Aotearoa Poster Competition 2020, Public vote winning entry

This poster was the winning entry in the ‘Public Vote’ category of the inaugural Aotearoa Poster Competition 2020. It was designed by artist Chloe Or, also known as Chloe de la Lune (https://www.chloedelalune.com/about), and features a tui bird with a brush in its beak, painting its environment in an array of vibrant colours.* The poster features the message ‘Many colours, one home’.

Or, who is a first-generation migrant of Hong Kong Chinese heritage, has lived in Aotearoa since she was a child. She speaks Cantonese, Mandarin and English and feels “a strong sense of belonging here”.
“I love how it [the country] is vibrant with so many diverse cultures, so I really want New Zealand to keep being a positive and welcoming place that embraces our diverse cultural communities” (1).
While she is proud to call New Zealand her home, Or has nonetheless encountered racism here and is grateful that the competition “has given me a voice to help address the social issue of racism in Aotearoa” (2). She believes firmly in the power of art to create positive change in society and hopes to continue making art with a social purpose in the future.
As one of four winning entries, Or's poster was printed and mounted in prominent locations around New Zealand cities.

Aotearoa Poster Competition

The inaugural Aotearoa Poster Competition, led by fourth-generation Chinese New Zealander and wellbeing researcher Bev Hong and fellow organisers Bruce Mahalski, Dr Grace Wong, Professor Bernard Guerin and Brittany Young, was born during the April 2020 Covid-19 Level Four lockdown. Concerned about the heightened racism directed at ethnic Chinese communities in New Zealand during the pandemic, the organisers decided to create a poster competition that would engage the public, promote advice about what people can do when they witness anti-Chinese racist behaviour and foster a greater sense of inclusion for people of ethnic Chinese heritage in Aotearoa New Zealand. 

From the beginning the Competition was collaborative in nature – with strong encouragement, support and input from the New Zealand Chinese Association as well as Asian Family Services and The Asian Network Incorporated (TANI). It was also developed in consultation with the Department of Internal Affairs and the Human Rights Commission. Substantive funding was provided by the Office of Ethnic Communities – Community Development Fund.

The team commissioned artist Veronica Brett to create an initial set of original poster artworks to launch and promote the competition – these were displayed around the city and depicted positive anti-racist behaviour. The competition itself, which was divided into several categories, targeted secondary school-aged students, emerging and established artists and the general public. The artwork entry period was from 10 August to 21 September 2020. Entries in three of its categories were judged by a diverse panel, while the winner of the final category was decided by nationwide popular vote.

Over 50 poster entries were submitted and the Competition received significant media coverage in Stuff and the Dominion Post. The inaugural 2020 Aotearoa Poster Competition winners were:

- Chloe Or (Public Vote category)
- Nicholas Reid (Established Artist category)
- Raymund Santos (New and Emerging Artist category)
- Minna Zhu (Young Persons category).

Each winner received $500 and had their winning posters displayed in cities around New Zealand. Support for the latter was provided by Competition sponsor Phantom Billstickers.

References

1. “Te Papa To Collect Winning Anti-Racism Works”, Aotearoa Poster Competition press release, 31 October 2020, published on Scoop at https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU2010/S00273/te-papa-to-collect-winning-anti-racism-works.htm (accessed 10 March 2021).

2. Chloe de la Lune, Facebook page, 31 October 2020, available at https://www.facebook.com/chloedelalune/posts/1070665976704930 (accessed 10 March 2021).

See also the official Aotearoa Poster Competition website: https://www.aotearoaposter.com/.

*Please note that this is a digital image of the physical poster printed by Phantom Billstickers and acquired by Te Papa. Colours in the original, digital file of the artwork submitted by the artist to the Aotearoa Poster Competition may differ slightly.