Mark Amery heads to Gore, Foxton and Whanganui to consider how visionary individuals in some of our smaller but rich historical centres are bringing art and heritage together to maintain their towns' identity post-industry and their futures as dynamic visitor destinations.
Hokonui whiskey 'art still' from Gore. Photo: Mark Amery
"I went to Gore in April and I was surprised just how much that town has to offer in terms of heritage. It's kind of quirky in a way. There's the old big, Creameoata, oatmeal porridge factory that closed back in 2001. With its big figure of Sergeant Dan on the side. It's kind of wonderful.
The Carnegie Library building that holds the Eastern Southland Gallery. Photo: Mark Amery
"And there's all these wonderful, quirky buildings and a lot of history that's been looked after by the locals," Mark told Kathryn Ryan.
The Hokonui Moonshine Museum connects the incredible history of Gore, he says. In the 1870s the McRae family left the Highlands of Scotland with their distillery and set up a moonshine distillery in the Hokonui foothills.
The Art Still harks back to that history and has been fabricated by a group called Rivet in New Plymouth, he says.
"The whisky drips into this glass vessel which has been made by Southland glass artist, Phil Newberry, who's a veteran glass artist."
The old Creamoata factory in Gore. Photo: Mark Amery
A former cinema in Gore, an example of the town's heritage. Photo: Mark Amery
"Foxton is a pretty interesting place, it's got this incredible history as a flax centre. At one point, I think there was something like 50 flax mills in the surrounding Horowhenua area. And the flax came in and went off by the Manawatu River there," Mark says.
A lot of heritage restoration has been going on in the town adjacent to the river loop, he says.
"Jim Harper has been restoring some of the historic buildings in the centre. He bought the old Racing Club and the old newspaper building next door, buildings that I don't think had been re-sold since the 1880s."
Jim Harper with their 1930s film projectors at MAVTECH museum and cinema Photo: Mark Amery
The former Racing Club and newspaper offices in Foxton restored by Jim Harper. Photo: Mark Amery
Bowls and mugs by Ross Mitchell-Anyon at Quartz Museum of Ceramics in Whanganui. Photo: Mark Amery
Work by John Parker at Quartz Museum of Ceramics in Whanganui. Photo: Mark Amery
