Artists call for bigger slice of funding pie

Artists are renewing their calls for changes in the way the sector is funded, following a string of recent record-breaking art auctions, which some argue benefit the sellers, not the creators.

This comes amid a wider conversation about how the arts and artists are valued in Aotearoa, an issue brought into sharp relief during the pandemic.

At a recent Arts Foundation hui to discuss the state of the arts in New Zealand, operatic tenor Simon O’Neill said making art was difficult financially, and it was hard to put a monetary label on art because of its sociocultural value.

The arts were a keystone for Kiwis’ health through the Covid-19 pandemic, he said. ‘‘Does precious arts funding actually make it to the artists, or is it funnelled off to administrators and peripheral industries like marketing and PR?’’ he asked.

Kiwi creatives are paid an average $35,800 per year. In one of the recent headline-grabbing auctions, Michael Parekowhai’s A Peak in Darien fetched $2.05 million in Auckland.

O’Neill said while engines behind artists had grown, individual artists were ‘‘as impoverished as ever’’. Centralised arts funding via Creative New Zealand and other government sources sanctioned the ‘‘gig economy’’ business model by putting a governance structure on the process. However, he questioned whether authorities were monitoring outcomes of the model on artists, and whether they were working as effectively as they should be.

Actor-director Oscar Kightley drew on the starving artist cliche, pointing out that many artists were left with addictions and other issues due to their financial woes and the creative process. It was easy for artists to get bogged down in selling their art. He felt there needed to be specific law reform for contracted artists as people could get away with paying them less than the minimum wage.

He noted that government funding was, by extension, artists’ own money. More people needed to be exposed to the arts at younger ages. This work had to start in schools, with improvements to how the arts were taught.

‘‘We should value our artists and our arts, and we shouldn’t have to prove it.’’

Broadcaster Miriama Kamo said the arts struggled for recognition in the media, and questioned whether artists were doing enough to communicate their worth versus other sectors, or whether there needed to be a wider societal shift in the value perception of art and artists.

Artist Moana Ete said she would make art whether she was paid or not. But Kamo questioned whether because artists took on that mantra, it became easier to exploit them.

Musician Shayne Carter pointed out that artists made a conscious decision to continue creating, even though they knew arts funding systems were unfair.

Separately, a new group, Equity for Artists, is lobbying the Ministry for Culture and Heritage for a resale royalty scheme and payments for image licensing to be introduced immediately. Work on a royalty scheme for visual artists has been paused until next year.