FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Arts Companies Move to CPIT
Homeless arts organisations have found refuge at CPIT’s Faculty of Creative Industries in a collaborative project with
Creative New Zealand (CNZ) that has established a vibrant new creative hub on the edge of the cordoned CBD.
Christchurch Arts Festival, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and the Christchurch City Choir are moving into offices
alongside the Buskers Festival, SCAPE, the Body Festival and others at CPIT’s Madras Street campus. These arts
organisations’ buildings are all either inside the civil defence cordon or are too damaged to access.
The new Creative Hub at CPIT, housed in what was the Creative Industries Faculty administration area until recently, is
doing more than providing office space, according to Dean of the Faculty of Creative Industries Jane Gregg.
“It is very comforting for people to be here. They are no longer isolated, or working out of their homes or local cafes.
They’re here with us now in a professional space with other people who understand what they are doing, in a supportive
and positive environment of like-minded people working towards the same goals and with similar challenges,” she said.
Cohabitation and collaboration will ultimately help the arts in Christchurch to survive, she noted. “The benefits for
them, and for us, are that we are all together in one space, we’ve got the opportunity to work together, respond to new
issues quickly and work on them as a community rather than as individuals. It might take two weeks to get a meeting with
somebody previously, but now you can walk down to their office, have a chat and get things moving.”
The Creative Hub reflects CPIT’s close ties to the arts sector as a whole. “If we haven’t got a relationship with the
arts community, the practitioners, the administrators and the visionaries, how do we know that the education we offer is
appropriate and relevant? To work directly with practitioners and leaders in this sector provides so many benefits for
CPIT and our students too,” she said.
The Faculty of Creative Industries’ Relationship Manager Martin Trusttum noted that the post February 22 situation has
facilitated Christchurch’s arts organisations to share resources and work more collaboratively. “What this initiative
has achieved - getting them into the same physical space - is something that 15 years of discussions and so forth has
not done. Unfortunately it has taken an earthquake to bring people together. But the pay-off is huge.”
Adam Hayward, director of The Body Festival, has been “working remotely” and waiting to find out whether he can retrieve
computers from his office in a Manchester Street building, which is soon to be demolished. He agrees that the new
working arrangements are beneficial for everyone. “Christchurch arts in general has been quite isolationist, so the
earthquake has really given Christchurch the opportunity to challenge that,” he said. “It’s a catalyst for creative
change; now we have a whole bunch more collaboration and we can lobby with a unified voice.”
Establishing a working environment quickly has been a priority. CNZ and CPIT have both provided IT support, CNZ has
engaged a full time ‘earthquake recovery’ staff member and CPIT has offered the space for the initial period at no cost,
after which CNZ will manage lease arrangements. CNZ is also currently homeless and has set up an office at the hub too.
The Creative Hub is part of CPIT’s longstanding motivation to support the wider communities of Christchurch. The arts
community is in real need of this helping hand, Martin Trusttum said. “It’s the livelihood of these people, it’s the
cultural life of the city for the next eight months, these are the things that make the city a place you want to live in
– it’s not the only thing, but it’s a major part of it. It’s the heart and soul of the place really.”
ends