WHEKE FORTRESS Community Space & Gallery

WHEKE FORTRESS is an experimental gallery and community space looking for support.

Having secured a hidden gem building in Onehunga, our groundbreaking crew of artists/organisers need to lay down a strong foundation and cover our:

• fit-out/renovation costs
• basic utilities/overheads
• initial arts programming
  

We want to kick our kaupapa off with a sustainable bang and we need your help!

A more holistic model, WHEKE FORTRESS will provide a new kind of gallery and meeting space for Māori Pasifika and Queer creatives locally. This is for experimental artists who value deep connection and alternative ways of working compared to the more industrial, competitive and mainstream spaces.

WHEKE FORTRESS wants to prioritise indigenous pop culture and redefine what ‘success’ is for our people in 2022. This space will push innovation, while also going back to basics. Our team want to create think-tank opportunities for our people to be sovereign, safe and radically creative in. This is an example of no longer being satisfied with a seat at the table, this is a new table and economy, where we are centred in our creativity, not a token afterthought.

We want WHEKE FORTRESS to be a safe landing pad where Māori Pacific and Queer creatives in Auckland can experiment, unpack and connect in meaningful ways - not just meet deadlines, gain hype and burn out.

WHEKE FORTRESS will be a space for:

Workshops * Skillsharing * Wananga * Hui * Talanoa * Pop Up Exhibitions * Swaps and Selling Work * Underground Lectures * Small Festival events * One-off performances * Island time * Koha * Meeting/Conversation Space * Hot desk availability * Studio spaces.

This project will be directed by Coco Solid (Ngāpuhi/Samoa) and Tokerau Brown aka Big Fat Raro (Cook Island Māori). Both are accomplished creatives/organisers across art, music, screen and animation and they both steer creative agency and record label Kuini Qontrol.

They both support and prioritise Oceaniac narratives, wāhine, LGBTQIA expression and proudly underground creatives of colour.

Through WHEKE FORTRESS, Coco and Toki hope to mentor other emerging community leaders, providing an environment for them to be ambitious, creative and safely weird. 

BE PART OF A RADICAL LOCAL CHANGE WITHIN THE ARTS AND SUPPORT OUR KAUPAPA-DRIVEN VISION.

Wheke Fortress is on Tin Tacks Corner (Onehunga Mall Rd and Trafalgar St). Join our new Instagram Page for updates: @WhekeFortress

Our Match Donor

Kent Gardner, passionate member of the Onehunga Community and Arts Foundation Trustee, is super excited with what Coco & Tokerau are forming for their community - fueling all to create, kōrero and to be. Kent is generously matching donations from the crowd with a $25,000 match fund, and says “I’m proud to support an amazing duo in their mahi and in their giving to others”