New Zealanders’ Cultural Participation in 2023, Manatū Taonga, 13 March 2024

This research report looks at New Zealanders’ engagement in arts, culture, and heritage activities in 2023, and follows on from the Ministry’s 2020 and 2022 cultural participation research. 

Download the report here: New Zealanders’ cultural participation in 2023 PDF 1.85 MB

Overview

In 2020, Manatū Taonga commissioned research to better understand New Zealanders’ participation in cultural events and activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research surveyed people’s participation in a variety of arts, culture, and heritage activities, their preferences for in-person and online events, and barriers to engagement. The research was repeated in 2022.

In 2023, Manatū Taonga commissioned Verian to update the participation research so that we can better understand New Zealand’s changing social challenges. Tracking participation data over time provides insight into the health of the cultural system.

New questions were included to understand the drivers and barriers to participating in cultural activities. Questions were also added to better understand visiting New Zealand archives, reading New Zealand literature, playing locally developed games, and people’s own creative practices.