Image: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. A small exhibition of some of the late Carmen Rupe’s costume pieces is on display at Te Papa. Shortly before her death in 2011, Carmen selected items from her collections of clothing, accessories and objects that she wanted to present to the museum as taonga. These were handed over in 2013. The National Museum’s Curator, Communities and Diversity Lynette Townsend says the current exhibition features a selection of headdresses and a lei, from the outfits Carmen chose. “It is a celebration of Carmen and her achievements, both in terms of leading the way as an out and proud transgender person and a gay rights activist, and all the volunteer community work she did.” The display is located on L4, by the Margaret Sparrow exhibition.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 16th September 2015 - 10:30am