Museums Aotearoa Submission on the Draft Visual Arts Curriculum
Ministry of Education 22 April 2026
Museums Aotearoa Submission on the Draft Visual Arts Curriculum
Purpose
The purpose of this document is to summarise our position on the Ministry of Education’s Draft Visual Arts Curriculum, so we might provide a clear sector position on matters of importance to arts, culture and heritage and our members in public museums and galleries.
Who we are
Museums Aotearoa represents public museums and galleries across the country. Our sector comprises around 500 institutions throughout New Zealand and the people who work within them, both paid and unpaid. Our members look after New Zealand’s most precious collections. They do that as stewards on behalf of future generations and because they are meeting needs and expectations of communities, government and individuals who bequeath their valued treasures for safekeeping, exhibition and education. As the sector’s chief advocate, we see our primary role as raising the gaze of decisionmakers from individual spending decisions to systemic sector impacts. One way we do that is by advocating for legislative change that delivers clarity, certainty and financial sustainability for the museum and gallery sector so we can serve New Zealand into the future. On behalf of our member museums and galleries across New Zealand, we submit our feedback to the Governance and Administration Committee.
Our response Our overarching concerns are threefold:
- The draft curriculum is too vague, which will rely too heavily upon the individual abilities of teachers to implement and will result in greatly different student outcomes when this curriculum is enacted.
- The draft curriculum reflects a poor understanding of the value of Art History and its differences from Visual Art, by diminishing Art History to a subset of Visual Art, which in turn diminishes the value that students will ascribe and gain from Art History.
- Each teaching year and phase should more distinctly, and clearly build upon one another to establish confidence towards the use of more advanced art terminology which students will begin to encounter and seek out in their art gallery and museum experiences.
Removing Art History as a standalone subject will have direct implications for sustaining university Art History courses, and will detract from the already dwindling pipeline of jobs in the strained Arts sector. The removal of Art History - fails to see the value in such a fundamental, academically robust, knowledge-rich subject. Art History is a deeply human subject, and one which creates critical, nuanced thinkers.
The removal of Art History as a standalone subject signals a diminishment of the focus and attention necessary for students to understand the value that Art History can give them for critically engaging in our visual media saturated world. We urge you to not take away opportunities for students of all backgrounds to access the skills that Art History offers, skills that will enable them to engage fully with the arts, culture and heritage of Aotearoa in the future as arts and museum workers, volunteers, audiences and patrons.
We share with you just a small number of testimonials we have received from people whose lives have been touched by Art History:
“Removing Art History will take away the opportunity of seeing and understanding art as part of our culture and society for students. It will dumb down our population by removing access at a high school level to the language and understandings it encompasses, understandings which help us empathise and make sense of how other people, across cultures and history, have seen and represented their world.” “
As individuals we would lose critical thinking skills. Art history is not memorising dates; it’s interpreting, analysing, and debating. Removing it strips students of a discipline that trains nuanced thought.”
“It is so disappointing to see us moving away from art and creativity, it breaks my heart.”
“Engaging in Art History has made me a strong writer, expanded my vocabulary, improved my articulation and made me a more well-rounded individual. [...] Art History has opened so many doors that I never knew existed. [...] Art History is robust, academic, challenging, enlightening, heartbreaking, joyous and human!”
Governance
Museums Aotearoa Constitution 2024
Museums Aotearoa's third Impact report, August 2024
Impact Report May 2024 outlines key achievements of MA from Jan-April.
Impact Report October 2023 outlines key achievements of MA over the last four quarters.
The Museums Aoteaora Code of Ethics 2013 is a guiding document of professional practice in museums and galleries. All MA members must adhere to the guidelines within the Code of Ethics.
The purpose of this policy is to offer guidance for museums in taking an ethical approach to the respectful management of kōiwi tangata within their care, with a presumption that repatriation to the source community should be the outcome wherever possible.
Terms and conditions of becoming a Museums Aotearoa individual or institutional member
The ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums is a reference text setting standards for the practice of museum professionals.
The Checklist is a tool for two purposes: it sets out the 8 organising principles that shape the detailed articles of the ICOM Code, as well as providing orientation and support in dealing with these complex topics.
The purpose of the document is to define ethical standards on issues specific to Natural History Museums, providing standards of professional practice that can serve as a normative basis for museum institutions.
Government
Read the Museums Aotearoa Submission on changes to the Charity and NFP Tax Policy March 2025
Read the Museums Aotearoa Arms Act Rewrite Submission Feb 2025
In this document we provide our overall impression of Amplify and specific points for the Ministry to note.
Recommendations on amendments to the New Zealand Copyright Law: Considerations for Museums and Galleries.
A recommended approach to investing revenue from the IVL into museums and galleries.
Museums Aotearoa's submission on the Privacy Act amendment June 2024
Museums Aotearoa's submission to MBIE on International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL) Review.
Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga Archives New Zealand reply to MA letter dated May 2024 on Closure of Te Maeatanga Digitisation Programme, August 2024
MA letter to Chief Archivist re closure of Archives New Zealand’s Te Maeatanga digitisation programme.
BIM to Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage.
Letter to Hon Matt Doocey Minister of Tourism Dec 2023
BIM to Minister of Education Erica Stanford Dec 2024
Museums Aotearoa welcomes the announcement from DIA that museums and galleries have an exemption from paying levies to Fire and Emergency on the insured value of their collections.
Submission of Museums Aotearoa on the Nelson City Council Long-Term Plan 2024-2034
Letter to Minister for Regional Development Hon Shane Jones April 2024
Submission of Museums Aotearoa on the Clutha Council Long- Term Plan 2024-2034
A BIM (Briefing to the incoming Minister) gives a new Minister an overview of the priorities of their department or Ministry, and identifies some of the more significant issues and opportunities.
Museums Aotearoa has made a submission on behalf of the sector on the proposed Emergency Management Bill, due 3 November.
MA's submission on Local Government Reform, regarding the value of museums and galleries to communities.
Museums Aotearoa Online Casino Gambling Bill Submission 15 Aug 2025
We are writing in support of a purpose-built facility to safeguard the taonga of the Nelson Tasman region.
Research
This report delves into the economic impact of museums and galleries, particularly with respect to three focus regions: Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Museums and galleries play a vital role in our local and national economies through their contributions to tourism, gross domestic product (GDP) and curriculum-focused education.
This 2024 report by BERL analyses funding streams for museums and galleries in Aoteaora NZ
Research into the value museums and galleries deliver for educational outcomes in Aotearoa New Zealand.
A significant research report completed by Business and Economic Research agency into the value of museums and galleries in Aotearoa in 2021.
Infographic from the National Visitor Survey 2025
Infographic from the National Visitor Survey 2024
Infographic from the National Visitor Survey 2023
Infographic from the National Visitor Survey 2022
This research sought to gain a deeper understanding of the current and potential Museums Aotearoa membership base.
This research sought to understand the way communities throughout Aotearoa use and value museums and galleries and how they could be more connected.
Summary of Member Insight and Social Value Research Reports 2022
Annual reports
Tauhere: Emerging Museum Professional's Publication
Emerging Museum Professional's publication May 2016
Emerging Museum Professional's publication Issue 2 Dec 2016
Emerging Museum Professional's publication Issue 3 Dec 2017
Emerging Museum Professional's publication Issue 4 Oct 2018
MA Impact Report
2025 MA Impact Report