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The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi o Aotearoa is thrilled to announce a new dedicated Laureate Award to be presented to a queer artist in 2022. The annual award, named Toi Kō Iriiri, presents an opportunity to recognise and celebrate an outstanding queer artist, supporting them with a $30,000 gift, and sharing their story with New Zealand.
The Toi Kō Iriiri Queer Arts Award is the first of its kind in Aotearoa. It will celebrate an outstanding artist or collective of artists whose practice has a meaningful impact on the queer community. The artist/s will come from a queer community, and their work will be representative of their community and contribute to social change.
This award is made possible thanks to the radical generosity of philanthropist and recently appointed Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Trustee Hall Cannon, who has committed to backing this award for the next 10 years with a $300,000 gift.
“I am passionate about the arts and passionate about supporting great causes, and I think in this case – the time has come. With this award we have a really exceptional opportunity to be, frankly, a global leader in this space. And I hope, that in the process we can show that while we’re a small country, we can be very mighty with our voice.”
The name of the award – Toi Kō Iriiri – has been gifted by Dr Elizabeth Kerekere, Activist, Artist, Green Party MP Her interpretation of this name references “art that transforms – that moves us in or out of discomfort, but always to a new place.”
While the inaugural Laureate receiving the Toi Kō Iriiri Queer Arts award will be announced alongside the rest of The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate recipients next year, the selection process is unique. After 12 months of consultation with queer arts communities, a roadmap has been developed as follows:
“The timing of this award is significant as we look to celebrate next year’s milestone – 50 years of Pride. We’re also reflecting on the insane contribution that queer artists and practitioners have had on the arts. Some of the most innovative, form-pushing, boundary-breaking, glass-ceiling shattering work comes from queer practitioners. They absolutely should get recognised for that contribution.” – Elyissa Wilson-Heti, Artist, Producer, FAFSWAG collective member, 2020 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate, Creative Director of Auckland Pride Festival.
We acknowledge that there is no single umbrella term to encompass the LGBTQIA+ communities. We also recognise that its use as a positive and reclaimed term isn’t for everyone. We use it in this context as an inclusive term to reference those who fall outside of cisgender or heterosexual identities – not as a pejorative. We use it here in celebration, with respect and love.
While the inaugural Laureate receiving the Toi Kō Iriiri Queer Arts award will be announced alongside the rest of The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate recipients in 2022, the selection process is unique. After 12 months of consultation with the queer arts community to develop this process, a roadmap has been developed as follows: