Asian Artists' Fund

The Asian Artists’ Fund was established in 2022 to address funding inequalities in Aotearoa for artists of Asian descent.

Since its launch, the fund has undergone continual evolution, shaped by ongoing feedback from Asian arts practitioners. At its heart, it reaches towards the three aspirations outlined in Enter The Multiverse – Building a Stronger Sector For Our Asian Arts Practitioners:

1. Mid-career practitioners are leaders both in Aotearoa and internationally
2. Early-career practitioners have culturally meaningful opportunities to develop their practice
3. Asian diaspora artists develop a distinctive voice within Aotearoa

Underpinning the fund is an acknowledgement of the place of Asian peoples in Aotearoa in relation to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and our nation’s bicultural foundation. Understanding the place of Asian New Zealanders goes hand in hand with understanding our roles and responsibilities as Tiriti partners since Te Tiriti o Waitangi is an agreement between Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti. In this context, we define Tangata Tiriti as inclusive of all those who call Aotearoa home – Pākehā and Tauiwi.

We offer a range of residencies and grants for practitioners at all stages of their career and artistic exploration.

Not sure which funding stream is right for you? Take our quiz

Please note: Only one application per person or group can be made to the Asian Artists’ Fund. This supports our internal capacity, allowing us to allocate as much of the budget as possible to fund as many artists as possible. If you are unsure which fund is best for you, speak to one of our advisors.

• Creative Fellowship: A stipend for creative practitioners who are mid-career and beyond to develop new ideas, new work and new approaches in their practice. In particular, we see this as an opportunity for artists to take risks they might not otherwise be able to take — where failure is, in fact, an option. We will be awarding up to four fellowships with a stipend of $60,000 each.
  
• Creative Projects: To support the development or presentation (or both) of a creative project. We will be awarding up to 11 grants of up to $35,000 each.
  
• Professional Development: For practitioners to undertake development activities that benefit their careers. This might include mentorship, workshops, or documenting and archiving their own work. We will be awarding up to four grants of up to $5,000 each.
  
• AAF Writers Residency: A residency for an artist developing a text of any kind — poetry, fiction, non-fiction, comedy, theatre. The artist receives $10,000 and six months' access to the co-working space at Samoa House Library.
  
• AAF Music and Sound Art Residency: A residency for a music or sound artist to experiment, explore, and develop new work. The artist receives $10,000 and four weeks of studio space at Te Oro or an alternative Auckland Council venue (noting this time does not have to be consecutive).
  
• AAF Visual Arts Residency: A residency for a visual artist to experiment, explore, and develop new work. The artist receives $10,000 and 12 weeks of shared studio space at Te Tuhi.
• AAF Dance and Movement Residency: A residency for a dance or movement artist to experiment, explore, and develop new work. The artist receives $10,000 and four weeks of studio space at Te Oro or an alternative Auckland Council venue (noting this time does not have to be consecutive).
  
• AAF Performance Art Residency: A residency for a performance artist or live artist to experiment, explore, and develop new work. The artist receives $10,000 and four weeks of studio space at Silo Theatre (noting this time does not have to be consecutive and will need to work around rehearsal dates for Silo shows) and curatorial conversations with the Artspace Aotearoa team.

Please view the application guides for information about each funding stream.

This fund opens at 12.01am on Tue 18 August 2026. Applications must be submitted by 11.59pm on Thur 17 September 2026.

You can apply through the application form in the Foundation North Funding Hub by following these steps:

• Create a login in the Funding Hub.
• Once you are registered, you will be given access to an application form. Note: This may take up to three business days.
• Please make sure that you apply under the business or legal name that matches your bank account details.
• Submit your application online in the Funding Hub. Note that you will have the option of:
  • Filling out the application form
  • Uploading your own documents that answer the same questions, or
  • Submitting audio or video responses to the same questions (up to 30 mins in total). 

Prior to applying, please read our FAQ and application guides or attend one of our info sessions to make sure your project aligns with the fund.

Please check what documents and information you will need to include based on the grant you are interested in applying for.

If you have a general query about the fund or have an idea that you would like help developing, please reach out to one of our advisors by booking a time here. You can also attend one of our info sessions:

• Online Information Session: Thur 20 Aug 2026 — 5-6pm Register here
• In-person Information Session: Wed 26 Aug 2026 — 6-7pm at Studio One Toi Tū Register here

For any technical support with the Funding Hub, please contact the team at Foundation North at asianartistfund@foundationnorth.org.nz or 0800 272 878.

This year, our Asian Artists’ Fund Advisors are Pennie Chang, Jingcheng Zhao, Abhi Chinniah, Marc Conaco, and Sananda Chatterjee.

Advisors will be available to answer queries about the fund and discuss your application until 4pm on the closing date, Thursday 17 Sept. The Foundation North team will be available for technical support related to the Funding Hub until 4pm on the closing date, Thursday 17 Sept.

Thank you to Creative New Zealand, Foundation North and Auckland Council for co-investing in this fund.

Thank you to Te Taumata Toi-a-Iwi, the regional arts trust for Auckland. The redesign of the Fund in 2024 was led on behalf of the trust by Rosabel Tan and Jane Yonge in order to respond more strongly to the recommendations made in Enter The Multiverse – Building a Stronger Sector For Our Asian Arts Practitioners (Te Taumata Toi-a-Iwi, Sep 2022).

Thank you to all the practitioners who have provided feedback on their experience with the fund over the past two months — those who have been involved in the administration of the fund (as advisors, assessors, or who have served on the advisory board), artists who have been successful in receiving funding, those who have been unsuccessful, and those who have never applied.

Thanks to our designers Lindsay Yee and Amul Topiwala who created the visual identity for the Asian Artists’ Fund 2026, and to our Satellites Creative Director Son La Pham for his website magic and continued wisdom and guidance.

Finally, thank you to our partners: Auckland Council, Artspace Aotearoa, F.O.L.A. [AKL], Samoa House Library, Silo Theatre and Te Tuhi. We truly believe that working together in partnership is the only way to strengthen our creative ecologies, and we are grateful to be working alongside you to do that.