts practitioners and arts organisations to support continuous programmes of activity and ongoing infrastructure.

Toi is te reo for Arts. Uru refers to a grove of trees. Kahikatea are native trees that often grow together and can be among the tallest trees in the New Zealand forest. A Kahikatea of 56 meters (185 ft) is the tallest native tree in the country. Kahikatea can grow in quite marginal land and are noted for the density and purity of the stands it forms in swampy areas and along river banks. It is also known for its strength.

Touring

Involves three or more consecutive performances, presentations or exhibitions in different locations and can include the place of origin.

Track record

To be eligible for funding, an individual or arts organisation must have some experience and must have achieved recognition and success in the area of arts practice for which they’re applying for support. The actual levels of experience, recognition and success that Creative New Zealand requires vary according to the type of grant or investment applied for (an Arts Grant, Quick Response Grant, or an Arts Development Investment). For Arts Grants and Quick Response Grants, artists or practitioners must:

have specialised training or practical experience in arts practice (training need not have been at an academic institution)
have recognition from peers or experts in their area of arts practice, which can include kaumātua or kuia, or other people of standing within the applicant’s community, and
have achieved success in their area of arts practice.

For Arts Grants and Quick Response Grants the threshold for having achieved success is that the applicant must have received recognition for the public presentation of at least one work in their area of arts practice. Examples of what might constitute success to be eligible for an Arts Grant or a Quick Response Grant or include:

a theatre practitioner having undertaken a key creative role (director, actor or stage manager) in at least one theatre production that achieved a degree of critical or box-office success
a craft/object or visual artist having had at least one public exhibition of a body of work that achieved a degree of critical or sales success, whether in a solo show or as part of a group exhibition
an author having had at least one work published that received a degree of critical or sales success in the literature genre for which they’re now applying
a publisher having previously published at least one work by a New Zealand author that achieved a degree of critical or sales success
a choreographer having choreographed at least one publicly presented work that achieved a degree of critical or box-office success
a music group having performed and achieved a degree of critical or box-office success
a curator having curated a work that was exhibited at a gallery or found space and that received a degree of critical acclaim
a carver who has been mentored by established carvers, or who has completed a course at a marae-based or recognised wānanga
a weaving group with a record of successful exhibitions and workshops in the community.

For Arts Development Investments you must be an established artist, practitioner, group or arts organisation who has achieved:

the successful delivery of at least three grants from either the Recurrent Funding programme or from Contestable Funding (note that this excludes funding under the Creative Communities Scheme)
the successful delivery of the three relevant work programmes or projects within budget and on time
financial or in-kind support from sources other than Creative New Zealand, or realistic plans to achieve that support
endorsement from two people who have standing and recognition in the relevant artform or cultural arts practice.

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