The briefings that Te Papa and Creative New Zealand prepared for the incoming Minister after the last general election are now online. Of course the ongoing recession looms large in both but Chris Finlayson must have been surprised by their very different view of the world. CNZ is pragmatic about tough times and is focused on the solutions. Sometimes there are even moments that are positively upbeat. The gist is that a tougher environment means more work, more clever thinking and the need for a better understanding of what the people they serve need.
Not so Te Papa. The minister gets a relentless list of troubles and woes: competition, Christchurch (it will impact on their insurance and getting cheap carpenters to do their installations – oh please), lack of storage, pressure on sponsorship, the global economy etc etc . They’ll be lucky if he doesn’t simply agree that it's hopeless and close the place down.
Differences too in how the two organisations see the future. CNZ acknowledged NZ's changing demographics by adding new clients and drastically cutting back on the Boards that distribute the funds. Te Papa, on the other hand, turned its back on a contemporary art gallery space and turned inwards with a search for a new Vision. You can download a pdf copy of CNZ’s report here and Te Papa’s here.
