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Otago Daily Times
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Letters to the Editor: Kaikorai, the university and tourism
Today's Letters to the Editor from readers cover topics including the water quality in the Kaikorai stream, the uni's bureaucratic incompetence, and is tourism going to shrink? Decision humiliates University of Otago The University of Otago's dreadful decision to put the Frances Hodgkins and Mozart Fellowships "on hold" shows bureaucratic incompetence: they were yanked after applications had already opened, closing in under a month. Much worse, it highlights strategic ineptitude at the highest levels. These fellowships' support for artists has established an enduring legacy for not just the university but our city and all Otago. They somehow seem, however, to have failed to fulfil one of their key purposes: to foster interest in music and the arts within the university itself. Does the university's "deep disappointment" suffice? No, and especially not when they then suggest benefactors might bail them out. Rather, the choice not to find $200,000 and avoid this reputational catastrophe humiliates the university, and shames those responsible. Fellowship's importance I was saddened to read that the Frances Hodgkins Fellowship has been temporarily suspended because of insufficient returns from the trust funds that finance what is without doubt the most important visual arts residency in the country. As a former two-times selector, while director of the Auckland City Art Gallery, and knowing several former Fellows personally, I am well aware of the Fellowship's great significance for the visual arts in New Zealand. I would hope that the University of Otago's development team is working hard to find a benefactor willing to add funds to the trust. And on a related matter, while visiting Dunedin for a few days I was hugely impressed by the ODT 's arts coverage, and especially the weekly arts section. Besides reviews of the Auckland Philharmonia's concerts the arts get no regular coverage in Auckland's daily paper. Stream story I enjoyed reading the article ( ODT 3.5.25) about the Kaikorai Stream. I grew up in the valley and the stream wound its way past our house. I spent many hours playing in the stream, with access gained from the park opposite KVC. Eighteen months ago we took six of our mokopuna on a "Kaikorai investigation". We also found lots of rubbish in the water, including several used vapes. It is disappointing to hear about the deteriorating water quality. I applaud the efforts of Aroha and Paul as well as Hendrick and others who are attempting to improve the stream by planting native trees. We live beside Stevensons Creek, which feeds into Kaikorai Stream. We've noticed the changes in water colour at times but we also have a resident eel. Thanks so much Mary Williams for an informative article and telling us about the positive attempts being made to improve the stream. Emotion and fact Upon reading the letter (2.5.25) from Statistics NZ support manager Kathy Connolly I almost had to check it wasn't April 1 again. According to Stats NZ, ethnicity is now based on "self-identification" and "feeling", rather than the apparently outdated measures of race, ancestry and nationality. So, if you watch an enjoyable movie set in the Australian outback and awaken feeling a bit Aboriginal, that can be the new you. Officially. How far this could go is mind-boggling, and it probably goes quite a way to explain the rise in various ethnic group numbers, somewhat at odds with normal birth rates. It also makes you wonder at the veracity or even the point of any statistical measurement, if emotion and feeling can be officially substituted for objectivity and fact. Wrapped around the axle of a juggernaut Can we be adults about climate, private equity and overpopulation in regards to tourism in New Zealand? As you might have worked out, as predicted, the world has been destabilised by blind stupidity of late so the question we have to ask is our current leadership smart enough to be ahead of the game or are they wrapped around the axle of this runaway juggernaut? There appears to be no stomach for preparing for what is coming as our leaders' priorities are not matching up with reality. Tourism is going to shrink as things get worse and that will be balanced by economic refugees trying to escape unfixable political problems so we should all be prepared to deal with this kind of event but also look at what Anglo-Polynesian New Zealanders need from their public spaces for their health and wellbeing, the nitty gritty that only creative people can create. Be mindful that money is ethereal but people are real and use people with respect to present a country to be proud of, or as they say just be kind. Oh and allow cycling and access in selected locations in our national parks for our older citizens to enjoy the retirement they deserve. The prince and the pauper In the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia, for one day or more masters became slaves and slaves became masters. Couldn't we revive and modernise that wholesome custom by having the master of all, President Donald Trump, change places with the servant of all, Pope Leo XIV, for one day at least, preferably for more? Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@
Otago Daily Times
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
University arts fellowships on ‘hold'
Artist Grahame Sydney, the 1978 Frances Hodgkins Fellow, said being awarded the fellowship was ''like a gold medal in many ways''. PHOTO: STEPHEN JAQUIERY The arts community is reeling over the University of Otago's decision to "pause" two prominent fellowships which have launched the careers of some of the country's most notable artists. The Otago Daily Times has received an email from Otago University pro-vice-chancellor humanities Prof Hugh Campbell that said it would not have a Frances Hodgkins Fellow for arts or Mozart Fellow for music next year. The fellowships would have been worth about $97,000 for the recipients next year. Prof Campbell blamed the economic situation. "While it was initially thought that funding these fellowships for 2026 could go ahead, recent volatility in international investment markets has created unacceptable levels of risk to the ongoing viability of the funds should they have gone ahead. "This is a hold on these fellowship offerings and the university is committed to ensuring that these fellowships remain a long-term part of our community and the wider New Zealand arts landscape." Artist Grahame Sydney, a 1978 fellow, said for many artists it provided them the security of being able to employ their craft in a creative environment. "It is a wonderful gift, that ability to be nothing but a painter or a sculptor or whatever for a whole year without interruption and with some degree of financial support. "For me, it wasn't the gift of a full-time year — I was already doing that. "But it was certainly a huge contributor to the notion of your standing in the arts community. "The fellowship was the first of the arts fellowships in New Zealand and being given it was sort of like a gold medal in many ways." Many of the artists who were awarded fellowships ended up staying in Dunedin for longer than their tenure, Sydney said. "It had that magnetic attraction and a lot of people discovered how much they loved Dunedin and did not leave after having had the fellowship. "And that changed Dunedin in many ways, too." This year's Mozart Fellow Dr Simon Eastwood said the pause was hugely disappointing news. "The Otago Arts Fellowships are an absolute taonga for the arts in Aotearoa in so many ways. "At the most obvious level, they provide artists with the time they need to focus on their craft and develop new ideas away from the pressing needs of the gig economy and the need to pay the bills". Dr Eastwood, who moved to Dunedin about 18 months ago, said he had seen the impact the fellowships had on the city. "They also enrich the cultural life of the country as a whole. "A list of previous arts fellows includes some of the greatest creative thinkers our country has had and some of our best art has arisen directly from the time artists spend here in Ōtepoti — I'm not including myself on that list, by the way." The year-long Frances Hodgkins Fellowship began in 1966; its first recipient was Michael Illingworth. Notable fellows include Ralph Hotere, Grahame Sydney and Jeffrey Harris. It was named after Dunedin-born Frances Hodgkins, one of New Zealand's most distinguished painters. The Mozart Fellowship was first awarded to Anthony A. Watson in 1970; other notable fellows include Anthony Ritchie and Gillian Whitehead. At Otago University, arts fellows receive a studio or office space and not less than the minimum salary of a full-time university lecturer for the year. Dunedin Public Art Gallery director Cam McCracken said the Frances Hodgkins Fellowship held a significant place in New Zealand's arts landscape. "While it's a little disappointing to see the fellowship paused, I understand this is due to economic pressures. "I fully support the decision if it helps the university stabilise its resources and ensures the fellowship's long-term future." Prof Campbell said it was not a decision the university had come to lightly. "The trust funds that support these two fellowships have become increasingly at risk of over-allocation over recent years ... and the university was not in a financial position to supplement these fellowships, as it has in the past." The fellowships were originally established through endowments and have since been managed in trust funds by the university. "We are deeply disappointed that we have to pause offering these fellowships for the short-term," Prof Campbell said.
