Dunedin (Thursday, 28 August 2014) – Ara Toi Ôtepoti: Our Creative Future, the draft

Dunedin Arts and Culture Strategy will be launched tomorrow.

Designed to help promote and focus discussion around the place of arts and culture in Dunedin, the draft has been developed by the DCC in partnership with arts and culture collective Transforming Dunedin. It has also drawn on community feedback through the Your City Our Future consultation and a review of other strategies both in New Zealand and overseas.

Dunedin City Councillor Aaron Hawkins, who has been involved in the development of the draft strategy, says the city has an amazing history of producing and seducing some of the world's finest creative minds.

“The legacy they have left, that we are now building upon, is a city where art, music and literature are a big part of what makes this such a great place to live, work and study in.

“What I hope this strategy can do is articulate the ambitions not just of our artists, but our audiences, too. I want to hear how people feel we could celebrate our success stories, help to write new ones, and continue to make creative expression part of our everyday lives. “

Transforming Dunedin steering group member Allan Baddock describes it as the start of a journey - not the end.

“Release of this draft signals the real beginning of moves to get a dynamic and effective strategy for the city's involvement with arts and culture. It really just says that for the next couple of months arts and culture has the ear of the city and the city council.

“It's now down to the people who care about art and culture to jump in and make sure that they set everybody's ears ringing with great ideas to make the right things happen. Then we'll hopefully get a final strategy that has both the arts and cultural community and the city hopping with excitement.

“This draft is just to stimulate the discussion. It's an invitation to fresh energy and new ideas, and a signal that now is the time to bring them on."

DCC Group Manager Arts and Culture Bernie Hawke says the aim is to take the ideas the draft stimulates and develop them into a strategy which reflects and represents the priorities and directions of the community.

“In the end we want to have a framework for supporting arts and culture which provides a way forward for the city. We will be giving Dunedin people as many opportunities as possible to express their views on the draft through a series of consultation meetings.”

Details of those meetings, along with a copy of the draft strategy, are available at www.dunedin.govt.nz/aratoi from 5.30pm tomorrow. Consultation runs from 29 August to 3 October.

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