New Zealand’s cultural role
in the Asia Pacific region

a.     Our geography

So the New Zealand context — for most of the 20th century New Zealanders considered our geography a curse - being at the bottom of the Asia Pacific, away from the big markets and centres of culture and excitement.

And we are an island nation – and island nations have different outlooks than continental states.  We have no land borders for example, so when we travel, we travel far –Paris is closer to Athens, than Auckland is to Sydney. 

 Indeed, New Zealand was the last significant land mass to be populated by humans – in that regard we are a ‘new’ nation – though having been the first to give women the vote, we can claim to be the oldest true democracy.  125 years today.

So to a degree we are isolated, but in a globalised world in order to thrive we need to engage with the wider world.  We are a country of travellers and traders.  This is not however a new thing.

 b.     Socially

 New Zealand is a country of immigration.  The growth of Asia is reflected in the last few decades of migration. Here in Auckland, our biggest city, the population is about 1.4 million, 40% of Aucklanders were born overseas, and some 25 % of people here in Auckland identify with an Asian ethnicity. 

In 10 years, it is projected that one on three of the population here in Auckland will be of Asian ethnicity.  Some of you may have already noticed this but if you haven’t, you can just walk down Queen Street here in Auckland and there’s no escaping you’re in a truly multicultural city.

Chinese is the largest Asian ethnic group with around 170,000 people nationwide – of that number 120,000 are here in Auckland. Indian is the second-largest with 155,000 people – with 106,000 in Auckland. The next largest Asian ethnic groups are Filipino and Korean.

In addition, we are in the largest Polynesian city in the world. More Cook Islanders, Tokelauans and Niueans live in Auckland than in their home countries. So Auckland claims to be one of the super diverse cities in the world. And this is not just an Auckland story. The contribution of Asian and Polynesian peoples from a wide range of countries is having a real and positive impact throughout all of New Zealand. 

In summary, our demography is in a state of change. Asia and the Pacific are central to that change. Though that is not a new thing.

 c.      Economic

Economically, six of New Zealand’s top 10 trading partners are now in Asia. China is now our top goods partner. Last year, 22 percent of our total exports went to China.  We now send more to China in a week than we did in the entire year of 1990.

Other Asian countries who are among our top 10 trading partners are Japan, Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia ­– with the economies of India, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines not far behind.

I have commented publicly that for New Zealand our engagement with Asian peoples in particular is framed around, and almost exclusively, in economic and trade terms.

In part, this is because it is easy.  Numbers are measurable, have been largely positive the last 20 years and it’s an easy reference point for people with limited bandwidth.  They also make good soundbites and we like good soundbites — certainly our media does.

I believe however it does a disservice in terms of articulating the role Asia today plays in the life of New Zealanders, an increasing number of whom are of Asian heritage.

With these social and economic changes, Asia and Asian peoples are increasingly influencing and evolving our public services, our education system, our media coverage, our businesses, our politics, our patterns of consumption, our culture.

So in short our economy and our culture are also is in state of change. But again, as a ‘new’ country this is not a new thing.

So if New Zealand is more engaged with Asia and more ‘Asian’, and given we have a large Polynesian community – not to forget significant Melanesian and Micronesian communities – what does this mean for the ‘arts’ and New Zealand now?

Firstly, we know the arts is a key way for New Zealanders to develop a better understanding of Asian and Pasifika cultures.  We know from our 20-year longitudinal study of New Zealanders’ perceptions of Asia that the more non-Asian New Zealanders are exposed to Asian cultures the more positive and confident they feel about Asia.  

Our research also tells us 80 percent of New Zealanders think Asia is important but two-thirds say they know little or nothing about Asia. At first, we thought New Zealanders were being modest and just understating their knowledge so for our last survey, we asked them six basic questions about Asia and the average New Zealander only got two correct answers. Under 30 year olds were worse, only 1 in 6 correct.

This is something arts can help address because arts builds connectivity. Art acts as a bridge between peoples and countries. Art shapes an environment that is conducive to mutual understanding. Art creates an atmosphere where friendships can be built.

Given Asia’s increasing relevance to New Zealand, if we want to grow New Zealanders knowledge and understanding of the peoples, cultures and countries of Asia, if we want to grow their confidence in engaging with Asia, we know the arts will have an important / central role in that.

This is a work in progress for us. We are still helping New Zealanders understand that for our Asian neighbours, the ‘soft stuff’ such as the arts, culture, and relationships, are the ‘hard stuff’.  As an example, when New Zealand established diplomatic relations with China in the early 1970s the first official delegation from China was not a ministerial delegation, it was not a business delegation, it was a ‘dance troupe’ 

So we acknowledge the central role the arts can play in helping explain our demographic, economic and cultural changes to ourselves and to each other. This is I think, for many New Zealanders, a new thing.

Which brings me to my last point — New Zealand’s potential role as cultural bridge between Asia and the Pacific.

Let me acknowledge the reality is within Asia and the Pacific, there is huge diversity.

I would argue New Zealand has deep cultural connections with Asia. One of the headline findings from a recent research we commissioned on the perceptions of Asia and Asian people in Te Ao Māori is a strong sense of cultural connections between Māori and Asian cultures. About seventy percent of Māori recognised the benefits of New Zealand engaging economically and culturally with Asia.

Links between Māori and Asia are no longer just academic or historic – they are now very real and contemporary within the arts scene. Writers, visual artists and dancers and choreographers in particular have been leading the way.

To take just one example, the four members of Auckland’s Modern Māori Quartet are well-known amongst Chinese speakers for their ability to sing Chinese classics. And they’ve successfully toured throughout Asia.

Indigenous Taiwanese artists too have been collaborating with Māori artists in many ways. One example is in the 2015 Taipei Book Fair where a contingent of Māori writers attended to establish links with indigenous Taiwan artists. The delegation included the much-loved New Zealand writer Witi Ihimaera, who on meeting with indigenous Taiwanese artists said: “I got a deep sense looking into their eyes, of an ancient ancestry…a sense of looking in the eyes of my own grandparents.”

I think this speaks to a ‘rediscovery’ rather than an ‘establishment’ of the links between Asia and Polynesia and this may well be the correct framework to see the strengthening connections.

New Zealand also has long social and cultural connections with countries in the Pacific. Beginning in the 1970s, large scale immigration from the Pacific made New Zealand culture richer and more diverse. We have a government ministry dedicated to Pacific peoples, the fourth-largest major ethnic group according to our last census, behind the European, Māori, and Asian ethnic groups. Two-thirds of New Zealand’s Pacific peoples are here in Auckland.

Today, many of New Zealand’s most popular and recognised ‘Kiwi’ artists are Pacific in origin and are indisputably part of the New Zealand’s mainstream cultural fabric. Some examples are the comedy group The Naked Samoans, the popular opera trio Solo Mio, and comedian Rose Matafeo who just won last month the coveted international Best Comedian award from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She was widely celebrated as the first woman of colour to win the award and her uniquely Kiwi background with Samoan, Croatian and Scottish roots was acknowledged.

New Zealand poet laureate is of Samoan and Tuvaluan heritage.

We’re already starting to see a flourishing of Asian voices and faces within our performing arts scenes. In fact, the Asian Aotearoa Arts Hui is taking place in Wellington this month as a gathering of New Zealand’s leading Asian creative practitioners. Here in Auckland, Proudly Asian Theatre has been going from strength to strength in its work – including presenting multilingual works. Such works present opportunities for audiences to learn about Asian communities – but also to better understand Asia itself.

So, Māori has Asian cultural connections. Māori also has Polynesian and Pacific cultural connections. So it is not rocket science to see what I would argue New Zealand can be a cultural bridge between the two. Given our strong equities both in Asia and in the Pacific, New Zealand is well-placed to play the role of a cultural bridge.

In what exact shape or form that will take, I’m not sure. The challenge for you, for us all, is to articulate to funders and enablers how arts can be a bridge — a bit of a soundbite exercise. I know it’s hard but it’s a necessity.     

But – and it’s a big but – I want to emphasise that we can’t leave the responsibility of building cultural bridges up to people who are ethnically Asian or Maori or Pasifika. Recognising where New Zealand sits in the world – and going beyond the Anglo-centric cultural influences of the decades past – is the responsibility of all of us working in the arts space in New Zealand.  For the Asia New Zealand Foundation’s part, we’ll continue to provide initiatives that enable leaders in our arts scenes to get a better understanding of what’s happening in Asia so they can share this with New Zealand audiences.

Coming together with people like you in this conference can be an important first step for all of us who have a stake in this to start working together to make this happen. To borrow the words from this Māori proverb or whakatauki:

Ma whero ma pango ka oti ai te mahi.

 Literally translated it means: ‘With red and black the work will be complete’.

This proverb talks about the importance of co-operation where if everyone does their part, the work will be complete.

If we understand each other, the chances of social cohesion improve, the chances for more cross-cultural engagement and exchange improve, and our lives are richer and better.

At this current time of increased isolationism, anti-migration, less generosity of spirit, it is an important time for arts to bring some humanity into national and international discourse.

Your agenda for the day provides a real opportunity to explore how to reach diverse audiences, how to invest, partner and collaborate with others.

If you take anything away from my speech today it is this; that the work you are doing is important, and indeed it is particularly important at the moment.

Thank you again for giving me this opportunity to be part of your conference.