Date: Wednesday, 3 September 2025
Time: 5:30pm to 8:30pm including panel from 6:30pm to 7:30pm
Location: The Ever Room, Level 2, 203 Karangahape Rd, Auckland 1010
https://www.everroom.co.nz/
Kaupapa: Rainbow Auckland monthly networking event and arts industry panel discussion.
Hospitality: Complementary drinks and platters.
Registration: All attendees must register on Eventbrite. Free registration for all Rainbow Auckland members and five complementary registrations for guests of each panel member using the code:
Panel facilitator: Sibyl Mandow – Rainbow Auckland Co-chair
Panel members:
Shannon Novak (He/him)
Shannon’s work seeks to dismantle heteronormative structures and systems and build spaces that acknowledge, celebrate, and support diversity, equity, and inclusion in sexual orientation, romantic orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristic. This manifests as socially engaged and collaborative painting, photography, installation, sculpture, and curatorial practice that extends beyond traditional exhibition spaces. He founded the Safe Space Alliance, a global nonprofit organisation that aims to help people identify, navigate, and create safe spaces for queer communities.
Sam Brooks (He/him)
Sam is a multi-award winning playwright, dramatist and journalist who currently freelances and writes his own arts and culture newsletter Dramatic Pause and was a contributing writer for The Spinoff. His works have appeared on stage throughout New Zealand, often produced through his company, Smoke Labours Productions. He has made a significant contribution to representing queer male voices on New Zealand stages. Most recently, his plah From Another Woman was performed as part of Auckland Pride, and he premiered A Rich Man, a black comedy about exploitation at the Old Folks Association.
Sam Brooks
Hāmiora Bailey (Ngāti Porou Ki Harataunga, Ngāti Huarere)
(He/They)
Hāmiora is the Executive Director of Auckland Pride and dedicates themselves to advancing self-determination and intergenerational knowledge exchange, fostering environments where creativity thrives. They shaped Auckland Pride 2025 to give visibility to the history and healing of our people across the whole community and grounded it in the arts to carry cultural relevance in both te ao Māori and Takatāpuitanga. Their festival curation focuses on the broad and intersectional experiences of our community, including both the challenges and the fun.
Louie Bretaña (He/him)
Louie’s work addresses the impact of colonialism, both historical and contemporary and it’s ongoing manifestation within a modern Pacific context. He employs various mediums, including painting, sculpture, performance, and jewelry, to create engaging visual experiences. His art often references pre-colonial Filipino deities and narratives, reimagining them within a New Zealand setting. Since 2016, he has participated in over 35 exhibition projects and in 2024, was awarded Artist of the Year, Filipino-Kiwi Hero Awards 2024 for his contribution to the New Zealand's visual arts.
Aroha Awarau
Aroha is a proud takatāpui film director, playwright, journalist, and stand-up comedian. Whether on the big screen or the comedy stage, Aroha’s storytelling is deeply informed by his lived experience as a Māori/Pacific takatāpui - with recurring themes of identity, authenticity, and tolerance running through his work.
As a filmmaker, Aroha’s short films have screened at major international film festivals and earned multiple awards. His journalism career is equally distinguished: he has written for National Geographic, served as a columnist for the NZ Listener, was a news editor at Woman’s Day, and worked as a producer for Māori Television’s acclaimed current affairs show Native Affairs.
In theatre, Aroha is an Adams Playwriting Award finalist. His play Luncheon won Best Play at the NZ Scriptwriter’s Awards, while A Gaggle of Geese received the award for Best Play for Young Audiences.
Aroha is currently developing four feature film scripts, including Hidden - a human trafficking thriller that explores the lives of Māori and Pacific gay men.
Panel questions (for all panel members)
How does your queer identity/identities shape your creative process and the stories you choose to tell?
In what ways do you see your work contributing to broader queer visibility?
Have you felt pressure to be a “representative” for queer experiences in your field?
What barriers have you faced in the art world because of your queer identity, and how have you overcome them?
Who are your queer artistic role models, past or present?
How do you see queer art evolving in the next decade?
What advice would you give emerging queer artists starting out today?
Event Venue
Ever Room, Level 2, 203 K road, Auckland , New Zealand
Tickets
