Photography, storytelling and design helps to highlight housing crisis for seniors

Listen Up!, a new exhibition and graphic novel by photographer and Senior Lecturer David Cook, is the centrepiece of the national launch of Christchurch Methodist Mission (CMM) Doors to Dignity campaign. The campaign calls for a cross-party commitment to sustained government investment in secure, affordable housing for older people.

Listen Up! was launched this week in Parliament at a function attended by dignitaries and MPs from across the political spectrum. The following day it was moved across Parliament grounds to Wellington Cathedral of St Paul for public viewing until Wednesday 1 April.

In 2025, David Cook spent 10 weeks in his former hometown through a residency at Te Matariki Tai Ora / The Arts Centre in Christchurch.

He says the graphic novel ‘Listen Up’, designed by Massey colleague Professor Anna Brown brings to life the conversations he had during the residency with 24 seniors and kaumātua who generously shared their experiences of housing stress, insecurity and hope.

The Retirement Commission estimates that by 2048, 40 per cent of retirees, around 600,000 people will be renting. The Christchurch Methodist Mission says in the five years to December 2024, the number of New Zealanders aged 65 years and over on the Housing Register has more than doubled, a much greater percentage increase than for any other age group.

David Cook says bringing the voices of seniors into one of Wellington’s most iconic public spaces is both timely and necessary.

“One of things that came through again and again in my project was why don’t you talk with us? So I had groups of people sitting around the table drawing plans for ideal housing scenarios to build mixed communities.”

‘Listen Up’ is the second collaboration between David Cook and Professor Brown, who is the founder and research lead of Toi Āria: Design for Public Good at Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts.

Professor Brown proposed using an unexpected approach to presenting the photography and create more attention around the urgency of senior housing.

“You don’t expect a project focused on seniors to be presented in a cartoon or comic format, and that surprise invites people to engage with the stories in a more open and accessible way.”

In 2023, David Cook and Professor Brown created Ko te Reo ō Ngā Tāngata / The People’s Voice which aimed to provide a counternarrative on social housing in Aotearoa New Zealand by channelling and visualising content directly from tenants of Wellington City Council social housing.

The exhibition design for Listen Up! was created and installed by Senior Lecturer in Spatial and Industrial Design, Matthijs Siljee with assistance from industrial designer and Masters of Design student, Kaiyu Li.

Siljee developed a bespoke wooden exhibition system that allows the photographic works and graphic panels to be easily installed, packed down and moved. The entire exhibition was designed to be movable overnight from Parliament to Wellington Cathedral.

“The design means we can literally pack in and pack out in hours so the exhibition is across the road and ready to open the following day.”

Listen Up! is open to the public at Wellington Cathedral of St Paul until Wednesday 1 April. See event information here Events - Doors to Dignity