Backing the Arts for the benefit of all

Arts participation improves the overall wellbeing of a society, promotes tolerance and diversity, and creates conversations and cohesion within communities.

MRCB and RCP are demonstrating corporate sector leadership in supporting transformative art and cultural experiences for the benefit of people and place. As well as partnering with The Arts Foundation Te Temu Toi MRCB and RCP have announced a three year strategic partnership with Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival.

Reinforcing Auckland as a Leading Cultural City with a Creative Heart. Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival Partners with The Symphony Centre.

Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival and The Symphony Centre development in Aotea Arts Quarter have confirmed a three-year strategic partnership commencing this month.

The development team behind The Symphony Centre, local firm RCP and international developers MRCB, are deeply vested in preserving the identity and legacy of Aotea Arts Quarter as a place of culture, connection and creativity. It is this commitment to the arts sector that underscores their support of Auckland Arts Festival and the celebration of diversity, culture and artistic innovation it brings to this iconic part of Tāmaki Makaurau.

Auckland Arts Festival CEO Robbie Macrae says, “Festivals are critical in providing local communities access to the arts. They also stimulate economic activity and provide employment opportunities for artists, arts industry workers, and support the broader arts and entertainment infrastructure.”

“Partnerships with Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki are an exciting way to get closer to Festival audiences and artists, and an opportunity to make Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland a more vibrant city to live, work and play in. We look forward to working collaboratively with RCP and MRCB to achieve our mutual goal of building a vibrant central city full of art, culture, music, Ngā Toi Māori, Toi Pasifika, and storytelling,” Macrae says.

Cristean Monreal, Director at RCP, says the development which includes The Symphony Centre, Bledisloe House, and The Lanes will incorporate arts and culture into daily living, heralding a revitalisation of Aotea Arts Quarter and will usher in a revived cultural heartbeat to the city.

“Partnering with Auckland Arts Festival means we can tangibly support arts experiences and continue to connect people and communities in the heart of the city as this development unfolds.”

Adding to this sentiment is Ravi Krishnan, MRCB CEO, who says, “Auckland Arts Festival is a globally recognised celebration of art and culture, one that has a deep history, and a prosperous future with Aotea Arts Quarter. By partnering with Auckland Arts Festival, we can ensure that as we develop this precinct, and revive one of the city's most unique inner city neighbourhoods, it continues to be a place of creativity and entertainment.”

About Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival

Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival is the region’s largest multi-genre celebration of arts and culture and has been an annual event since 2015. Founded in 1948, it was the first large-scale festival in the Asia Pacific. The 2024 festival is the 16th staged by the Auckland Festival Trust following its re-establishment in 2003 after a hiatus. More than 2.2 million people have attended AAF events since then.

Every Auckland Arts Festival celebrates the cultural diversity of Auckland through the arts, supports the presentation of New Zealand and international artists and companies, the employment, training and retention of arts industry workers, and supports Auckland’s arts venues and wider arts infrastructure.

Aotea Arts Quarter

Aotea Arts Quarter has such a rich history in the performing arts sector and is a place that the creative community call home - and so it is vital that as we transform this area and preserve its identity and legacy -which is another reason why RCP and MRCB are deeply committed to supporting the Arts Sector.