In Aotearoa New Zealand, we respond to, and reflect on our unique bicultural foundations, and the diverse ethnicities and cultures we share, in current and historical contexts.

Art creates, embodies, cultivates, and shapes cultural forms. Making art requires access to authentic learning and representation through active participation. It is important to foster respect and understanding of toi Māori and art from diverse cultures. Place-based learning demonstrates first hand that the practice of art is always in a context, and established practices, tikanga, forms, and styles are related but not limited to time, place, space, people, ethnicity, culture and technology.

These established practices, tikanga, forms and styles, can be learned from, selected, and used with intention. Art crosses subject boundaries so that students have a stronger understanding of the world and their place in it. As such, it is important that learners in the Arts in Aotearoa New Zealand value and respect te ao Māori, Pacific knowledges, and art from diverse cultures.

In order to develop their art practice and skills, learners should explore different starting points and processes for making work. This may include taking a collaborative approach in order to draw from the unique experiences and perceptions of their peers, as well as creating work in response to a proposition or as a means of self-expression — generating, analysing, and clarifying ideas systematically and in response to multiple sources of feedback. Fostering courage as artists, and developing the confidence to take risks, allows for new ideas and approaches to arise that greatly aid a student’s progress and growth within their Visual Arts practice.

Critical reflection can be used to evaluate new outcomes (both expected and unexpected) and to provide divergent paths to explore further. This is reflected within the processes of making work, as ‘making’ in Visual Arts involves trying new things, taking risks, and making mistakes, which can be reframed as valuable learning opportunities that help to refine skills and uncover new approaches to the overall artmaking process. It is also important to use and refine artistic vision and reflect on the impetus for making art.

Artists can use specific practices, processes, materials, techniques, technologies, and conventions to create work as intended. They generate, analyse, and clarify work in order to further refine an intended outcome. Learners should be able to demonstrate an iterative or cyclic process (or a combination of both) in the creation of artwork. They should value different processes and ways of making, and demonstrate an ability to create sustained, coherent works through these processes. These works can be presented in a variety of ways including, but not limited to, space, environment, lighting, time, movement, sound, and supporting materials, as well as in venues such as galleries, public areas, stages, and theatres.

It is important to learn to identify conventions from established practices, tikanga, forms, or styles (both in others’ work and one’s own), as well as understand how these conventions communicate meaning. Learners will gain understanding that these conventions are intrinsically linked to Aotearoa New Zealand’s unique position within the Pacific, and will discover how the various nations and cultures that make up the Pacific use them to nurture and communicate ahurea tuakiri.

They can then use this concept to interpret, analyse, and value the intended meanings of artworks and develop an ability to deliver meaning in their own work with intention. Art can record, as well as challenge, social and cultural discourse. In exploring this, learners see how an artist can have agency when creating work, which can be a tool for powerful self-expression and evoke strong responses.

Many creative endeavours seek to create social change. Art and performance experiences and outcomes can provoke thinking and discussion around topics such as health and wellbeing or propaganda, and address many political, societal, historical, local, and global issues. Learning about art should therefore foster an understanding of creative action, as well as the ability to respond as a mode of creative action. Furthermore, active participation in the Arts can be an opportunity to celebrate diversity, create understanding, and explore self as a way of connecting with others. Visual Arts supports social sustainability by building and nurturing communities and relationships through the creation and exploration of art.

Within Māori and Pacific contexts, for example, art can be viewed as a powerful tool to preserve and communicate cultural knowledge. This includes knowledge of spiritual, religious, or ceremonial practices, as well as knowledge of one’s whānau or aiga. Collaboration and a focus on whanaungatanga when producing art allows for the knowledges and narratives of our communities to be protected and conveyed for others to learn from and be inspired by.

To understand the social impact of art in context, it is important to acknowledge and reflect on art, performance, experiences, and outcomes that are made in hapū, whānau, group, community, or global settings with a shared vision.

This idea connects to whakapapa and the bicultural imperative in Aotearoa New Zealand to value mātauranga Māori, toi Māori, te reo Māori, and tikanga of tangata whenua and to understand the significant role of taonga tuku iho. Active participants in the Arts should have opportunities to observe, participate, and reflect on processes used in te ao Māori traditions, and other cultures’ practices, to understand how hauora is promoted and whakapapa is valued.

Within the bicultural context of Aotearoa New Zealand, learners in Visual Arts should also demonstrate an understanding of the role of taonga within te ao Māori and mātauranga Māori. Learners should have the opportunity to explore and understand how taonga can be both tangible and intangible, and how this concept might link to their creative outcomes. Through research, experience, and the creation of art, ākonga will learn how connections exist between people, places, objects, and narratives of learning over generations that are linked together by both taonga and taonga tuku iho.