INFO
| Name | Marc Conaco (he/him) |
| Country of Birth | Philippines |
| Place of Residence | Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland |
| Artform | Zines, Visual arts |
| Decades Active | 2010s, 2020s |
ABOUT
Marc Conaco is a queer Bisaya artist, zinemaker, and activist based in Tāmaki Makaurau whose work focuses on reclaiming pre-colonial Bisaya culture and histories. He holds a special interest in pre-colonial futurism, world-building and his queer ancestors. His work is guided by his saying, “By learning who we are, we unlearn who our colonisers taught us to be. By knowing our histories, we reclaim our identities. By remembering who we are, we reclaim our power.”
Conaco grew up in Cebu, Philippines, describing himself as the “clichéd artistic shy kid”. As a child, he loved drawing, storytelling, and making fantasy "Sailor Moon-coded" comics. His parents supported him to explore creative avenues, and in 2008 he moved by himself to Aotearoa to study graphic design at ACG Yoobee School of Design (previously known as Natcoll Design Technology).
Introduced to zinemaking in 2013 by printmaker Makyla Curtis, Conaco fell in love with the medium and felt its anti-authoritarian and anti-capitalist nature resonated with him. “Coming from a country where the repressive Catholic Church heavily enforced media and art censorship, zines became my unfiltered outlet for self-expression,” he says. Conaco’s first zine, My hands lust for you (2013), was about breaking out of ingrained Catholic guilt and self-censorship. The zine, being “smutty and queer”, was something he would have never dared to make if he still lived in the Philippines.
After his award-winning zine, I am Brown. I will not frown. (2016) was noticed by Adriel Luis, a curator at the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, Conaco was invited to be a part of Te Whāinga, “a series of exhibitions, events and collaborations” in Tāmaki Makaurau. Conaco remembers feeling self-conscious and having “major imposter syndrome” being in a group show with established artists, but following that show became more comfortable identifying as an artist and had several solo exhibitions: Nganong mahadlok ka nako? (2024), Art Treats Series (2024), Offerings To Siya Ug Sila In The Mystic Grove (2023), Ang Paghinumdum sa Moropóro (2022), and Lockdown Diary (2022).
In 2018, when he realised that no one from his family would be able to take care of his ancestral farmlands in Cebu, he studied towards a permaculture design certificate through Auckland Permaculture Workshop and worked with community gardens, including with Soil of Cultures, particularly when they were based in New Lynn, Auckland. He worked alongside like-minded Asian activists who helped him learn about activism while gardening. Conaco says he’s on an ongoing journey of decolonisation, which has felt like “a heavy fog lifting”. An important moment for him was in 2020 when he attended a Te Tiriti workshop organised by Asians Supporting Tino Rangatiratanga. The Black Lives Matter movement provoked him to read up on racism, which gave him the tools to make sense of his experiences as a racialised body living in Aotearoa.
His zines and illustrations have more recently centred on pre-colonial cultural traditions from the Visayas, an archipelago in the Philippines, which is significant in his family history. His digital illustration series, Ang Babaylan nga Nahimong Bayot, celebrates the Babaylan, a queer Filipinx ancestor who was once revered and respected, then vilified, killed and erased by Christian missionaries.
Conaco wants his work to make people feel joyful rather than being reminded of his trauma or their own intergenerational trauma. The passing of Conaco’s friend, Reina Sutton, in 2024 has inspired him to continue collaborative work with the community.
LINKS
Key works / presentations
2025 — Ang Sininang Bulawan | The Golden Dress, Studio One Toi Tū, Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa
2025 — Party & Protest, Pavilion Panels Britomart, Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa
2024 — Nganong mahadlok ka nako? (Why are you afraid of me?), Commonspace, Pōneke
2024 — Marc Conaco – Art Treats Series, various locations, Tāmaki Makaurau
2023 — Offerings To Siya Ug Sila In The Mystic Grove, Corban Estate Arts Centre, Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa
2022 — Lockdown Diary, Ellen Melville Centre, Tāmaki Makaurau
2022 — An evolution of identity – Navigating our space, exhibition by Āhua Collective at Studio One Toi Tū, Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa
2022 — Ang Paghinumdum sa Moropóro (Remembering the Pleiades), Matariki Festival, Freyberg Steps, Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa
2022 — Oasis/Respite Project in alignment with Trans Awareness week, temporary pop-up Studio One Toi Tū art gallery, Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa
2021 — Liveworks Festival of Experimental Art LIVE DREAMS, Performance Space, Sydney, Australia
2020 — Syokes Exhibition at Objectspace by Marc Conaco and Louie Bretaña, Objectspace, Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa
2019 — Ang Babaylan Nga Nahimong Bayot (From Spiritual Leader To Faggot) exhibted at Te Whāinga: A Culture Lab on Civility, curated by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in partnership with the Auckland War Memorial Museum, Silo Park, Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa
2017 — Haunted zine
2016 — I am brown. I will not frown. zine
Key awards
2024 - Asian Aotearoa Artist-in-residence at Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts, Pōneke
2022 - Asian Aotearoa Artist-in-residence at Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts, Pōneke
2017 - Haunted won Chromacon Best Comic Art award
2016 - I am brown. I will not frown. won Auckland Zinefest Best of the Fest award
