‘Quiet fabulosity’: remote New Zealand church gets pink makeover to celebrate queer community

Sam Duckor-Jones has transformed an unused church into what he hopes will be a place for rural queerness to thrive

On the wild and remote west coast of New Zealand's South Island, an old dame is getting a hot-pink makeover, with all the synthetic flowers, coloured beads and glitter she can take. Her name is Gloria, and she is an 83-year-old church, on her way to becoming a public sculpture and queer beacon" for the local community.

I didn't grow up in the church, I grew up in a Jewish household, but mostly I grew up making things, and in recent years I've become more and more excited about queer celebration," says poet and artist Sam Duckor-Jones.