One thing that came out Alistair Carruther’s
chairing of Creative NZ was more transparency around funding. For instance it's
now possible to compile the above chart showing the ongoing decline in funds
for the visual arts. OK it’s not the best news in the world but at least now it
can be seen and discussed.
Meanwhile the new chair Dr. Richard Grant is
somewhat more paternal informing us on Radio New Zealand, “You can only [succeed] internationally if
you have a good base in New Zealand.” This, as he astutely points out, means
that CNZ has “got a great amount of work to do in New Zealand to bring the
creative sector up to speed.” Under his stewardship CNZ will be spending
“sensibly so our artists develop.” After all, as Grant so patiently reminds us,
“it is a very big and competitive world out there."
