Because of its close proximity we walked into the premises of the Arts Centre, said to have been Christchurch's art and crafts hub until the 2011 earthquake, which led to substantial damage to the Gothic revival building, which once housed the old University of Canterbury buildings. We were led into one of the few opened galleries - The Great Hall, which was quite impressive.
From it we could see what was happening across the street and if when we had passed by, the number of people honouring those killed in the terrorist attack had been just a few, a lot more people seemed to have been gathering then.
We strolled around the gardens where two artistic pieces were in display. One pertained to Anthony Gromley "Stay", whilst the other one called "Conduct cumulus" was attributed to an Asian artist Seung Yul Ho. Its bright yellow and white colours contrasted with the grayish and pale white of the building and yet it seemed to "brighten up" the overall atmosphere, particularly because it was placed on the grassy area. As I was reading the meaning of this last artistic work (Cumulus refers to an accumulation of airborn particles that appear to be shaped and directed by forces, such as the wind. The conduct within the titels of the work refers to the idea of an orchestra where individual parts are conducted to form a unified rhythm of units) and what the intentions of its author were (to honour the extraordinary actions and energies of Christchurch citizens working individually and collectively to rebuild their city post-quakes) it occurred to me that these citizens were certainly prepared to overcome the recent disaster that had fallen upon them and thier mixed community.
No comments:
Post a Comment