BRIDGE BETWEEN WORLDS

Auckland, New Zealand, 2022.

2022 marks 50 years since the start of the Gay Liberation movement in New Zealand in 1972, a movement led by lesbian and Māori rights activist Ngahuia Te Awekotuku. Bridge Between Worlds I is a multi-site project that acknowledges this important moment in New Zealand history whilst seeking to encourage positive connections between local communities in the present. The project was commissioned by Precinct Properties Ltd. and manifests as work developed by Novak with local LGBTQI+ communities across multiple sites including:

Waharua Kōpito, collaborative work with Huriana Kopeke-Te Aho at Commercial Bay airbridge, Auckland, New Zealand.
Uenukutanga, work by Hariata Herekore at Commercial Bay airbridge, Auckland, New Zealand.
With Love I, PwC Tower (main foyer), Auckland, New Zealand.
With Love II, HSBC Tower, Auckland, New Zealand.
With Love III, Aon Centre, Auckland, New Zealand.
With Love IV, Jarden House, Auckland, New Zealand.
With Love V, PwC Tower (multiple office floors), Auckland, New Zealand.

1. WAHARUA KŌPITo

Huriana Kopeke-Te Aho and Shannon Novak, Commercial Bay airbridge, Auckland, New Zealand, 2022.

Waharua Kōpito refers to the points people or events cross and the change that often happens at those meeting points. In this work, Kopeke-Te Aho and Novak focus on bridging BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour) rainbow communities with non-BIPOC rainbow communities to create positive, meaningful, and sustained change. This idea then extends to bridging other communities together such as the rainbow with the non-rainbow community, all with a view to creating a better world to live in.

2. Uenukutanga

Hariata Herekore, Commercial Bay airbridge, Auckland, New Zealand, 2022.

Herekore states:

“Uenuku is the atua of rainbows in Te Ao Māori, and in the modern world we use his tohu (sign) to show our pride. Ka whawhai tonu ngaa uri o Uenuku roughly translates to The descendants of Uenuku will never yield which is an ode to the experiences of Takatāpui all across Aotearoa and the world. It describes the way in which we will never give in to colonial notions of sex, sexuality, and gender identity. May Uenuku continue to adorn the sky with our beauty”.

3. wITH LOVE I

Shannon Novak, PwC Tower (main foyer), Auckland, New Zealand, 2022.

With Love I-V acknowledges and celebrates diversity in the local LGBTQI+ community. Different versions of the original six-stripe rainbow flag have emerged in recent times, one of the most recent and popular being the Progress Pride Flag by Daniel Quasar. With Love I continues this work, presenting another take on the rainbow flag, highlighting those most in need within the rainbow community including BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour), trans, and intersex communities. With Love I-V also includes colours from other flags in the rainbow community including the bisexual, non-binary, and genderfluid flags.