New Zealand circuit - Christchurch - Arts Centre - Day 18 - The 16th of March 2019 (afternoon)

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.

 

New Zealand circuit - Christchurch - The Canterbury Museum - Day 18 - The 16th of March 2019 (early afternoon )

We decided to venture into the Canterbury Museum, whose 1869 -1876 building had caught our attention. Housing what is considered a comprehensive selection of Antarctic relics, not to mention several rooms dedicated to the Maori cultural inheritance and mounted birds from the Southern hemisphere seemed interesting enough for us to spend some hours in its premises, which we did.

 

 

 

 

 

The first gallery we explored was the one dedicated to the reconstruction of the life carried out by the first settlers to New Zealand, who are said to have to have arrived 800 years ago. There were some replicas of the flightless bird moa hunters are supposed to have encountered. I found the gallery to be very interesting due to its recreation approach.

 

 

 

We then moved onto a gallery extensively dedicated to poumanu and the importance it has had and it still has as an enduring treasure in the Maori culture, having had a thorough look at some of the poumanu crafted artefacts, including some hand weapons, which symbolise unity.

 

 

 

 

One of the last galleries we visited was the one dedicated to the Antarctic exploration, which again reconstructed some of the eventful scenarios therewith related. The bird section was equally interesting particularly because a lot of information related to some rare species and their nesting was provided.

 

 

 

Prior to having walked along the reconstruction of a 19th century Christchurch street and a collection of furniture dating back to the old days  I still made it to the gallery featuring a fairly interesting Oriental Art collection. I was particularly fascinated by the ivory sculpted miniatures.