We held an inaugural meeting last December to discuss the possibility of forming
a network amongst local artists to offer workshops. World of WearableArt and The
Suter te Aratoi o Whakatu, two of Nelson's flagship arts organisations, together
with a number of other established organisations and interested individuals,
agreed to become members. An embryonic organisation, Creative Tourism New
Zealand (CTNZ), emerged and was launched on 1 May 2003 by Dame Cheryll
Sotheran, the founder of Wellington's Te Papa museum.
CTNZ now has 23 Members offering a range of workshops and learning
experiences that reflect the diverse culture of this part of New Zealand: from
harakeke (flax) weaving to woolcraft, from bone carving to bronze casting, from
ceramics to native plant propagation, from seafood cookery to wood working.