A one-minute video made by filmmaker Danny Amua for the Creative Spaces Network promoting the importance of creative spaces for artists who attend and the communities they belong to.

About the Creative Spaces Network

The Creative Spaces Network, facilitated by Arts Access Aotearoa, connects 65 community-based creative spaces across Aotearoa. These are places where people facing barriers – such as disability, mental distress, age, or cultural isolation – can create, explore, and participate in the arts.

We believe the arts are for everyone. Creative spaces are guided by care, equity, artistic freedom, and connection. They welcome participants warmly, remove barriers to participation, and support people to grow, lead, and express themselves.

Artists and tutors work alongside participants across theatre, dance, music, visual arts, circus, film, and creative writing. Every year, creative spaces employ around 1,500 professionals and support an estimated 40,000 people to engage in arts activities.

The Network strengthens these spaces through professional development, funding advice, and advocacy, helping ensure the arts are a space where everyone belongs.