A new direction? The arts and central government policy in Aotearoa, 2017–2020

Artistic work in Aotearoa has long been underpaid and undervalued. In this paper, we examine policy statements made by the New Zealand government from September 2017 until November 2020 about the nature and value of artistic work. Early statements appear to challenge the economization of the arts, and to suggest alternative ways the arts might be valued, including for their inherent connection to well-being and social justice. However, rather than moving the arts away from commercial imperatives, we argue that government initiatives have been implicitly equipping artists and arts organizations to deliver their own economization.