Uplifting creativity to uplift people was supported by elected members at the recent Wairoa District Council Strategy, Wellbeing and Economic Development Committee Meeting.

Councillors supported the concept of Toi-tū Hawke’s Bay as a framework to guide the development of current and future arts, culture and creative strategy and projects within Hawke’s Bay and recommended the initiative be discussed at the next full council meeting.

Toi-tū Hawke’s Bay has been developed to align collective effort across sectors and disciplines towards a shared vision and outcomes.

In late 2021, Ngā Toi Hawke’s Bay Arts Trust conducted wānanga, workshops and surveys with creatives across the Hawke’s Bay region, including in Wairoa. The purpose of the engagement was to create a strategic framework that helps inform and reinforce the Council and its work in the local arts sectors. Eight wānanga were held, including one in Wairoa, attended by 20 to 30 Wairoa artists and creatives. The wānanga identified the current capabilities and aspirations of the arts sector in Wairoa and Hawke’s Bay.

The Council currently does not have an arts policy, and adopting this regional framework would allow the Council to commit to implementing relevant aspects of the strategy through policy, plans, programmes, and projects, some of which present immediate opportunities for implementation.

This strategy will also allow the Council to provide a cohesive framework for supporting and promoting the Wairoa arts sector across the district and the wider Hawke’s Bay region, fostering greater collaboration opportunities for local artists.

Implementing Toi-tū would see a region-wide expression of Hawke’s Bay’s identity, cultural diversity, heritage and sense of place by supporting pathways for creatives, enterprises and communities to actively engage with creative practice.

11 December 2024

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