Ōtautahi, Christchurch
Chchophony
The Cacophony Society
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What is Chchophony?
Chchophony is the Ōtautahi chapter of the Cacophony Society—a loose network of culture jammers, pranksters, and those who believe cities should be playgrounds. We organize events that blur the line between performance and participation, creating temporary autonomous zones of joy and absurdity.
Why Here?
The earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 demolished not just buildings, but the familiar rhythms of a city. In the years that followed, Ōtautahi became comfortable with the temporary, the experimental, the in-between. Gap fillers. Transitional architecture. A city that learned to play in the rubble.
By the time Cacophony seeds arrived from Shanghai in 2020, the ground was already prepared—a population that had learned "normal" could be reinvented. Phase I was brief; the planters moved on as the city continued its slow transformation. But the appetite remained.
Phase II emerged in 2025. The seeds, dormant but alive, finally found their gardeners—locals who now drive this strange bloom more than any catalyst could. From the ashes of earthquakes, something strange grows.