Creative community rallies to save Te Auaha

Thursday, 6 February 2025

Arts leaders in Wellington are devastated by the possible closure of Te Auaha, a critical education and incubation space for artists.

This week Whitireia and WelTec announced they were considering the closure of the Dixon St campus in central Wellington, as part of a review of their programmes and property.

Mark Oldershaw, Whitireia and WelTec’s executive director, said the move was in line with the Government’s plan to disestablish Te Pūkenga, the network of New Zealand’s technology institutes and polytechnics.

The Te Auaha campus had been under-used, Oldershaw said. While all programmes taught at the campus would continue this year ‒ including screen production and the performing arts ‒ no final decisions had been made.

People in the capital’s arts scene were concerned about the potential loss of an education and training institute, but also what may happen to the two accessible, affordable performance spaces inside Te Auaha which the community regularly used, seating 216 and 60 patrons respectively. The campus also has a cinema, gallery and rehearsal studios.

BATS Theatre chief executive Jonty Hendry was gravely concerned at the proposal. Te Auaha was a crucial part of Wellington’s arts precinct, and valued partner of festivals including Fringe, the NZ International Comedy Festival, Kia Mau and the Pōneke Festival of Contemporary Dance, Hendry said. It was also used by independent artists.

“To lose a fully accessible venue that hosts not only student work but so much dance, theatre and music would be devastating.”

Vanessa Stacey, the director of Fringe, which begins next week and is hosting dozens of shows at Te Auaha, said the site was a big part of Wellington’s arts community. Over the last two seasons Fringe had hosted more than 80 shows there, and it, CubaDupa and the Creative Capital Arts Trust supported many of Te Auaha’s graduates as they stepped into their art practice, she said.

“We hope [Te Auaha] continues to play a vital role for arts in Pōneke, now and in the future.”

Hone Kouka, artistic director and chief executive of Kia Mau Festival, said Te Auaha had evolved into a central pou/pillar for young and emerging artists.

“It has become an important space for Māori, Pasifika, Indigenous [peoples] and Kia Mau Festival. If the city leaders are serious about Pōneke being world-class creatively, we need to demand more spaces like Te Auaha, not less,” he said.

Nicola Hyland, the programme director for theatre and performance studies at Victoria University, was also devastated.

Alongside Victoria and Toi Whakaari in Newtown, Te Auaha was the third pou of performance training in the capital, Hyland said. “These are our whānau, our colleagues ‒ not our competition. As a venue, Te Auaha brings a vibrant community to the central city ‒ from Fringe shows, to comedy to exciting touring works and heart-stopping dance.”

Dr Kerryn Palmer, a Wellington-based theatre practitioner who’s worked as an arts educator for 30 years, said many Te Auaha students go on to become leaders in the arts world and beyond.

“The loss would stretch an already tight demand of space, in particular around festivals that Wellington is renowned for. …However the repercussions go wider.”

She cited the closures of Capital E’s National Theatre for Children, the Creatives in Schools programme, Summer Shakespeare, Loud Cloud Youth Theatre, and Young and Hungry. “We are at risk of a whole generation of young people growing up without access to the arts ‒ how’s that going to play out?”

Some advocates are hoping that even if the campus does close, its venues could be retained for local artists.

Jo Randerson of Barbarian Productions said: “When you think of how many awesome sports facilities there are, there’s a practice field in every suburb. Whereas most performers rehearse in living rooms or garages.

“Imagine if we had one central space where people could practice their craft ‒ rehearse, perform and train in. Professionals and students working alongside each other. This could be a win-win opportunity not just for Te Auaha but for the independent theatre community who are the creative life blood of Te Whanganui-a-Tara. There is an innovative way to make this work if we put our heads together, and it could be a game-changer for our city.”

Te Auaha opened in 2018.