B.
Earthquake Momento
Behind the scenes
The latest issue of Photoforum's MoMento journal (issue 14, January 2014) focuses on the work of three photographers with strong ties to Christchurch and their haunting images of this battered city post February 22, 2011.
John Collie's Earthquake damaged building, Cathedral Square, 1st July 2011 on the cover of Photoforum's earthquake edition of their journal Momento, Issue 14, January 2014.
Three photographers, three quite different views of Christchurch post the earthquakes, three years on since the 22 Febraury earthquake. I found the photographs in this publication quite moving and the title of PhotoFoum's journal, MoMento, appropriate as this issue makes a most welcome memento of those fricken earthquakes and the devastation of the city that resulted.
The choice of photographers is spot on. From John Collie's war zone like images of Christchurch's inner city streets that once thrived with people, Stuart Page's images of people on the street getting on with life amidst all the ruin, destruction and at times infuriatingly chaotic traffic flow and Timothy J. Veling's seemingly post apocalyptic images of abandoned and decaying suburban Christchurch. In Febuary 2014, three long years on since the big shake I find this issue of MoMento a a timely reminder of what this town has been through.
Stuart Page Man entering restricted use building, Cambridge Terrace, June 2011
Timothy J. Veling River Road, Avonside, Christchurch, 2013
Related reading: Earthquake
Collection
Tim J. Veling Corner of Tuam and Durham Streets, Christchurch, 2011, from Adaptation, 2011 - 2012
Collection
Tim J. Veling Latimer Square, Christchurch, 2012, from Adaptation, 2011 - 2012
Tim J. Veling's photographs of post-quake Christchurch are studies in memory and transformation. From a body of work titled Adaptation, this nocturnal image reveals the strangeness of the transitional city, not least its moments of surprising, eerie beauty.
(Unseen: The Changing Collection, 18 December 2015 – 19 June 2016)
Notes
Five years on
Today is the fifth anniversary of the February earthquake of 2011 which devastated Christchurch. During that time, we and our city have been through so many different phases.
Notes
The regeneration must not be bureaucratised
Aaron Kreisler is Head of the School of Fine Art at the University of Canterbury. He talked to Bulletin about challenges and opportunities for the arts in our city and what art can contribute to the future of Christchurch.
Notes
What sort of city do we want our children's children to live in?
Martin Trusttum, project manager for Ōtākaro Art by the River, and founder of temporary gallery space ArtBox, writes on the role of art in Christchurch.
Notes
Repair Update - Base Isolation to begin
A technology that allows a building to effectively 'float' on its foundations during an earthquake is about to be applied to the Gallery.
Notes
Repairs start on Christchurch Art Gallery
Repair work has started on Christchurch Art Gallery, with the re-levelling tender that will relieve stress in the building's foundations having been awarded.
Notes
The Army leaves
With the removal of the final cordon around the red zone in the central city last weekend, I came in with my family to have a look around the newly reopened areas of the CBD. We stopped to watch the parade of soldiers who were being thanked by the Prime Minister, the Mayor of Christchurch and Kaiwhakahaere of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu for their work in controlling the central city red zone and with community welfare in the immediate aftermath of the February earthquake.
Notes
A major boon to the Gallery in the direct aftermath of the earthquake
English artist Sarah Lucas was installing her show in Two Rooms, Auckland, when the 22 February earthquake struck.
Notes
What they did with Christchurch cathedral
Lunchtime on a shining summer's day and you head for the ruin of Christchurch Cathedral. If you get there by twelve you can usually nab one of the bench seats along the back wall, where sun buckets down through the long-gone roof and warms the stonework behind you.