Creative New Zealand has responded to the Government's decision to fund the Shakespeare Globe Centre of New Zealand. Photo / File
Creative New Zealand has responded to the Government's decision to fund the Shakespeare Globe Centre of New Zealand. Photo / File
Creative New Zealand chief executive Stephen Wainwright and Arts Council chairwoman Caren Rangi say they are appalled at "alarming and racist" attacks on a decision to defund an annual schools' Shakespeare competition.
Creative NZ was accused of "cancelling" Shakespeare after declining the $31,000 proposal for the Shakespeare Globe Centre of New Zealand, which had been running the Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival for more than 30 years.
The organisation said its staff had been targeted with hate mail and that some of the commentary in the past week had been "cruel and hurtful".
However, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said this morning the Ministry of Education would step in to pick up the bill.
"We're pleased to hear that the Ministry of Education has agreed ... to find the funding that SGCNZ originally sought from Creative New Zealand," Wainwright and Rangi said.
"The Government has recognised that the MoE is better placed to provide this funding."
Arts Council chair Caren Rangi. Photo / Warren Buckland
Wainwright and Rangi said it highlighted the positive impact that additional government investment could have on the arts.
However, they said questions remain about other arts organisations and individual artists who found it difficult to mobilise or who didn't have the international pulling power to draw attention to their funding needs.
"It also unfortunately doesn't change the reality for Creative New Zealand that we're still facing an unprecedented deluge and there are big issues around the sustainability of arts funding," they said.
"This is a great outcome for SGCNZ, but we've found some of the rhetoric over the past few weeks alarming, misleading and racist."
Wainwright and Rangi clarified that "Creative New Zealand does not hate Shakespeare".
"We support Shakespeare productions and we support Shakespeare being in schools. We simply can't meet the demand for our funding, and hard decisions need to be made," they said.
Tauraroa Area School with Dani Ngakura-Smith (centre) performing A Midsummer Night's Dream as part of the Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival. Photo / File
Sixty-two organisations applied to the Kahikatea programme for funding from 2023 to 2025, and 58 proposals were successful.
"We have a limited amount of money to invest, and we had to make some tough decisions," they said.
"Unfortunately for SGCNZ, their proposal wasn't as strong as others and didn't align with the Kahikatea programme requirements, and so they missed out this time around."
They said SGCNZ is under contract until December for $31,827 a year, and had been told about other Creative New Zealand funding options.
"We're appalled that some of the criticism has become about race. Much of this commentary has been cruel and hurtful to Māori and Pasifika artists whose funding proposals were successful," they said.
"We challenge the narrative that our decision was driven by reverse racism and that we are the 'cultural Taliban'. Creative New Zealand's mandate is to fund New Zealand-made work within the limited resources we have."
They also took exception to Creative New Zealand frontline staff being targeted with hate mail.
Ardern said that after discussions with Education Minister Chris Hipkins, they would ensure the Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival could continue.
"The Ministry of Education intends to reach out to the Shakespeare Globe Centre to work with them to find a solution that ensures the programme will continue," Ardern said.
"We expect to share a little bit more detail over that final resolution. But just to give that assurance, we are committed to seeing the programme continue and the Ministry of Education is the most sensible place for that to be offered."
Hipkins said the ministry would iron out the details with the Globe Centre over the next week.
According to the Shakespeare Globe Centre, the Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival has involved more than 140,000 students during its 31 years of operation.
