RON HANSON

International art magazine White Fungus began as a Wellington activist pamphlet of sorts, published in 2004 to protest Transit New Zealand’s planned motorway bypass for the area around upper Cuba St. The multi-million dollar project, projected to save drivers 90 seconds, would also see artists evicted from their studios, buildings demolished and much of the district’s heritage and character lost. Street protests, “Bypass My Ass” signs, and letters objecting to the plan were ignored.

That’s why brothers Ron and Mark Hanson – then in their early 20s – decided to create a zine (a handmade, photocopied magazine) called White Fungus, which argued against the bypass plan, and profiled Wellington artists who had been or were getting evicted. The pair’s efforts didn’t stop the motorway slicing through Te Aro in 2005, but has continued and evolved ever since. Ron, as editor, and Mark, as art director, have published 16 issues in the past 15 years, initially from Wellington and now from Taiwan, since moving there in 2009. Both teach English as a second language to adults and children, and are learning Mandarin (Taiwan’s primary language) at Tunghai University, while working on .