Kaupapa / Values

This is what holds us.

Provocation Station isn’t neutral. We don’t believe in pretending to be objective or pretending that art is separate from life. Our kaupapa is specific — not because we’re trying to exclude, but because we know what we’re here to do.

This is what we’re building from, and what we return to when things get complicated.

1. Indigenous-led, Always

Our foundation is Māori, and our kaupapa is relational, land-connected, and shaped by whakapapa. We prioritise Indigenous, Pacific, and kaupapa Māori artists — not as a checkbox, but because this is where we’re from, and this is who we’re accountable to.

We also work in deep partnership with tangata tiriti who are aligned, accountable, and invested in Indigenous-led futures. Solidarity is a practice — not a label — and we welcome those willing to work in service of the kaupapa, not ahead of it.

2. Relational, Not Transactional

We build trust, not pipelines. This means checking in, checking ourselves, and holding space where people can show up as their full selves. It also means being open to disagreement, discomfort, and difference — not smoothing it out.

3. Anti-Extractive

We’re not here to platform artists and then discard them. We don’t take without giving back. We pay artists, protect their time, and don’t treat participation as “exposure.” Our structure is slow because it's designed to be sustainable.

4. Conceptual is Not a Dirty Word

We hold space for thinking that’s weird, rigorous, poetic, or unresolved. We don’t need things to be easy to explain. We’re not scared of abstraction — just of disconnect. We want the work to be sharp and grounded.

5. Joy is a Tactic

We hold rage, grief, survival, and critique. But we also hold silliness, singing, stickers, and soft resistance. Not everything needs to be urgent to be important. Some things need to be funny, or cute, or lovingly unnecessary.

6. Art is Life / Life is Art

We don’t separate the work from the person. We recognise care work, community work, and chaos as part of the practice. The kaupapa doesn’t pause just because a project ends — it’s in the way we live, not just what we produce.