REINA SUTTON moved into the central city five years ago to minimise her commute. Now she loves her village-like life — but she also sees distress in the streets and too many empty stores.
JEREMY HANSEN Reina, would you mind introducing yourself, and talking about how long you’ve lived in the central city.
REINA SUTTON That’s a great place to start. I’m Reina Sutton. I was born in the Solomon Islands – I belong to the Kwara’ae people of Malaita, and to the people of Tikopia – and I moved to Auckland when I was a child and have been living here pretty much the whole time since. I’ve been living on my own in the city for close to five years now, mainly because I’m not a fan of commuting.
JEREMY HANSEN You live just 10 minutes’ walk from your office. Is that what made you choose to move to the central city to live?
REINA SUTTON It really is that life/work balance thing. I’m an artist and I also have a job in the creative sector. Working in the creative field actually consumes a big part of my life, so the best way for me to get balance was to move into the city: I can get home as quickly as possible and maximise my creative time for my own practice, or to switch off from it.
JEREMY HANSEN Tell me about your own art practice.
REINA SUTTON I’m a multi-disciplinary artist who dabbles in either sharing my own personal stories, or very irreverent topics that speak more to my dark sense of humour. Lately I’ve been using my own art practice as a form of escape – the themes have been very simple and not that deep. I’ve also been known to curate a bunch of stuff, and I’m lucky enough to have that overlap into my work life. I’m a member of [the art collective] SaVAge K’lub and I also collaborate on smaller projects with my younger sister under the name of Tufala Meri.
JEREMY HANSEN When you were making your decision to live here, did the central city feel more affordable than other locations you might have considered?
REINA SUTTON Mostly I just really wanted to move into the city so I could be close to work. And once I weighed up car-related expenses, travel time, and catching public transport it all balanced out. So, I think I’m spending about the same overall to live here as I would somewhere further away.
JEREMY HANSEN What’s changed in the central city in the five years you’ve lived here?
REINA SUTTON I think I really hear it in the streets. I find it’s gotten a lot more angry-sounding – which I’m guessing is linked to a feeling of hopelessness and frustration. Our homeless community have really done it hard throughout lockdown and the aftermath. You can hear it at night, and now you can hear it more often throughout the day. I find it quite sad.
JEREMY HANSEN Does it make you re-evaluate your position living in the city?
REINA SUTTON No. It’s part of life at this moment, right?
JEREMY HANSEN Has your perception of your own safety shifted at all in that five-year period?
REINA SUTTON That’s a great question and maybe I haven’t thought about it too much, because I’m usually always on high alert anyway, so it’s become an auto-pilot thing.
JEREMY HANSEN What would you like to see changed, if anything, in the central city?
REINA SUTTON It’s kind of sad seeing all the empty shops or spaces around the CBD. I wonder if that’s an opportunity for more pop-up shops, and a more concerted effort to support that kind of thing. It might be a bit more time-consuming, but it could be a nice opportunity for some collaborative curation between art and existing businesses with that focus on bringing the city back to life.
I think there’s a lot of untapped potential in providing spaces for interactive sports-related activities in public spaces and of course, there’s always room to extend on creating and maintaining more oases that are welcoming for both people and nature. I miss the community garden that used to be on Wellesley St West.
JEREMY HANSEN People talk about the cultural infrastructure that’s in the central city, which starts with the Art Gallery and theatres, but also includes the communities that gather around those spaces. Do you see the central city as a cultural hub, or an opportunity for cultural expression?
REINA SUTTON Another great question. I’m not sure it’s the dominant hub, but there are definitely opportunities for cultural and community expression – Auckland is so spread out and it can get rather silo’ed. There are times where communities will come together for important events, whether that’s art-related or not but for the most part, I’ve noticed that these are community-led gatherings as opposed to something that has been programmed or organised by galleries or theatres. I like that Queen Street is one of the main spaces that holds strong moments in time like protests, rallies and parades for voices to be heard, seen and celebrated. On a smaller scale, I know that there are community spaces holding different communities at a more family level of care, and these are just as important, if not more. A feeling of belonging is always key to community-building and sustainability.
JEREMY HANSEN What does living in the central city do for you socially?
REINA SUTTON Having a strong community of friends near to where you physically live just makes the place feel nicer. It’s pretty cool. It’s like, “Oh, I’m sick. Would you mind picking me up some dinner?” And they’re literally in the building next door. A lot of these friendships I didn’t have until I moved into the central city. It’s like a village. I like to spend a lot of time on my own but living here it’s also easy to hang out with friends. There’s a couple of us that try and have dinner in the city maybe at least every fortnight. We try and get to some new places and find some good food as much as possible. We’ve got friends who live in the area too, who give us some good recommendations. We normally stick around Lorne Street, High Street and O’Connell Street – can you see that I’ve tailored it so I’m close to home?
BUILDING A BETTER CITY
REINA SUTTONS’S SUGGESTIONS
1. Encourage collaborations between arts and culture organisations and shop owners to bring energy and activity to empty stores.
2. Bring sports to Aotea Square – a temporary pitch for touch rugby games, sand for a volleyball court and more.
3. Treat the central city as the closely connected village that it is – there’s no better place for in-person connection.
We're really sorry to write that, a few weeks after this interview and photo shoot took place, Reina passed away. We remember her creative spirit and wonderful smile fondly, and publish this interview with the consent of her family, to whom we extend our deepest sympathy.
