Kophie in her element, creating unique street art in Christchurch.
XCHC has touched the lives of countless creatives, providing support and community to the creative scene in Ōtautahi and across Aotearoa New Zealand. Our purpose is to cultivate a creative ecology, which we do by facilitating connections and providing a place where people can experiment, test/exchange ideas, and develop their creative practice. This interview is one in a series, to spotlight and tell the stories of the creatives that XCHC attracts and supports.
“The whole community and all the residents came to support me and my partner [when our car got stolen]. Kuva and Hilary from the XCHC sold dolls during the week and donated it to us for the fundraiser” - Kophie recalling a favourite memory from XCHC
The second of our community to be interviewed was Kophie Hulsbosch, an incredibly talented artist, designer, mural-artist and one of the forces behind The Conscious Club - a social enterprise community dedicated to creating events encouraging a conscious way of living. Kophie was kind enough to share with us some of her personal experiences since joining the XCHC community; going from cafe patron to resident artist, to becoming a major contributor to the XCHC team and wider Christchurch events.
Kophie taking a breather from working her magic on a wall mural.
Can you recall a memory from XCHC that stands out to you? What was it about this experience that was meaningful for you?
I have two favourite memories, the first is when me and my partner were at the XCHC late at night painting the XCHC walls white for an upcoming exhibition as we have previously graffitied all the walls for a Street Wise event. While we were inside painting our car got stolen from outside XCHC. We were gutted and let everybody know at XCHC and then Preston organised a fundraising potluck to help replace everything that got stolen from the car and fix the locks. The whole community and all the residents came to support me and my partner, Kuva, and Hilary from the XCHC sold dolls during the week and donated it to us for the fundraiser. It was such a special moment and an awesome example of creatives looking after each other. My second favourite memory is when all my friends and XCHC came together with the help of Selina to have a secret fundraiser to help me buy a laptop and they presented me with a large check at a resident exhibition and I cried in front of everyone the whole room haha
Have your experiences at XCHC influenced your creative work, if so how?
Yes definitely have met so many creative people and clients as well as having complete creative freedom in the exhibition space.
If you had to highlight one main benefit of being part of XCHC, what would it be and why?
Being around other cool creative people with diverse skills. It is so cool to be able to learn a new skill or ask for help or collaborate on projects in one spot instead of working at home in isolation.
What are you currently working on and is there a way that XCHC could support you in some way?
Working on quite a few creative projects, nothing that XCHC will be able to assist with at this time.
You can see more of Kophie by following The Conscious Club, or by following her on Instagram @kophie_loaf, or by visiting us at XCHC when she’s around! Stay tuned for more Community Spotlights coming soon.
Kophie after finishing a mural as part of the Coffee & Cans pop-up