Time: 3.5 hours
Distance: 9 km
Start: Corner of Madras and St Asaph Street
Finish: Same place (it's a higgedly piggeldy meander)
Date: Friday 8th April 2022
1. "Passing Time" by Anton Parsons
Every few years SCAPE Public Art Trust brings an exhibition of national and international sculptures to the city center of Ōtautahi Christchurch and typically one or two become permanent installations. These legacy sculptures can be visited via an interesting and quirky walkway.
It would be great if there was a downloadable map of the walk which could be printed (for those who prefer a tactile experience) - and included the names of the sculptures and a wee blurb about each artist. But there isn't. There used to be an app on the SCAPE website that didn't work properly and has since disappeared. In the end I used a combination of a downloadable map from the ChristchurchNZ website (not for printing out as the font is tinsy) and I searched up the sculptors and sculptures via the CityScape app from Google Play.
We met at "Passing Time" by Anton Parsons on the corner of Madras and St Asaph Streets. This is my favourite scultpture. The swirling metal blocks house the years numbered 1960 (the opening of Christchurch Polytech) to 2010 (the year the sculpture was created and also coincidently the year of the 7.1 Magnitude September 2010 Christchurch Earthquake).
Next up was a wander down High Street: "Nucleus" by Phil Price, a giant red poppy with four equal parts reflecting Christchurch's "well planned and laid out built environment". We also couldn't help but notice an interesting rooftop bar in the background which we might have to check out at some point. Further on was "Flour Power" by Regan Gentry, a metallic tribute to the wheat that once grew on the plains, now replaced by housing. Not on the map, but on High Street as well, we lingered to touch the fabulous stone "Te Kiheru Wai ō Tahu" (The Canoe Bailer of Tahu) by Lewis Tamihana Gardiner.
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| 2. "Nucleus" Phil Price |
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| "Te Kiheru Wai ō Tahu" by Lewis Tamihana Gardiner |
3. "Flour Power" by Regan Gentry
At the bottom of High Street we turned left (west) onto Hereford and searched for the next scultpure by Virginia King. A metallic shell: "Pupu Harakeke", hidden away in Ngā Māra a Te Wera (The Garden of Te Wera) - a new courtyard with native plantings and other scultpures including a hunk of greenstone to rub. All part of Ngāi Tahu's Pita Te Hori Center. "Pupu Harakeke" was gifted to the city with the help of Ben Willems in memory of his wife Lisa Willems who died in the 6.3 Magnitude February 2011 Earthquake. The city crumbled that day and 185 people lost their lives. We recalled this tragedy as we walked. A walk in Ōtautahi city center is a walk through earthquake memories. In 2022, eleven years later, the rebuild continues. So many gaps still remain where buildings were demolished.
4. "Pupu Harakeke" by Virginia King
"Kirihao (Resiliance)" by Piri Cowie
But there are so many positives to be seen too. Creatives were the first to regenerate the city early on. I always find that remarkable and heartening. I do believe that the arts have a crucial role in rebuilding and restoring communities after natural disasters. Gap Filler was a prominent community group dedicated to post-earthquake urban regeneration projects. As the gaps appeared, initiatives like the Pallet Pavillion and Dance-O-Mat moved in. Nowadays, as the city is slowly rebuilt, the gaps are also slowly disappearing while new and architecturely interesting buildings are appearing. There is a positive feel in the air.
We cut across to Worcester Boulevard through the Arts Center, where the rebuild/repair is still in full swing. We skirted the action and paused at an egg limestone and the kunstautomat (out of order). Not part of the legacy scultpures but quirky enough. Next was the depressed man: "Stay" by Antony Gorman. This one cost the city $400,000. Gulp. Seems a little pricey. It's twin (another $400,000) was not far away, east on Gloucester and in the river, also looking particularly glum.
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| 5. "Stay" by Antony Gorman |
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| 6."Stay" by Antony Gorman |
We took Te Ara Ōtākaro/the river path (north) searching fruitlessly for the next two sculptures on the map - Wayne Youle and Darren George. Mysteriously missing. Eventually we gave up and crossed the Gloucester Bridge to Te Pae, the new Christchurch Convention Center. Currently an empty monolith but perhaps one day a bustling center? "Te Aika" by Ngāi Tahu artists Rachael Rakena and Simon Kaan is the impressive entrance/ngutu. The design is based on ngutu that were an architectural feature of historical Ngāi Tahu whāre, in particular the home of Ngāi Tūāhuriri chief Aperahama Te Aika of Kaiapoi which was painted in watercolour in 1855 by artist Charles Haubroe.
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| 7. "Te Aika" by Rachael Rakena and Simon Kaan |
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| Home of Ngāi Tūāhuriri chief Aperahama Te Aika of Kaiapoi. Charles Haubroe watercolour 1855. |
The next two legacy sculptures had phallic overtones. In Huanui Lane Rauora Park, the erect column "Vaka 'A Hina" (vessel of Hina) by Tongan artist Sēmesi Potauaine symbolises solidarity and togetherness. Hina is a Tongan goddess who lives on the moon and travels intergalactically in her canoe. On the corner of Manchester and Armagh Street, opposite the Margaret Mahy Playground is "
Call me Snake" by Judy Millar (appropriately graffitied with a penis). This brightly coloured sculpture, a little worse for wear, has planes in five directions and is inspired by pop-up books. In between all of that, we paused for a cuppa at
Child Sister Cafe and searched unsuccessfully for Peter Atkens "Under Construction - Chaos and Order ". Marked on the map but again, no-where to be found [actually disguised as a billboard and hiding around the corner where I found it a couple of days later].
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| 8. "Vaka 'A Hina" by Sēmesi Potauaine |
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| 9. "Under Construction - Chaos and Order" by Peter Atkin |
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| 10. "Call Me Snake" by Judy Millar |
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| "Call Me Snake" by Unknown Artist |
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"He pou poutohu ahi-ka o Ngāi Tahi"
Mark of the long burning fires of Ngāi Tahu |
Revitalised by cafeine we continued west along the river path. "Tree Houses for Swamp Dwellers" by Julie Morrison is currently behind construction fencing, close to where the river path crosses Columbo Street. We continued on past the Town Hall, Victoria Square and The Commons, walking through "The Arcades" (6 meter high archways by Andrew Just) then down Kilmore Street and onto Park Avenue for Mischa Kuball's "Solidarity Grid": A single street lamp from 21 different cities. A show of solidarity from around the world for Christchurch during its recovery and rebuild.
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| 11. "Tree House for Swamp Dwellers" by Julie Morrison |
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| "The Arcades" by Andrew Just |
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| 12. "Solidarity grid" by Mischa Kuball |
We had arrived at Kiosk Lake in the Botanic Gardens where we contemplated the quacking ducks and the staircase "Diminish and Ascend" by David McCracken, today nicely reflected in the mirror water.
13. "Diminish and Ascend" by David McCracken
14. "The Pool" by Natalie Guy
The last sculpture was "
The Pool" by Natalie Guy. I lined up the photo carefully so as not to reveal the person sitting underneath eating their lunch. We were now on the riverside path again and heading back towards
Oi Manawa The Canterbury Earthquake Memorial Wall. For the 185 who didn't make it, and their families and friends who did. I felt a lump in my throat.
The Riverside Market was absolutely bustling with people. We sat upstairs at
Castros Tapas and Bar eating flatbread pizzas and drinking sangrias. Feeling happy and lucky in this crazy world. Afterwards Kim drove us to Sydenham and gave us a tour of her studio. As she rummaged through, showing us her fabulous
Kim Lowe prints and paintings, the creativity in the air was palpable. Kia ora e hoa.
