27 Sep 2015

A different perspective on the Garden City

From Standing Room Only, 12:50 pm on 27 September 2015

Large banners with images of cabbage trees, daffodils and even weeks have been handmade for the SCAPE outdoor art biennial. Otakaro Plant Parade is a new artwork by Fiona Jack which has been developed for SCAPE 8 New Intimacies, Christchurch's biennial outdoor art event. Over the past year Fiona has spent time in Christchurch, talking with locals and learning about ecological stories and histories of the Garden City. Her work celebrates and responds to these gathered narratives: from the historic trees planted by Samuel Barker along Oxford Terrace, to the daffodils which appear every year through the efforts of the Christchurch Beautifying Association; from the cabbage trees at Burnside High School to the self-seeding weeds that occupy the city's vacant lots. Next Sunday morning banners will form a procession the path of the Otakaro-Avon River.