Neil Plimmer is a former public service chief executive who, since his retirement, has been committed to developing the arts in Wellington and New Zealand including as a trustee of the Arts Foundation, president of the NZ Book Council and chairman of the Wellington Sculpture Trust.
OPINION: Wellington’s future must focus in large part on high-earning, value-added business activities. Without an economic heart of thriving well-paid jobs, all the rest – infrastructure, environmental protection and so on – is highly problematic.
This activity is underpinned by creativity and innovation. Central to developing an engaged and affluent society is the city’s reputation as New Zealand’s “cultural capital”, an image and branding that it is essential to sustain and grow.
The Wellington City Council earlier this year approved an update of its arts, culture and creativity strategy Aho Tini, which focused on a number of commendable activities such as supporting inclusivity and accessibility, partnering with Māori, keeping our spaces alive and developing career pathways. But many cities are doing those sorts of things and, for Wellington to retain its top ranking, rather more is required.
A strength of the “cultural capital” reputation has been not just the breadth and inclusivity of the arts, but also their quality. This operates in various ways in different art forms, such as the outstanding quality of an actor at Circa theatre, but most evidently it lies in the national art institutions we are so lucky to have.
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And so we need clear recognition of the NZ Symphony Orchestra, the Royal NZ Ballet, the NZ School of Dance, the NZ Portrait Gallery and others as centrepieces of our creative strength. We lost the NZ Opera Company to Auckland a few years ago, and it should be a firm objective that we do not lose any more. They make a huge contribution not only to the strength of our various art sectors, but to Wellington’s national and international reputation.
A vision for reinforcing the city’s creative strengths should also contemplate new institutions. There needs to be dynamism here. “No money,” they say. But many nice-to-have but not essential projects pad the council’s budget – a separate subject in its own right.
But more to the point, council money is not at the heart of the argument. What is required is leadership, support in kind with process issues and the like, and perhaps occasional judicious seed funding. The stepped-up advertising and promotions of WellingtonNZ is a fine example.
Private citizens are willing to go the distance, as shown by the founding of the Wellington Opera Company after the national company left, and the advanced plans for a national school of music – both reflecting the marvellous leadership of former mayor Dame Kerry Prendergast, and many others.
We should not be limited to considering the performing arts. A Creative NZ report early this year noted that attendances at visual arts venues exceeded those at the performing arts for the first time. This is consistent with a global trend: there are almost daily reports of queueing and pre-booking for gallery admissions and of cities around the world investing huge amounts in galleries, museums and exhibition spaces because of popular demand.
Opportunities here abound. There has been no significant visual art institution established since the Portrait Gallery some 30 years ago. Talking to a number of Wellingtonians suggests a national centre for photography would be widely supported. These are popular in other countries and NZ does not have one. Recent developments in hi-tech photography enable magical and immersive visitor experiences. Is Turnbull House waiting for a suitable tenant?
Other obvious opportunities lie in land art and a sculpture park. These are impressively popular in Auckland – Wellingtonians troop up to see them – and overseas: the Economist has written that such attractions are the “hot new summer destination in the UK”, combining art with nature– but Wellington has none of international standard.
A site is waiting, the surplus ex-Defence land along the top of Watts Peninsula on the eastern side of Evans Bay, a neglected 73-hectare area between the old prison and the Massey Memorial.
In the 2019 Budget the Government announced that it would retain ownership of this area by converting it to a Department of Conservation reserve. Then arrangements would be made for the council to assume responsibility. What a gift. No need to buy it.
The absence of any visible council interest in engaging with this huge opportunity, more than 3½ years since the announcement, is amazing. What other city has such a resource so close to the inner city with wonderful harbour views, rotting away through disinterest?
Money again? Private donors, dedicated trusts and bequests are virtually lining up to fund sculpture and other public art here.
Quality public art and art institutions can stake out that Wellington is a confident, international, creative and innovative city, and reaffirm an identity with high appeal to citizens, visitors and investors alike. We could do with some more grunt to realise it, please.
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