Mission Statement

To support, promote and preserve innovative audio in NZ

Founded in 2004, The Audio Foundation Charitable Trust is a peer-based facilitative organisation dedicated to New Zealand sound culture. Our purpose is to support to a nation-wide network of practitioners whose work involves and foregrounds an exploratory approach to sound.

We have two main areas of activities. We do this by:

1.
Acting as an incubator, initiating events, workshops, projects and networking opportunities that maximise potential for artistic development within this culture.

2.
By acting as an archival resource, providing a framework for digital preservation of historic and contemporary audio recordings, and instigating associated research into current and historical sound culture within New Zealand.

These activities contribute to the exploration and understanding of the place and possibilities of audio culture, locally and internationally.

The Audio Foundation is unique in its focus on the peripheral and the emergent, foregrounding artists and practices that often fall into the slippery territory between genre and disciplinary distinctions.
We hope to raise awareness and appreciation of the rich living history of innovative NZ sound.

AUDIO FOUNDATION AIMS

• To support and promote the creation, production, and dissemination of innovative New Zealand audio projects through provision of online information resources, national networking infrastructures, events, heritage and exhibition services.

• To support and promote research in and the development of innovative artistic potential primarily concerned with audio.

• To foster a coherent identity and history for NZ audio culture, and to promote this to the wider public.

• To facilitate public audio events of a high standard, offering alternative opportunities to small groups and professional specialized communities in the audio culture of NZ.

• To forge alliances with industry, art organisations and other institutions to assist in the creation of resources and support for the sound/noise/outsider music community.

• To build the Audio Foundation through sustained communication, provision of information resources, preservation of contemporary and historical NZ audio culture, membership incentives and self-perpetuating successful initiatives of all kinds.

The overall administration of Audio Foundation runs thanks to funding from ASB Trust

THE AF LIST
A list-digest to facilitate networking, discussion and events, The AF list is a subscriber-only email digest of around 350 people nation-wide.
Archives

ALTMUSIC EVENTS

Funded by Creative New Zealand, Altmusic is a series of events, organised by independent committee's in each city under the auspices of the Audio Foundation. 2009 sees this becoming a national tour of artists in all the major regions. Please see people below for individuals in each region.

The Festival now has major partnerships including the NZ International Film Festival, AUT and St Pauls St Gallery, The Edge, Goethe Institute, Happy, Physics Room, Dunedin Public Art Gallery and Fulbright New Zealand.
Altmusic is a vital injection of contemporary sound art dialogue for New Zealand. It provides local practitioners and audiences for cutting-edge audio culture with direct access to, interaction with and experience of the latest currents in sound making.

For more details

MP3 LIBRARY

This is a comprehensive digitised Library of work from the Audio Foundation NZ CD collection. Many of the recordings in this are obscure and now out of print. The Library ensures the preservation of the work in a format that can be transferred safely and maintained for posterity.
This will not be online, due to copyright issues, but available through AF and The Film Archive.
Funded by the Lotteries Heritage and Environment the Library project was digitised by Stefan Neville and opens on July 3rd 2009 at the Auckland Film Archive Library. For more information or queries email admin@audiofoundation.org.nz

ORAL HISTORY

Funded by Lotteries Heritage and Environment the Oral History component is a crucial part of AF. The specific outcome is to provide records of the unique insights, methodologies and historical accounting of NZ artists. These interviews will serve to not only provide a historical understanding of some of the most pioneering artists in NZ, but also will hopefully provide inspiration to emerging practitioners and increase an understanding of the practise through this.
The original audio will be lodged with the Sound Archives and transcripts of the audio with permission will be available online in the Knowledge section.

AF CD SHOP

A nomadic shop offering wares on behalf of NZ artists . Often part of the Craftwerk
or at Altmusic events. Watch out on News and Events for the next announcement.
To sell your work there with no commission contact
admin@audiofoundation.org.nz
or send to the PO Box

DIRT BENEATH THE DAY DREAM

We are excited to announce that Dirt Beneath the Daydream distributed with thanks to The Wire is now available to subscribers. The CD features 21 tracks selected from an open call for submissions of previously unreleased experimental music from New Zealand.

However, in whittling 68 submissions down to 21 tracks, a great deal of exceptional material by both new and established musicians could not fit in the final selection.

We present a selection of this submitted work here from other NZ artists for your listening pleasure as a bonus to the CD.
Enjoy!