Welcome to Te Ora Auaha

“From funny to heart breaking, the stories of people with cerebral palsy and those who advocate for them are told in a new verbatim play called Squeaky Wheel.” - RNZ, April 4th 2021 Listen to the full RNZ interview here.   In 2013 I was in the NICU with my brand new 25-week old premature baby and received the news she had suffered a... Keep Reading

Te Ora Auaha has received funding from Creative New Zealand’s Arts Grants to run a series of webinars promoting Aotearoa’s best arts, health and wellbeing practice, while building networks of practitioners and organisations. Each webinar will be co-developed with partners who bring expertise and connections in a specific area of practice.... Keep Reading

New Zealand is renowned worldwide for its Covid-19 response. What is less well-known beyond our borders is the national mental health crisis. He Ara Oranga: Report of the Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction recommended transformative action was needed to support better mental health and wellbeing for all. The government has... Keep Reading

It's been a busy time   If the Te Ora Auaha website and communications have gone quiet over the past few months, that is probably in part because alliance members and others involved in arts, health and wellbeing have been so busy working on the ground. As highlighted in our last newsletter, individual artists and organisations have been... Keep Reading

The Government’s $70 million Te Tahua Whakahaumaru Creative Arts Recovery and Employment (CARE) Fund announced in 2021 represents the (we think the first) bespoke arts and wellbeing funding targeted at communities. The scheme has two priorities; participation in the cultural sector by communities who traditionally have less access to... Keep Reading

Now, more than ever   Advocating for the importance of the arts (in all their many forms) matters now, more than ever, as the complex, far-reaching and potentially long-lasting effects of the Covid-19 pandemic unfold. It matters now, more than ever, as access to participate in the arts, as well as the capacity of the arts to contribute... Keep Reading

Home-grown inspiration Through the events and hui that led up to the formation of Te Ora Auaha, it became evident that arts for health and wellbeing in Aotearoa is an area of practice that suffers from being poorly understood, with its contribution and value rarely recognised beyond those directly involved in/with the field. Through research... Keep Reading

Mixit: keeping creativity and laughter alive during lockdown   Mixit is a project that uses creativity to inspire young people. It is a multicultural platform for young people from refugee, migrant and local backgrounds. The heart of Mixit is their Saturday afternoon sessions, bringing together a diverse group of young people to mix,... Keep Reading

  The Centre for Arts and Social Transformation is hosting a free public lecture, Te Rito Toi: The Twice Born Seed  on the role and place of the arts in education.  The lecture will be held at the University of Auckland on November 4th from 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm.   The lecture will open with the findings of a 3 year study... Keep Reading

Resource: Arts, health and wellbeing in times of COVID-19 Our friends at the Culture Health and Wellbeing Alliance in the UK have put together a brilliant collection of resources, including a coronavirus section specific to arts, health and wellbeing practice. From guidance for reopening and restarting work to information about safe... Keep Reading

Researching the relationship between theories and practice for community based youth arts educators - recruiting participants at the University of Auckland Faculty of Education and Social Work.   Keep Reading

Moppy Mayhem! By Selina Tusitala Marsh Mophead is a story about having too-big hair.  It’s a story about how I grew from being teased as ‘mophead’, ‘gollywog’ and ‘Pipi black-stockings’ at school, to becoming the first Pasifika New Zealand Poet Laureate.  Mophead is my kryptonite story.  What others framed as... Keep Reading

Call for Artworks/Projects for Online Exhibition The Arts Health Network NSW / ACT (AHNNA) is calling for artists, designers, researchers, therapists, creative practitioners and others to submit artworks, projects or process documentation for an online exhibition to be held over November 2020 on the AHNNA website and... Keep Reading

Culture Health and Wellbeing International Conference: 21-23 June 2021, Bristol (UK) It's almost that time again… the International Arts and Wellbeing Conference is nearly here, organised by the UK Culture, Health and Wellbeing Alliance. This year (because of the COVID-19 pandemic) the conference, usually held in the UK, is fully digital.... Keep Reading