- This event has passed.
Nui te Kōrero: Creative NZ Conference
Presented by: Creative New Zealand
Creative New Zealand’s arts leadership conference is to be held in Tauranga Moana this year.
CNZ hold Nui te Kōrero every second year and this is the fifteenth conference. It is the largest national gathering of its kind of the arts sector in Aotearoa and an important leadership conversation about the future of the arts.
CNZ invite arts and cultural organisations, artists, arts practitioners, governors, and advocates to join them for a national conversation about the issues that matter to you.
Save the date!
Dates: 8 – 10 September 2025
Place: Tauranga Moana
Venue: Mercury Baypark Event Centre
Programme
The theme this year is ‘Kia kotahi te tū: Standing together for the arts’.
Nui te Kōrero is about kotahitanga, standing together, and supporting the arts sector to respond to some of our biggest challenges.
The conference is underpinned by te ao Māori values and perspectives and recognises Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It uses the waka hourua, or double-hulled waka model, that brings together the intellectual and cultural traditions, knowledge and tikanga of both tangata whenua and tāngata Tiriti.
The conference will run from approximately 8.30am to 5pm.
Curators
The conference programme is being curated by Ria Hall (Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui, Te Whānau ā Apanui, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, and Waikato), wahine toa from Tauranga Moana, singer-songwriter, producer and political candidate, and Henrietta Bollinger, writer, playright, activist and disability rights advocate and inaugural recipient of the Whakahoa Kaitoi Whanaketanga Creative New Zealand Artist Fellowship 2023 offered by Arts Access Aotearoa.
The programme will explore the theme through keynotes, dynamic conversations and interactive sessions which will focus on:
- Equity & inclusion – How do we ensure just outcomes through partnership, policy, and action, honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi?
- Accessibility – How do we centre community experiences to embed access for all, especially for tāngata whaikaha, tāngata turi, Deaf and disabled artists?
- Emerging technologies – How do we harness AI and innovation while safeguarding IP, mātauranga, and artistic integrity?
- Economic development – How can ngā toi and the arts be positioned as central pou for economic growth, participation, and global opportunities?
This conversation challenges us as leaders to unite, amplify our voices for the arts, and create opportunities to bring our shared vision to life in Aotearoa, for the arts and ngā toi Māori, today and in the future.
Registrations
Up to 300 places are available and registrations open in late May 2025.
General Registration for arts organisations
- Early Bird (book by Monday 11 August): $170.00 plus GST
- Standard: $200.00 plus GST
Individual Freelance Practitioner/Artist
- Early Bird (book by Monday 11 August): $70.00 plus GST
- Standard: $90.00 plus GST
Immersive Cultural Fieldtrip
- Optional
- Cost TBC
CNZ suggest getting your travel and accommodation organised as soon as you can, so you get the best prices.
You can look at where to stay on the Bay of Plenty website
Accessibility
In line with CNZ’s Tapatahi Accessibility Policy, they are working to make Nui te Kōrero 2025 an accessible event.
Venue information
The Mercury Arena features a step-free entrance, lift access to the second floor, accessible restrooms and more than 10 accessible parking spaces located within 50 metres of the arena’s entrances.
If you’re unable to join CNZ in Tauranga, all keynote sessions will be live streamed with New Zealand Sign Language Interpreters.
CNZ will update this section of the site with more information as it becomes available.
Please contact nuitekorero@composition.co.nz if you need help registering for Nui te Kōrero or require further information
Kia tau ngā manaakitanga ki runga i a tātou katoa.
Further information: email ntk@creativenz.govt.nz, join the Nui te Korero Facebook group for any updates.
