Annual Artist Partnership

As an organisation rooted in advocating for the health and wellbeing of diverse communities, ongoing community arts practices are a powerful tool to shift public attitudes and mobilising our communities' human rights endeavours. Whether raising awareness to prevent HIV and STI transmission, increasing HIV and STI testing, reducing HIV stigma, or being in closer proximity to our communities, Burnett Foundation Aotearoa is proud to partner with our community artists to weave together stories that make up the tapestry of our organisation and the communities we serve.

Every year, Burnett Foundation Aotearoa will collaborate with a community artist to create a work that charts the journey, stories, issues and themes central to the lived reality of the artist and their communities in relation to Burnett Foundation Aotearoa.

Over time, this initiative will build up a significant body of work - a rich, visual tapestry of the lives & experiences of our communities, and the story of Burnett Foundation Aotearoa. 

Grounded in our history 

For over forty years, art and craft has told our communities' stories through The New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt Project as a way of facilitating connection and reflection. It is an integral part of our communities’ collective history and also for us as an organisation.

Having commemorated 30 years of the project in 2018, the Quilt Project has toured Aotearoa since 1992, educating people about the realities of living with HIV and AIDS, fighting stigma and humanising the experiences of HIV and AIDS.

The New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt Project is a kaupapa grounded in artistic practice and is a “for community, by community” practice at its core. It remains a key tool in commemorating those who we have lost, engaging in whakamaumahara – to honour and to learn and continuously grow.

Building on this existing kaupapa, we would build artistic relationships not only to build on “for community, by community” artistic practise, but to serve as a tool to build, nurture and enhance relationships with communities and create space for them to actively contribute to the tapestry of our collective history.

Annual Artist Partnership - Kiran Morar, 2023

Ganymede's Hand

Kiran Morar, 2023

Ganymedes Hand is a series of larger than life playing cards which depict monumental individuals within the Queer and Trans histories of Te Whanganui-ā-Tara Wellington. These figures represent the diaspora of our communities and acknowledge the hard work of those who have come before us in social, political, and communal realms. The Suits are based on relevant iconography from Burnett Foundation Aotearoa, PrEP, Condoms, Blood tests and playful depictions of sex positivity.

Bruce

1200 x 800 mm

Plywood and Acrylic paint

Bruce Burnett, aligned with the recent change in name of Burnett Foundation Aotearoa, is a prominent figure in the HIV and AIDS movement in Aotearoa New Zealand. Between sharing his own experience living with HIV and AIDS, using his story to educate, comfort and address the needs of marginalized and suffering communities. Bruce's legacy is carried, not only by Burnett Foundation Aotearoa, but by any individual who champions the needs and wants of our community.

Carmen

1200 x 800 mm

Plywood and Acrylic paint

Carmen Rupe. Māori Trans Women, Drag performer, Sex worker, absolute Icon, wrapped in sequins and maternal instinct. Carmen is nothing short of a Queer Household name. Carmen will be remembered for the spaces she carved out for the queer communities within Te Whanganui-ā-Tara Wellington, the unapologetic way she lived her life, and the resilience she exhibited in a world that was so opposed to everything she stood for.

Chrissy

1200 x 800 mm

Plywood and Acrylic paint

The Queen of Wellington, the Queen of Evergreen Coffee House, Chrissy Witoko is another Trans sister who created spaces for all of us. Many walks of life were welcome, and the most-wanted of all were those on the fringes of society, unwelcome in many places outside the Evergreen. Chrissy will always be known as a woman of grace and kindness, but also someone with the ferocity of Queer endurance. She is acknowledged throughout Te Whanganui-ā-Tara Wellington and Aotearoa New Zealand, and this artwork becomes my addition to acknowledging her work.

Georgina

1200 x 800 mm

Plywood and Acrylic paint

Georgina Beyer is a pillar of our communities, who only recently passed. It felt right to acknowledge someone who opened so many doors. The world's first openly Trans MP and Mayor. Georgina herself acknowledged the difficulty of not having any mentors to navigate Queerness/Transness within Politics, in turn, becoming said trailblazer. Sex workers, Queer people, the entirety of Aotearoa New Zealand and the World are better for all the contributions Georgina made.

Te Whanganui-ā-Tara Wellington is often called the Queer capital of Aotearoa New Zealand, and rightly so. This melting pot of a city, and myself, have our Queer and Trans elders to thank for the spaces we have today. All the doors we skip, run and shove through are only accessible because of the blood, sweat and tears of those who came before us. The art I make exists in the comforting shadow of the monumental accomplishments of these individuals and what they represent. I am honoured for this opportunity with Burnett Foundation Aotearoa, as an Artist, Queer Person of Colour and Trans individual. May we never forget the Olympians of our community.

Artist Bio

Kiran Morar is a Queer Wellington Artist. Born in Wellington, raised in South Auckland, Kiran returned to Wellington to pursue and complete his BFA(Hon) between 2019 and 2022. Kiran’s involvement with Queerness and community began with GQ nights at Rainbow Youth and Condom Packing nights at Burnett Foundation Aotearoa (formerly New Zealand AIDS Foundation). This passion for community and Queerness extended into his role in pastoral care, creating Massey’ University’s first Queer-specific floor for First-year students. Amidst this, Kiran continued his work volunteering with the Foundation, as well as establishing themselves as a local Drag Performer in Wellington. With a series of Queer portraiture, a Poetry book, Painting and performance, Kiran returns to us with his best effort to acknowledge Wellington’s Queer history, Ganymedes Hand (2023).

Inaugural Artist Partnership - Shannon Novak, 2022

Te Haeata | Anew
Shannon Novak, 2023

Guided by the whakataukī “Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua” – ‘I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on my past’, this work commemorates the beginning of Burnett Foundation Aotearoa.

Te Haeata, the Māori word for the dawn, speaks of the first light of morning and represents a new day rising. This acknowledges the beginning of Burnett Foundation Aotearoa by choosing Te Haeata as the installation's name to welcome the dawn of something anew. Nau mai Te Haeata!

Te Haeata | Anew is rooted in acknowledging our past as Te Tūāpapa Mate Āraikore o Aotearoa New Zealand AIDS Foundation, making a bold statement that embodies Bruce Burnett and the first clinic that opened in 1986, parallel to the Homosexual Law Reform Act. This manifests in the eight and six circle formations on the exterior of the building and on the sunlight in the stairwell.

Line work weaves into the existing fabric of the building, with the red line referencing the red AIDS ribbon, ushering those entering the building from the outside to the entrance of the clinic on the top floor; and the cyan line paying homage to the original eight-colour rainbow flag (1978), symbolising magic and art.

Circles represent people - individuals, communities, groups, organisations, countries, and the lines support, and provide safety and guidance for people.

Triangle motifs pay homage to early AIDS-awareness iconography and the colours used in the circles in the stairwell are inspired by the colours in the ‘For Those Loved and Known’ quilt, created by the team of the Burnett Clinic (New Zealand AIDS Foundation’s support and counselling clinic) and the Community AIDS Resource Team as part Block 4 of the New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt Project. These colours represent spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing.

The motifs are echoed in the reception area, where a metallic gold frame of Bruce Burnett is housed in remembrance, supported by bronze and gold accenting, inspired by Bruce’s star on Block 12 – “Who Do I know? Commemorating World AIDS Day 1994” of the New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt Project.

Shannon’s expertise in interactive and celebratory art forms, ushers the history of Te Tūāpapa Mate Āraikore o Aotearoa New Zealand AIDS Foundation and the communities we serve into a new era of Burnett Foundation Aotearoa.