A zine (available here as a PDF download) was researched, designed and produced over the TEZA week in collaboration with the New Brighton community, with the aim of making visible a diversity of perspectives – in particular what Lee termed broadly ‘migrant-settler’ communities and their fresh contribution to New Brighton’s future.

The process began with a series of talks between artists, designers and locals at the TEZA hub, and approaches to people throughout New Brighton. It culminated with the creation of the zine and its launch with a community barbeque.

The project provided and recorded an opportunity for open dialogue, networking and the creative exchange of ideas around themes of migration, settlement, visibility and voice in the city.

The three discussions were as follows:

Tuesday 25 November, 5.30-7pm:  Representing

How do we frame ourselves and how are we framed? How are migrants represented and visible in our media, in our art, our advertising and on our streets?

Wednesday 26 November, 5.30-7pm: Connecting

How can we connect with each other through art and media? How can we create our own independent media voice?

Thursday 27 November, 5.30-7pm: Creating

What stories, messages and ideas are worth sharing? What sorts of media and forms are available to us? What do we need? Who are our audiences and how could we reach them?

Kerry Ann Lee is an artist, educator and zine-maker from Wellington. As an artist of third-generation Chinese decent, Lee’s work both at home and overseas has explored urban settlement and culture clash occurring in the space between private moments and public locations. With a background in graphic arts, she creates installation, print and image-based works that are expressive and socially engaged. Lee’s artwork meditates on themes of home, dis/location and difference, playfully investigating issues of identity and hybrid cultural formations through a variety of media.

Kim Lowe is an artist of NZ Chinese and Pakeha based in South New Brighton. She holds an MFA in Printmaking from the University of Canterbury and is an experienced art teacher. Following the natural disasters in both Christchurch and Tohuku, Japan, Kim became a co-ordinator for the Shared Lines: Sendai-Christchurch Art Exchange. Her focus of late has been to initiate and strengthen art networks both locally and internationally.