It made a half-year loss of $765,000 in the six months to December 2023 and will have to draw down $500,000 from a contingency fund set up by Whangārei District Council, the same fund it also relied on last year.
The Hundertwasser Arts Centre and Wairau Māori Art Gallery are run by Whangārei Art Trust, a council-controlled organisation.
The centre is pursuing other income streams, such as increasing international visitor numbers.
While critics of the Hundertwasser Art Centre have been quick to point the blame on its “ugly” design, unaffordability for families and overinflated visitor estimates, the centre is not alone in its difficulties.
The Kauri Museum in Northland’s Matakohe has also felt a slump in visitor numbers due to the pandemic, followed by last year’s poor weather, and Brynderwyns closure, said director Dr Jason Smith.
The well-regarded museum has run for 62 years without any operational grants from council or central government, but this is becoming increasingly difficult, he said.
“The Kauri Museum has to live by its wits to keep the doors open, and this ebbs and flows.”
At its peak in 2006, the Kauri Museum had 94,000 visitors a year. In 2020-21, with Covid restrictions, this number fell to just 11,000 a year. Cyclone Gabrielle and the ongoing closure of State Highway 1 at the Brynderwyns saw 2023 visitor numbers restricted to just 27,000.
Smith said 35,000 visitors are estimated this year, with the Kauri Museum having to do considerable advertising while the Brynderwyns are closed, including a promotion for children to enter for just a gold coin donation to the Northland Rescue Helicopter.
he Kauri Museum has a “white-knuckle ride” running on visitor income alone in these tough times, says director and former Kaipara mayor Dr Jason Smith. Photo / Tania Whyte
At the same time, costs to run the museum and keep its artefacts safe are going up, such as its $10,000 bill to renew its sprinkler system this year, he said.
Smith, the former Kaipara mayor, said he is sympathetic to the struggles being felt at the Hundertwasser Art Centre.
“The Northland visitor market has not fully recovered from Covid and then the cyclone last year which absolutely blew our very fragile recovery ... it particularly smashed Northland.”
The organisation is running a campaign called Keep the Lights On this month to highlight the problems faced by the museums and galleries it represents.
If funding is not available, some museums and art galleries will have to close and their collections will be lost from the public arena forever, Oktay said.
Attractions at the Kauri Museum include The Forest Walkway, which opened in 2023. Photo / Ellen Smith
“It’s not tomorrow but it’s definitely heading along that track. They’re eating their reserves and it’s only a matter of time before they have eaten all their reserves.”
The lack of funding has been a problem decades in the making and is partly due to a lack of central government funding, Oktay said.
Museums and galleries are a drawcard for international tourists, who then go on to spend money on the likes of accommodation, she said.
“We would like to see, where museums and galleries offer value they should be getting funding around it, such as tourism, education or science research ... If ministries are getting values in these areas, it would be good if they funded them sustainably.”
The Keep the Lights On campaign culminates on Monday night, when museums and galleries will symbolically turn off their lights to show what could be lost around the country if sustainable funding is not found.
Denise Piper is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.
