Collage

This collaged panel once hung in Wellington’s Evergreen Coffee Lounge in Vivian Street. 

It is part of a collection of panels and other items that relate to the life of Chrissy Witoko, the  Evergreen Coffee Lounge, and the communities of people who congregated in the cafés and night clubs around Cuba and Vivian streets between about 1970 – 2002.

Each panel includes a combination of photographs featuring people that Chrissy associated with, news or magazine clippings, business cards and other ephemera.

This panel contains photographs and other material relating to the LGBTI scene in Auckland in the 1990s. It makes numerous references to the Express newspaper and Out magazine.

Express was first established by Gavin Young, son of early homosexual law reform campaigner, Venn Young. It began in Wellington as Pink Triangle at the beginning of the gay liberation movement. Out magazine was one part of the Out empire (gay saunas, nightclubs, magazine), established by Tony Katavich and his partner John, and Brett Sheppard.

The Auckland Hero gay and lesbian parade is also referenced in this collage. The gay pride parade was held almost annually from 1992 to 2001. Pride parades in other main centres included Devotion (Wellington) and Freedom (Christchurch).

Some of the people featured in this panel are:
Miss K (Ella), Carmen Rupe, Mika (Neil Gudsell; Poi Cabaret Extravaganza nationwide, and more recently Mika Haka Foundation) and fashion designer Linda E, including an image from a photoshoot for Devotion magazine.

Te Papa is working in collaboration with LGBTI communities and individuals to discover the histories represented in the panels. If you have any information you would like to share in relation to this panel please contact a history curator at Te Papa on +64 (0)4 381 7000 or email Evergreen@tepapa.govt.nz