OPINION: The Closure of Te Auaha Is a Cultural Loss We Can’t Afford

Words by: Em Maguire (they/them)

On July 16, it was announced that Te Kahui Aūaha, Whitireia/Weltec’s creative campus on Dixon St in central Wellington — will close its doors at the end of 2025. The news followed months of protest, disappointment and public outcry from the wider arts community. 

Te Auaha, run under the Te Pūkenga tertiary model, will be shuttered in the name of “financial viability.” This decision will eliminate 48 jobs, displace students and dismantle specialised teaching spaces and performance venues. Some courses will be relocated out of the city; others will disappear altogether. 

To put it bluntly: it sucks shit.

And more to the point, it’s a terrible, short-sighted decision. It reflects a pattern of chronic under-support from anti-arts governments that will have far-reaching and challenging consequences for the future of our artists in Aotearoa— particularly in its so-called “creative capital.”

If you’ve never been to Te Auaha, here’s a description. It’s a high-rise building in Central Wellington with purpose built theatres, a cinema, a gallery space, many rehearsal rooms and teaching space, alongside a bar. It contains, arguably, the best performance spaces in Wellington and in reality, the most accessible ones. It has, since 2018, also been the site of a broadish arts tertiary programme, including things like drama, dance, musical theatre, film, hairdressing and more. 

The future of the venue spaces remains unknown, but it is hardly beneficial or viable for students studying in these purpose-built spaces to be moved out of the CBD into venues that almost certainly do not have the space, technology or ability to properly house them. 

This isn't the first time arts training has been under threat in Wellington.Just two years ago, Victoria University’s Theatre programme narrowly survived major cuts after intense protest. Community arts pathways Young and Hungry, Summer Shakespeare, and Creatives in Schools have all steadily  erased, giving the capital’s young artists fewer ways to grow. 

There’s a myth — perhaps popular among policymakers — that artists spring fully formed from Peter Jackson’s forehead, like Athena from Zeus. But arts education is foundational. It fosters skills, exposes artists to new ideas, connects them to peers, and improves not just their craft, but their sense of self.

I truly don’t know who I’d be as a theatremaker if I hadn’t found the work of those that influence my style the most, and outside of my work, I’d certainly be a worse person. 

So, can we really call ourselves the “creative capital” when we keep dismantling the very structures that nurture creativity?

Meanwhile, Christchurch is gaining momentum, buoyed by a revitalised Court Theatre and stable arts training. Auckland boasts a rich and broad arts ecosystem. Even smaller centres — Nelson, Palmerston North, Hamilton — are fostering growing creative movements.

Wellington is being left behind. 

We are failing our artists, and, in doing so, we are failing ourselves.  The only solution is to fund the arts, support the arts, and treat them as essential, not expendable. But that requires leaders who are willing to listen. 

I don’t know what’s going to happen to Te Auaha. I hope it survives in some form, and not just because it contains my favourite brand of lighting board. It is a hub and a home to so many artists and arts organisations and the birthplace of so much creative potential.

We can’t just let it die.