Are you a creative rainbow or ally?
Wanna help us create an epic piece of collaborative art made by rainbow youth and allies from around the country?
All you have to do is photograph or paint things that are all one colour. Send them to us and we will gather them all together and give them to a VJ to create an epic video installation piece creating the rainbow made up of your pieces of art. We will send it to schools around the country to use during School Pride Week. And we are also planning on projecting it onto buildings during the Auckland Festival of Photography.
Why? -
Because we need more safe rainbow friendly spaces. We need to stand together and support each other. In a world divided in so many ways, we see this as a creative way to weave people back together - heart to heart.
The Exhibition will be like a Batman signal for all young Rainbow youth who just need to be seen and accepted for who they are.
The idea for the exhibition came from the following story.
Lillian who is a Click Happy student in Christchurch came up to Wellington for a Create Happy Magazine workshop. They recently realized that they are queer and became quite emotional after spending time on Cuba street in Wellington's downtown. "You guys have a rainbow crosswalk and there is even a drag queen crossing light! I walked into a bookstore with a rainbow flag in the window and some old dude was at the counter...he could have been gay or an ally it didn't matter...he made me feel welcome. When I walk down Christchurch in a pride shirt I am worried I will be judged or confronted...in Wellington, I felt completely safe being me. I need to figure out how to help Christchurch to be as welcoming as Wellington. "
We were already exploring monochromatic imagery in Click Happy so it made sense that we used the blocks of colours to create something beautiful for Lillian to spread our trust's message of compassion for Every Body.
Heartivism
The world feels as if it is becoming more and more polarized. Our goal is to create a counterpoint and instead, weave the people together. One amazing monochromatic image at a time.
Our trust was founded in an act of Heartivism - Heart + Art + Activism. In the beginning, it was for body positivity for women. This time it is in celebration of the diversity of our youth.
Our trust is called Every Body is a Treasure. And that means EVERY BODY. Our beautiful rainbow youth, our beautiful allies, as well as our beautiful youth who have been taught to not tolerate those who are different from themselves. We all have a need to be loved, cared for, a need for community, a need for purpose, and a need to matter. We are all treasures.
We practice non-violent creative activism that seeks to empathize and listen to understand each other. Only empathy and non-violence stand a chance of helping us to bridge a polarized world.
We are looking for classes, libraries, and youth groups join.
We have all the teaching content ready to go. All you have to do is work your way through the rainbow and have students take images with their devices of monochromatic images of the week. As they work their way through the challenges they learn more about visual storytelling and composition. And their images could become part of the national exhibition.
What sort of Equipment do I need to photograph for the exhibition?
Anything that will take a picture
- DSLR/ Mirrorless Camera
- Cellphone
- Tablet
You can edit it with anything that you like
- Photoshop
- Lightroom
- Snapseed
- Any app that allows you to modify your image but there needs to be a photographic element that you took in the final image and you cannot use copyrighted images from others.
What do the hosts need to provide if we are doing it as a group?
- A venue for students to meet up.
- A police-screened teacher, librarian, or youth worker to hold space for the students - or in school groups could hold the workshops for themselves during lunch or in class if allowed.
- Ideally things that could be used in monochromatic photography such as:
- $2.00 shop plastic tablecloths in the colours of the rainbow.
- Facepaint and glitter if the students want to become part of the art
- Fabric backgrounds or cardboard backgrounds.
- Clothes or objects in primary colours to use as still life or flat lays.
The students can be asked to bring things from home that are those colours as well to increase the number of objects that they have to experiment with. Or you can just go on meditative walks to see how many things of that colour you can find and photograph in interesting ways.
How do I sign up our group/class ?
Sign up form is at the bottom of this page.
What if I'm an individual and I just want to sign up but am not part of a group?
Sign up below as an individual and we will send you the materials so that you can do the project on your own if you like. But you can also join us on Thursday nights if you are 24 and under to learn and shoot with us.
How old do I need to be to enter my content?
This project is for students who are under 25.
Do I need to be "diverse" identifying to take part in the workshops?
The workshops are open to everyone! Our trust, Every Body is a Treasure Trust, believes that everyone, irrespective of their background, ethnicity, or identity, contributes to the beautiful rainbow of humanity. This workshop is a way to honour and celebrate the unique colours that each individual brings to our world
Zoom Click Happy Weekly Workshops
Do you want the support of a neurodiverse Master Photographer with a wicked sense of humour and a bunch of other rainbow creatives to hang out online for an hour and make cool stuff together?
How the Zoom works.
- Little korero from the facilitator about a new creative well-being skill
- Quick korero about a composition challenge
- You get time to go shoot or create the challenge.
- You get to share what you did and get feedback if you want some.
There is also a Telegram channel for messaging the people in the group if you like and posting your work for the week.
If you want to be given the zoom links then tick the zoom option below.
