Arts Dinner Party Season

Host your own creative dinner – and back the arts in Aotearoa.

As we celebrate 25 years of The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi, we’re bringing creativity to dinner tables around the motu – and you’re invited. Whether you choose one of our limited-edition DIY Dinner Packs, or step it up with a carefully curated collaboration between a great New Zealand chef and an Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi awarded artist – there's an Arts Dinner Party for everyone. Pull up a seat.

Option 1: DIY Arts Dinner – $500

Choose from one of five limited-edition DIY Dinner Packs, each designed by an Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate or Icon Whakamana Hiranga:

Giselle Clarkson | Illustration, 2023 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate
Lonnie Hutchinson | Visual Arts, 2024 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate
Tony de Lautour | Visual Arts, 2012 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate
Bill Manhire | Literature, 2018 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Icon Whakamana Hiranga
Kris Sowersby | Design and Typography, 2019 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate

Buy a pack for $500 – it covers up to 10 guests (just $50 each when you split the cost) and includes custom placemats, coasters, and a surprise. Better yet, 100% of your purchase goes to The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi – so you can help us fund more artists and grow creativity in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Want to go bigger?
Add a $2,000 upgrade featuring Craggy Range wines, exclusive Josh Emett recipes, and a $1,000 donation to the arts.

These packs are super limited and will sell out fast – click a pack below to learn more and order!

Option 2: Great New Zealand Arts Dinner Party – $7,500

A unique, carefully curated collaboration between a great New Zealand chef, an Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Artist and you and your friends – celebrating the arts through kai, wine and great conversation. Get up close and personal with an artist – and how they see Aotearoa.

Includes dinner for 12 (with the artist and their guest) and a $3,750 donation to The Arts Foundation.

Click below to explore the bespoke option and make a booking.

However you host, it all goes back to the arts.
Whether you go DIY or a co-create with us, every dollar helps fund more artists and grow creativity in Aotearoa.

DIY Arts Dinner: Bill Manhire

"I've always subscribed to the notion that poems and stories are 'beautiful lies' – they invent things in order to tell some deeper truth. But the story in this poem is exactly what happened – all I had to do was write it down." – 2018 Icon Whakamana Hiranga, Bill Manhire

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DIY Arts Dinner: Giselle Clarkson

"When I was a kid who sat politely while the adults talked, I would study the placemats to entertain myself. I'd look for hidden patterns or imagine myself into the scene. With this as my inspiration I've created a placemat that anyone can escape into, by yourself or with the whole table. Would you rather ride the slug bus (slow but beautifully smooth) or mount a slater (fast but unreliable)?" – 2023 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate, Giselle Clarkson

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DIY Arts Dinner: Lonnie Hutchinson

"Kupu Te Ahi is part of a series of six works from my show, The Ballad of Tūhaitara, in 2015 at the Jonathan Smart Gallery in Christchurch. The concept for the exhibition is steeped in narrative belonging to my whakapapa /genealogy. Tūhaitara was a woman of strength and mana whose marriage, children and tragic end is significant in Ngai Tahu history and its origins on the east coast of the North Island and consequent migration south. Kupu Te Ahi, the word is fire. Keeping the home fires burning, emphasises perseverance, resilience and a sense of home and belonging." – 2024 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate, Lonnie Hutchinson

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DIY Arts Dinner: Tony de Lautour

"Recently I have been looking back on my earlier work and reusing images from them. To create something new for the placemat and coaster I cut up, rearranged and recoloured Text Message, a woodblock print from 2008." – 2012 Arts Foundation Laureate, Tony de Lautour

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DIY Arts Dinner: Arts Foundation 25th Birthday

"The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi represents hope for creatives, for those of us walking the harder path in the arts." – 2019 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate, Kris Sowersby

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Great New Zealand Arts Dinner Party

Let us bring the full creative experience to your home. We’ll pair you with one of our awarded artists and a leading New Zealand chef to create a one-of-a-kind dinner party in your own space. Think beautiful kai, fine wine, meaningful conversation, and an unforgettable night celebrating the arts.

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