March 26, 2014
More Maori say on Arts Board
One of the four Maori members of the new Arts Council says it’s a great opportunity to extend Maori influence in the arts.
Darrin Haimona from Ngati Haua was previously chair of Te Waka Toi, the Maori arts board of Creative New Zealand.
The other Maori on the 13-member council are Suzanne Ellison, Rose Evans and Peter-Lucas Jones.
Mr Haimona says by compressing four arts funding bodies into one, more resources can be made available for artists.
He says the Maori members will be in a better position to advocate.
"I think in the past as Te Waka Toi we’ve had pretty much 100 percent control over the funding decisions we have made but we’ve still only had control over crumbs to some degree, or a small portion of the budget. This will probably increase our potential influence over what decisions are going to be made in future,," Mr Haimona says.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH DARRIN HAIMONA CLICK ON THE LINK
http://www.waateanews.com/play_podcast?podlink=MTY0NzE=
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