ACCESSIBLE AUCKLAND ARTS: The number of accessible events and services offered by arts organisations, companies, producers and venues around New Zealand keeps on growing. The Auckland Arts Festival, recipient of the Arts Access Creative New Zealand Arts For All Award 2018, had another successful, accessible festival this year with 16 accessible events and the largest audience to date. For more about the Arts For All Network

Latest news updates

Minister to launch national arts and health network

1 April 2019
The arts and creativity contribute to wellbeing in everyday life. They are also increasingly valued as a cost-effective way to nurture healthy, resilient communities, says Te Ora Auaha, a national network to be launched in Wellington on Wednesday 3 April by Hon Carmel Sepuloni, Minister of Social Development and Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage. Te Ora Auaha is made up of individuals, groups and organisatins across the arts, health, youth, social and education sectors. Read more

Duets celebrate diversity and dance

18 March 2019
I’mPaired, a production of integrated theatre and dance duets devised and performed by integrated dance company Touch Compass, will premiere from 21 to 23 March at Takapuna’s PumpHouse Theatre in Auckland. I’mPaired uses dance, theatre, visual arts and technology to flip the perception of impairment on its head and celebrate our diverse society. Read more

On Display at Dunedin Fringe Festival

8 March 2019
Dunedin’s GASP! Dance Collective will perform On Display from 29 to 31 March during the 2019 Dunedin Fringe Festival. Choreographer Miriam Marler says GASP! is aiming to attract 15-20 participants for each performance and hopes the audience will get involved too. On Display was first choreographed by Heidi Latsky Dance in New York and is now performed around the world, including in New Zealand under the umbrella of Touch Compass. Read more

Kapa haka roopu prepare for regionals

19 February 2019
Kapa haka groups around New Zealand are preparing for regional festivals this year in the lead-up to next year’s Te Anga Pāua o Aotearoa National Kapa Haka Festival. Run by the IDEA Services arm of IHC, the festival is for people with intellectual disabilities. Read more 

“The arts are carriers of hope”

26 February 2019
“The arts are as vital in prisons as they are everywhere else in our society because the arts are carriers of hope,” says Peter O’Connor, a member of the Arts in Corrections Network and Professor in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland. “International evidence is crystal clear on the impact of the arts in prisons and youth justice settings." Read more

Documentary theatre a tool to record prisoners’ voices

26 February 2019
Interest from men in Auckland Prison to share their stories on stage has prompted a documentary theatre project, to be developed over the next few months. The man leading the project is Dr Rand Hazou, a lecturer in theatre at Massey University on the North Shore. He’s been facilitating theatre workshops and performances at Auckland Prison since 2016. Read more 

Maggie Gresson at the Toi Ora helm

13 February 2019
After nearly 20 years as Executive Director of Artists Alliance, Maggie Gresson has taken up a six-month contract as Director of Toi Ora Live Art Trust, a creative space in Grey Lynn, Auckland and part of a national network aligned to Arts Access Aotearoa. Maggie has just completed an eight-year term as a board member of Toi Ora. Arts Access Aotearoa asked Maggie four questions about her new role. Read more