How to Get Involved in Counter Narratives
Counter Narratives isn’t just my project. It’s a kaupapa that only works if people bring their food, their stories, and their voices into it. I can take the photos, I can write, but the stories live with you. So here are some ways to be part of this:
Support Through Boosted Ōtautahi
This project is running on community support. Every donation through Boosted Ōtautahi gets doubled. Twenty bucks becomes forty. Fifty becomes a hundred. That means your support stretches further — covering ingredients, travel, printing, and the time it takes to sit, listen, photograph, and share.
👉 Support Counter Narratives on Boosted Ōtautahi
Spread the Word
Not everyone can donate or open their kitchen, but you can still make a huge difference by helping spread the word. Share the Boosted Ōtautahi link with your friends and whānau. Repost updates on social media. Tell someone who you think might want to be part of it.
Every share counts. It means the project reaches another kitchen, another recipe, another story that deserves to be held. Sharing is part of the kaupapa too — it is how these stories travel further than I can take them alone.
Share Your Kitchen
Your kitchen doesn’t need to be fancy. In fact, the less “Pinterest board” it looks, the better. I’m looking for crumbs on the bench, steam on the windows, mismatched plates, and recipes that hold memory. If you’ve got a dish that connects you to your whānau, your childhood, your culture, or even just your flatmates who won’t stop burning toast, I’d love to hear it.
Stories don’t need to be “big” to matter. They can be as simple as porridge with your Nan in a freezing Onehunga kitchen, or as funny as your brother eating your entire birthday dinner in the middle of the night. That’s what makes them real.
If you’re in Ōtautahi and want to share your story, email me at hayley@provocationstation.com.
Show Up and Eat With Us
Counter Narratives is not only about sitting in people’s kitchens one on one. It is also about creating moments where food, story, and community can come together in shared space.
Over the course of the project I will be hosting small community events in Ōtautahi. What those look like will depend on the stories that emerge. It might be a shared meal, a casual workshop, or an outdoor gathering. Whatever form they take, they will be chances to meet, eat, and add your voice to the kaupapa.
If you would like to be part of this, keep an eye on the blog for updates or get in touch to put your name down for invitations as they unfold.
Why It Matters
Food is never just food. It carries whakapapa, migration, joy, grief, survival. It shows what we’ve held onto, what we’ve lost, and what we’ve adapted along the way. Getting involved means helping hold those stories so they don’t slip through the cracks.
Counter Narratives is for all of us. Whether you’re opening your kitchen, donating to keep the kaupapa alive, or just turning up to eat and listen, you’re part of the archive we’re building together.
About the author
Hayley Walmsley (Ngāti Kawau, Ngāti Tautahi, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou) is a Māori artist, writer, and curator based in Ōtautahi. She works with photography and text to explore food, memory, and belonging. Counter Narratives is her latest kaupapa-based project, gathering stories in kitchens and at tables in Ōtautahi.
Photo by Saundarya Srinivasan on Unsplash