Satellites
Asian Artists' Fund
2025

The Asian Artists’ Fund was established in 2022 as part of an attempt to address funding inequalities in Aotearoa for artists of Asian descent.

Since its launch, the fund has undergone continual evolution, responding to community feedback through an ongoing co-design process with Asian arts practitioners in Tāmaki Makaurau and Te Tai Tokerau. In particular, the fund responds to the recommendations made in Enter The Multiverse – Building a Stronger Sector For Our Asian Arts Practitioners (Te Taumata Toi-a-Iwi, Sep 2022), specifically:

1. Mid-career practitioners are supported to become leaders in Aotearoa on an international stage
2. Early-career practitioners have culturally safe opportunities to build capability
3. Asian diaspora artists have access to the opportunities and resources to develop a distinctive voice within Aotearoa

Underscoring this fund is an acknowledgement of the place of Asian peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand in relation to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and our nation’s bicultural foundation. Understanding the place of Asian New Zealanders goes hand in hand with understanding their roles and responsibilities as Tiriti partners since Te Tiriti o Waitangi is an agreement between Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti. In this context, we define Tangata Tiriti as inclusive of all those who call Aotearoa home – Pākehā and Tauiwi.

In 2025, we have added a suite of residencies, recognising the need for artists to have dedicated time and space to experiment, explore, and develop new work. Together, we hope these different streams provide a pathway for artists to be supported at all stages of their careers.

Not sure which funding stream is right for you? Take our quiz

Please note: Only one application per person or group can be made to the Asian Artists’ Fund. This does not include registering for our Te Tiriti workshops, which are open to all creative practitioners of Asian descent (even if you are not applying for funding).

• Creative Fellowship
  
  A $60,000 stipend designed to support creative practitioners who are mid-career and beyond to develop new ideas, new work and new approaches in their practice.
  
  We will be awarding up to four fellowships with a stipend of $60,000 in 2025.

• Creative Projects
  
  To support the development or presentation of a creative project, or a combination of both.
  
  We will be awarding up to 10 grants of up to $35,000 each.

• Professional Development
  
  For practitioners to undertake development activities that benefit their careers. This might include mentorship, workshops (whether related to your practice or to skills supporting the sustainability of your career), or documenting and archiving your own work.
  
  We will be awarding up to four grants of up to $5000 each.

• AAF Writers Residency
  
  A residency for an artist developing a text of any kind (this may be poetry, fiction, non-fiction, theatre). Presented in partnership with Samoa House Library.
  
  The artist receives $10,000 and six months access to the co-working space at Samoa House Library.

• AAF Music and Sound Art Residency
  
  A residency for a music or sound artist to experiment, explore, and develop new work. Presented in partnership with Auckland Council.
  
  The artist receives $10,000 and four weeks studio space at Te Oro or an alternative Auckland Council studio space (noting that this time does not have to be consecutive).

• AAF Visual Arts Residency
  
  A residency for a visual artist to experiment, explore, and develop new work. Presented in partnership with Te Tuhi.
  
  The artist receives $10,000 and 12 weeks shared studio space at Te Tuhi.

• AAF Dance and Movement Residency
  
  A residency for a dance or movement artist to experiment, explore, and develop new work. Presented in partnership with Auckland Council.
  
  The artist receives $10,000 and four weeks studio space at Te Oro or an alternative Auckland Council studio space (noting that this time does not have to be consecutive).

• AAF Performance Art Residency
  
  A residency for an experimental performance artist or live artist to experiment and develop work. Presented in partnership with Artspace Aotearoa and F.O.L.A. [AKL].
  
  The artist receives $10,000 and four weeks of research and development (R&D) space (noting this time does not have to be consecutive), along with curatorial and dramaturgical support from Artspace and F.O.L.A.

• AAF Critic in Residence Programme
  
  A residency for up to three early-career writers to be mentored as they work on eight pieces of criticism, features and profiles across a ten-month period. Presented in partnership with Metro and The Spinoff.
  
  Each writer receives a $5000 stipend across the ten-month period, during which time they will receive one-on-one mentorship and participate in regular writing workshops.

Please go to the Foundation North page to see more information about each stream.

Thank you to everyone who applied to the Asian Artists’ Fund this year.

We received 119 applications this year, the highest since the fund’s creation in 2022. The total amount requested was $3.2 million, which is much more than the $650k we had available to distribute to artists. Ultimately, we were only able to fund 26 applications, and there were many more artists and projects that our independent panel of practitioners would have supported if we had been able to.

2025 Recipients

AAF Visual Artist in Residence 2025–26

Sahana Rahman

AAF Writer in Residence 2025–26

Dawn Cheong

AAF Performance Artist in Residence 2025–26

Min Kyoung Lee

AAF Dance and Movement Artists in Residence 2025–26

Weichu Huang and Lulu Qiu

AAF Music and Sound Artist in Residence 2025–26

Motoko Kikkawa

AAF Creative Fellows 2025–26

Ahilan Karunaharan
Bhavesh Bhuthadia
Xi Li
Xin Ji

AAF Professional Development

Ben Fernandez — Towards developing skills in advanced arranging for jazz ensemble — $5,000

Jieying Cai — Towards mentorship in natural material weaving and dyes — $4,901

Tim Wong — Towards restoring The Lumière Reader’s legacy of arts journalism, and developing critical and editorial practice — $4,970

Yukari Kaihori — Towards developing skills in 3D software applications for future projects — $5,000

AAF Creative Projects

Nomuna Amarbat — A new solo work exploring vulnerability and softness through a coming-of-age narrative — $12,320

Fiona Chua — Orchestration for The Butterfly Lovers, an original musical — $25,240

Danielle Hao-Aickin — Developing their debut body of work, focusing on music production, sound design, and visual storytelling — $10,000

Ningyi Hu — Towards a new body of sculptural work looking at the layered histories of weaponry and our relationship with safety and protection — $14,298

Vinesh Kumaran — Portraits of Stallholders at Māngere Markets — $20,393

Qianye Lin and Qianhe Lin — Choral Monologues, a new work exploring the poetics of disorientation and collective linguistic affirmation — $30,160

Hon Manawangphiphat and Jade Lewis — Club Ruby Rebel Radio, a dystopian live stage show inspired by the broadcasting defiance of Radio Hauraki in 1965 — $35,000

Van Mei — To write and edit their debut novel, The Tears of Kuan Yin — $35,000

Proudly Asian Theatre — To support the reimagined return of Pork and Poll Taxes by Talia Pua and the premiere of Genuine and Stable by Uhyoung Choi — $35,000

Soil of Cultures — Towards a project exploring the cultural histories of taro — $35,000

Jenna Wee — Asian in Aotearoa [Season 4] — $34,371

Sherry Zhang — To complete their debut novel — $26,255

Jingcheng Zhao — For Practice of Gathering, a publication and workbook exploring curating with decolonial, queer, and relational-based values — $22,600

This is the first year Satellites has been an official partner on this fund, and it has been a privilege to lead the design of the funding streams, as well as support with marketing and outreach. When we designed this year’s fund — in collaboration with many artists and arts workers in Tāmaki Makaurau — there were a number of things we hoped to achieve. We wanted to strengthen our Aotearoa Asian arts ecology, but we also wanted to rethink how funding works and the different ways we can invest in artists. This conversation is ongoing, and we know things will continue to change — not only as we learn, but also as the landscape changes.

We are grateful to Foundation North, Creative New Zealand, and Auckland Council for establishing the fund in response to the underrepresentation of Asian artists in arts funding. The demand we have seen this year, and the calibre of applications, show us that there’s a need for increased investment — not just in Aotearoa Asian arts, but in our cultural sector as a whole, and this is what we will be fighting for in future iterations of the fund.

Thank you to Creative New Zealand, Foundation North and Auckland Council for co-investing in this fund.

Thank you to Te Taumata Toi-a-Iwi, the regional arts trust for Auckland, which has supported the development of this fund. Its redesign in 2024 was led on behalf of the trust by Rosabel Tan and Jane Yonge to respond more strongly to the recommendations made in Enter The Multiverse – Building a Stronger Sector for Our Asian Arts Practitioners (Te Taumata Toi-a-Iwi, Sep 2022).

In 2025, the fund is being managed by Rosabel Tan (Satellites) with Jane Yonge (Te Taumata Toi-a-Iwi) supporting its continual evolution.

In light of this handover, the Asian Artists’ Fund 2025 has been revised once again in consultation with Asian arts practitioners across Tāmaki Makaurau. Thank you to all the artists who have provided feedback on their experience with the fund over the past two months — those who have been successful in receiving funding, those who have been unsuccessful, and those who have never applied.

We are still testing ideas this year, and the fund will continually evolve in response to your feedback. If you have thoughts you’d like to share, please get in touch with us at asianartistsfund@satellites.co.nz

Ngā mihi nui to our advisory group, who have helped shepherd this fund into existence: Sananda Chatterjee, Abhi Chinniah, Abbey Gamit, Robbie Handock, Cindy Jang-Barlow, Nathan Joe, Yona Lee, Samuel Walsh, and Jane Yonge. Your wisdom and expertise are so greatly appreciated.

Thank you also to our designers, Lindsay Yee and Amul Topiwala, who created the identity for the Asian Artists’ Fund 2025, to Goodspace for the music for our videos and to our Satellites Creative Director, Son La Pham, for his continued wisdom and guidance.

Finally, thanks to our partners: Auckland Council, Artspace Aotearoa, F.O.L.A. [AKL], Metro, Samoa House Library, Te Tuhi and The Spinoff. We truly believe that working together in partnership is the only way to strengthen our creative ecologies, and we are grateful to be working alongside you to do that.