Arts Pasifika Awards

The Creative New Zealand Arts Pasifika Awards are annual awards that celebrate and recognise excellence in Pacific arts across a wide range of artforms and career stages. There are eight award categories, each with its own focus and funding amount:

• Senior Pacific Artist Award ($25,000): Recognises the contribution of a senior established Pasifika artist in maintaining or developing their artform in New Zealand.
• Pacific Toa Award ($10,000): Celebrates a Pasifika artist with lived experience of disability who has contributed to Pacific arts nationally or globally.
• Pacific Heritage Arts Award ($10,000): Recognises a major contribution to maintaining, reviving, or promoting a Pacific heritage artform.
• Pacific Contemporary Artist Award ($10,000): Honours an artist demonstrating innovation within their artform and pushing the boundaries of their practice.
• Special Recognition Award ($10,000): Recognises a Pacific arts practitioner for special contribution to Pacific arts, nationally or internationally.
• Emerging Pacific Artist Award ($7,500): Celebrates an emerging artist showing promise and potential in their chosen artform.
• Iosefa Enari Memorial Award ($7,500): Supports a Pasifika singer, musician, or composer across all classical genres and career stages, honouring the late Iosefa Enari's pioneering role in Pacific opera.
• Pacific Arts Business Award ($10,000): Recognises a Pasifika-led creative business or enterprise demonstrating innovation and leadership.

To be eligible, nominees must be a Pasifika artist working across one or more artforms (contemporary or heritage), be a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident, have a track record of excellence and achievement, and not be a previous recipient in the same category.

Nominations are open to all New Zealanders, and artists can nominate themselves. Each nomination requires a short written statement (up to 250 words) explaining why the nominee deserves the award and how they've incorporated Kaupapa Pasifika in their work. Links to artistic work and reviews can also be included.

Award recipients are selected by an external panel of registered Pasifika peer assessors and industry experts, with final approval from the Arts Council of Creative New Zealand. Recipients will be announced publicly in October 2026, and an awards ceremony will be held in Auckland later in the year.

For questions or advice, contact the Pacific Arts team at pacificarts@creativenz.govt.nz.