Carmen’s spirit lives on at Te Papa
FLAMBOYANT outfits and accessories that once belonged to the late transsexual personality Carmen Rupe have been given to Te Papa.
Friends and family of Carmen presented the gift to Te Papa at a powhiri yesterday.
Born Trevor Rupe in Taumarunui, Carmen was the first Maori drag queen and, arriving in Wellington in 1968, she became an influential figure in the city’s nightlife as well as a successful businesswoman and gay rights activist.
Her liberated views on sexuality and morality made her a standard-bearer for social activism in New Zealand.
Shortly before her death in 2011, Carmen chose the items she wanted to give.
Among them is a voodoo doll, a sequined dress and an elaborate, intricately decorated headdress which she wore as part of a ‘‘fur outfit’’.
One of the more prosaic objects is a policeman’s helmet worn by an officer who arrested her in the 1970s.
Curator Kirstie Ross said the helmet was presented to Carmen when she turned 70.
It was spray-painted lilac pink for the occasion.
‘‘I can’t separate out just one item [as a favourite],’’ Ms Ross
outspoken
This headdress, worn by Carmen Rupe with her ‘‘fur outfit’’, is one of several items gifted to the national museum. said. ‘‘There’s some very eyecatching items, the headdress is pretty gorgeous and there’s a necklace which Carmen wore in a lot of photographs.’’
The new objects will join some other Carmen-related items at Te Papa.
In 2006, she sold to the museum some photographs and drawings from different phases of her life, including her 1977 Bob Jonesbacked run for the Wellington mayoralty.
Yesterday’s gift Papa was part of giving to Te a cluster of Carmen-related events in Wellington which continues today.
Her former Hataitai brothel, up for sale in an auction yesterday, sold for $780,000. The new owners have several ideas for the sprawling house on its 1000sqm section, including a potential townhouse development.
A portrait of Carmen, by Maori artist Te Mate, will be unveiled at the S&M Cocktail Bar & Lounge at 7pm tonight.
It was commissioned by family and friends to celebrate the objects being returned to New Zealand.