Marc Conaco

Arriving in 2022 as our inaugural Asian Aotearoa Artist-in-residence at Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts, Marc Conaco ran two successful zine-making workshops focusing on Creation and Celebration as a gentle-yet-powerful means to connect, and draw creative connections between worlds.  We were excited to invite Marc back for a solo exhibition and zine project at 115 Taranaki Street, which opened on Saturday 20 April at 6pm and ran until 3 May 2024.

Nganong mahadlok ka nako? (Why are you afraid of me?)

Fear is the threat of harm, real or imagined. In Philippine contemporary mythology, creatures that evoke fear are veiled depictions of what the majority dread and continue to marginalise; depictions of a threat that is to be destroyed. Meet the creatures whose stories have been warped by years of living under colonialism, Christianity, patriarchy and capitalism. Nganong mahadlok ka nako? is an invitation to be mindful of how the fear of 'other' manifests in society and in ourselves.