KEEPING CONSCIOUS
WORDS Joshua Brosnahan PHOTOS Corentin Esquenet
Upstairs at St Asaph Street’s Boxed Quarter is the home to The Conscious Club – a collective of makers with a focus on sustainability, local economy, and supporting Christchurch’s creative scene with events such as markets and speaking engagements.
These ‘events with purpose’ are led by a team of young, diverse people. With a focus on large-scale social issues in a creative and fun manner, the markets and events these makers host are well known and far-reaching.
The driving forces behind The Conscious Club are Selina Faimalo and Kophie Su’a-Hulsbosch, along with many others.
Selina is in charge of the operations of the club and also works as a freelance project manager. Kophie is the creative director and sustainability advisor. She also moonlights as a freelance artist, graphic designer, mural artist, and illustrator. Chances are you’ve walked past one of her iconic pieces in the central city.
Pip Currie is the shop manager and creates under the moniker Littlest Pip Knits, providing the store with cute crochet and knitted items. Lucy Ferguson works as a full-time school teacher but helps out when she can, and a few new recruits are also on board to help. It’s a fast-growing movement.
All involved in The Conscious Club are volunteers, but they are passionate about making ‘cool stuff happen that makes a difference’ whilst sharing their important messages, anything from local to global issues.
According to Selina, The Conscious Club began when a few young makers met in classically millennial fashion through social media, namely Instagram.
“We all had a shared interest in small business and sustainability, and from there decided to host an event together; a sustainable and affordable market. That was over two years ago! Since then, The Conscious Club has evolved and expanded very quickly, and we have diversified our events, to include speakers, meet ups and more.”
The events that they have hosted share the values of diversity, transparency, kaitiakitanga, inclusivity, and creativity.
“We have vintage and second-hand clothing markets we host each season, where everything is $20 or under. We just want to keep it accessible, to try keep fashion circulating to prolong its life. We also have had large charitable exhibitions focused on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and even a chat series on the topics of sustainability, mental health, racism, and more,” Selina says.
The team acknowledged Covid as a challenge for their events, pushing back most, if not all, of their planned events.
Kophie says, with the team all being volunteers, “putting our time into events that could potentially be cancelled has a domino effect of not being able to earn money to earn a living. But we are an optimistic bunch and adapt to these trying times; luckily, we can still do our smaller events like workshops and movie nights”.
Selina, Kophie, and the entire Conscious Club invite Avenues readers to come along to one of their events to see what they are all about once they are up and running once again.
“Check out our shop at Boxed Quarter where we are based; come say hello! We also have a Patreon account where you can become a patron, as well as a ‘Ko-fi account’ where you can donate the price of a coffee or more. Volunteering at our events, or even just showing up, goes a long way!”