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The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi

@theartsnz

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A nationwide community backing artists to make their mark on New Zealand.
Also, the home of @boosted.nz
#BackingTheArts

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Win a trip to Japan for two!

Back the arts for a chance to win a cruise through Japan – explore national parks, art and culture.

One $50 raffle ticket could take you on a Heritage Expedition voyage from Osaka and back, alongside 2011 Laureate Emily Perkins (@slinkyempire) and artist Karl Maughan (@karlmaughangardens).

A big thank you to our friends at @heritageexpeditions for making this incredible experience possible!

🎟️ Get your ticket and find out more via the link in bio.

Raffle closes 17 November. T&Cs apply. by @theartsnz

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4 days ago

Win a trip to Japan for two!

Back the arts for a chance to win a cruise through Japan – explore national parks, art and culture.

One $50 raffle ticket could take you on a Heritage Expedition oyage from Osaka and back, alongside 2011 Laureate Emily Perkins (@slinkyempire) and artist Karl Maughan (@karlmaughangardens).

A big thank you to our friends at @heritageexpeditions for making this incredible experience possible!

🎟️ Get your ticket and find out more via the link in bio.

Raffle closes 17 November. T&Cs apply. by @theartsnz

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5 days ago

Win a trip to Japan for two!

Back the arts for a chance to win a cruise through Japan – explore national parks, art and culture.

One $50 raffle ticket could take you on a Heritage Expedition oyage from Osaka and back, alongside 2011 Laureate Emily Perkins (@slinkyempire) and artist Karl Maughan (@karlmaughangardens).

A big thank you to our friends at @heritageexpeditions for making this incredible experience possible!

🎟️ Get your ticket and find out more via the link in bio.

Raffle closes 17 November. T&Cs apply. by @theartsnz

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5 days ago

“Anapela Polata’ivao is a true Pasifika pioneer who has broken new ground, time and time again while never for a single moment forgetting her roots.” - Laureate Selection Panel

Congratulations to Anapela – acclaimed Samoan-born actor, director and producer whose bold, original productions have resonated with audiences from Aotearoa to New York, and one of eight 2026 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureates.

Anapela receives the Sir Roger Hall Award. To watch her video in full, head to our website via the link in our bio!

#AFLaureates #NZArtsLaureates #BackingTheArts by @theartsnz

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11 hours ago

“A composer whose music combines emotional depth and technical mastery, Victoria Kelly has become a critical voice in our cultural landscape.” - Laureate Selection Panel

Congratulations to @vhkcomposer – acclaimed composer and musician whose work spans contemporary classical music, film, theatre and popular music, and one of eight 2026 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureates.

Victoria receives the Joanna Beckett, Waiwetu Trust Award. To watch her video in full, head to our website via the link in our bio!

#AFLaureates #NZArtsLaureates #BackingTheArts by @theartsnz

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11 hours ago

“Sriwhana Spong’s expansive field of view touches on dance, performance, film, theatre, music, sculpture, ritual as well as installation.” - Laureate Selection Panel

Congratulations to @sriwhana – multi-disciplinary artist whose practice explores the ways knowledge, belief and meaning are shaped and transformed, and one of eight 2026 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureates.

Sriwhana receives the Foggy Valley Female Arts Practitioner Award. To watch her video in full, head to our website via the link in our bio!

#AFLaureates #NZArtsLaureates #BackingTheArts by @theartsnz

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“Emily Karaka has developed one of the most distinctive and enduring painting practices in Aotearoa over the past five decades.” - Laureate Selection Panel

Congratulations to Emily – celebrated painter whose powerful work explores whakapapa, whenua, identity and the lived experience of Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau, and one of eight 2026 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureates.

Emily receives the Jillian Friedlander Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Award. To watch her video in full, head to our website via the link in bio!

#AFLaureates #NZArtsLaureates #BackingTheArts by @theartsnz

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11 hours ago

When Madeleine Sami got the call that she’d been cast in Sione’s Wedding, she was in a situation all too familiar to many Aucklanders: wandering around Westfield St Lukes in a crisis. ⁠
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She was 26, fresh from a seven-year stint touring No. 2, the play in which she played all nine members of a Fijian family. The play took her as far as New York, Edinburgh and Jamaica, but despite that, she’d been told at the last minute that she hadn’t been cast in its film adaptation. ⁠
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“Which was a bit of a yucky, f…ed up situation for me,” she says. That wasn’t all: “My dad died and my first relationship broke up. It was definitely quarter-life crisis shit.” Walking around the mall, her phone started ringing. “Someone called me to say, ‘Hey, we’re doing it. We got the funding, do you want to be part of this movie?’ ⁠
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To this day, Sione's Wedding one of the roles she's most commonly recognised for. Twenty years later, Sami was in Australia when she received another wild call: this time to tell her she was being named as a 2026 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate.⁠
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“I struggle to see why,” she says on her selection. “But then I think back on what I’ve done and I go, ‘I’ve actually done heaps of cool shit’. It feels like quite an honour for a little girl from Onehunga."⁠
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At the link in bio, Sami talks to George Fenwick about growing up in Onehunga, the ups and downs of her expansive career - and how she's fought to make space for brown, queer women on screen.⁠
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📝@george_fenwick⁠
📸 @toddkarehana by @theartsnz

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“Electrifying audiences with her uncommon gift for mimicry, precise comic timing and a fearlessness that belied her age, the world was introduced to a rare and uncommon talent.” - Laureate Selection Panel.

Congratulations to @madeleinesami – acclaimed actor, writer and director whose work has helped expand the spectrum of queer roles on screen, and one of eight 2026 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureates.

To watch her video in full, head to our website via the link in bio!

#AFLaureates #NZArtsLaureates #BackingTheArts by @theartsnz

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a day ago

“et al. have created some of the most extraordinary thought-provoking installations this country has seen, breaking ground for subsequent generations.” - Laureate Selection Panel

Congratulations to et al. – the artist collective whose boundary-pushing installations have helped shape contemporary art in Aotearoa, and one of eight 2026 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureates.

et al. receives the My ART Visual Arts Award. To watch their video in full, head to our website via the link in bio!

#AFLaureates #NZArtsLaureates #BackingTheArts by @theartsnz

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“Through his practice and his mentorship of other designers, Tyrone Ohia brings Indigenous knowledge into the visual landscape of everyday life, helping to shape a distinctly Māori and contemporary design practice.” - Laureate Selection Panel

Congratulations to @tyrone.ohia – award-winning Māori designer and creative director, and one of eight 2026 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureates.

Tyrone receives the Crane Foundation Award. To watch his video in full, head to our website via the link in bio!

#AFLaureates #NZArtsLaureates #BackingTheArts by @theartsnz

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“Catherine Chidgey is without a doubt one of New Zealand’s most important living writers, with an extraordinary work ethic and impeccably crafted novels.” - Laureate Selection Panel

Congratulations to @catherinechidgey – internationally bestselling novelist and one of eight 2026 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureates.

Catherine receives the Burr Tatham Award. To watch her video in full, head to our website via the link in bio!

#AFLaureates #NZArtsLaureates #BackingTheArts by @theartsnz

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