Working together for a ‘more imaginative, connected and human’ Aotearoa
Saturday, 13 June 2026
Jessica Palalagi is director of The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi
OPINION: All in for Arts: He waka toi e eke nei tātou – on its sixth tour this year, a kaupapa started in 2020, which focused on gathering those outside the arts and creative sector to come together at a very non-arts time of 7.30am for coffee and some reckons.
It has been the same formula each year – with only one digital hiatus in 2022 as we navigated the pandemic.
As we started to plan this year, I was struck by how repetitive but also important this type of platform is. Over the years, more than 50 individuals have shared their personal stories, reflecting a diverse range of lived experiences under the umbrella of how arts and creativity have been impactful to them.
Noting here too, we don't do this work alone, there are several similar kaupapa that continue to advocate and champion these narratives on a local and regional level.
As it’s an election year, I was keen to ensure we had organised speakers who could send us across the emotional and thought-provoking journey of educating – giving us the epiphany moment to the rallying call to action – that rarkup that makes us want to get off our asses and do something.
Intersect all of that with the authentic and sometimes raw admissions of connection, love, failure and transformation. It’s a lot to take in before 9am, but it's worth it.
Working in the arts every day we often know the impact of what we do. There is a clear need, a benefit and tangible impact that arts and creativity can bring to individuals, communities and our nation – so this is why it’s important to hear from beyond the echo chamber.
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People may be reading this being like, well – I’m not sure the audience is as expanded and non-arts as you may think or want – there is a lot of preaching to the converted energy.
This year we reviewed registrations and think it was 50/50 – when asked what industry our guests hailed from – an overwhelming number are within arts and creative industries, but we still welcomed an audience from the education, technology and business sectors.
We encourage speakers from diverse careers – by creating categories and personas we are intentionally trying to fill – the businessperson, the awarded artist, the rangatahi, the local government person, and finally in some places the special guest star. We don’t hear the same things from each of these individuals, which is fairly obvious – these can be incredibly personal moments shared in front of hundreds of people.
What has struck me though, after listening to each of these speakers for the last four years that I have been in this role as a leader, audience member, organiser and emcee, is that there are always threads and themes that emerge – magically and mycelium like.
Our businesspeople speak of the creativity that is required to connect with customers, the storytelling that happens in branding, the innovation vision that needs to be present to be successful.
Our rangatahi remind us they need our support but they also need us to get out of the way, they speak of the hope and change we need and want for the future. They are the light.
Our local government people (usually the mayor) tell us how important the arts and creativity is to them. Often speaking about knowing and understanding the value it brings to both people and place and how they want it to continue and perhaps even grow. It can often feel dissonant to the reality - so this is when we ensure what they have said is played back to them also - the repetition and feedback loop again proving invaluable.
Finally our awarded artist, they are most likely an Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate – one of our own, an alumni that speaks to the excellence and impact they have had so far. They often reposition everybody’s perspective and allow for true moments of insight and reflection.
What I keep coming back to is this – despite the different cities, different speakers, different political climates and different audiences, the same truths keep surfacing. Again and again.
That arts and creativity are not ornamental to our lives – they are foundational to how we understand ourselves, connect with others, imagine futures and shape the places we live.
And maybe that’s why this kaupapa continues to matter. Not because it is new, but because it insists on repetition, on gathering. On retelling the stories that remind us who we are and what kind of country we want to be.
In an election year especially, it feels important to say clearly that arts and creativity are not ornamental to society, they are foundational to it. They shape how we understand ourselves, connect with others, imagine better futures and build resilient communities.
Investment in arts and creativity is investment in the social, cultural and imaginative infrastructure of Aotearoa.
So each year we gather at 7.30am, coffees in hand, asking people to show up before work to think deeply, feel something and perhaps reconsider what creativity makes possible.
And every year, people do.
Because beneath all the speeches, categories and carefully planned running orders, what emerges is something much simpler: a collective desire for a more imaginative, connected and human Aotearoa.
He waka toi e eke nei tātou. We are all in this arts waka together.