review of watershow by Daniel Colins / Crikey Creek

Daniel Collins Dec 14 - Artists and politicans gather to save Canterbury's water

Canterbury’s water management needs a serious overhaul, according to artists and activists who gathered for an art exhibition at Christchurch’s COCA on Saturday.
The exhibition featured works by 12 artists brought together by local artists Sally Hope and Jane Zusters for the second annual Artists for Save Our Water project. The focus this year was on the Waimakariri River, and the proposed Central Plains Water scheme.
The artwork chosen as the banner of the exhibition was a work by Ramonda Te Maiharoa. Her composite image depicted a river being blocked by a line of wooden-framed glass doors. In their centre was a door handle and key-hole. The message was simple: With the right key, the CPW’s reservoir in the Waianiwaniwa Valley need not be built. And indeed, ultimately, it was not.
In attendance were advocates and politicians of a range of stripes, but all in agreement on the need to improve water management.
Murray Rodgers, Chairman of the Water Rights Trust and author of ‘Canterbury’s Wicked Water’, spoke about the need to shift water management in Canterbury to balance economic and environmental needs. He emphasised the need to think long-term, and to replace “undisciplined growth” with “sustainable growth“.
Rodgers was highly critical of successive governments, both Labour and National, for their bureaucratic hold-up and inaction on freshwater management, despite many good reports produced by MfE.
Rodgers further decried the degrading waterways, unfit to swim in, and lays blame on unsustainable agricultural practices:
“Cows are still shitting in some Canterbury waterways. Lowland streams run dry. Behaviours that cause the on-going rise in nitrate levels in ground and surface waters are expanding, those behaviours are not contracting.“
Rodgers’ leadership on water issues was subsequently praised by Dr Russel Norman, co-leader of the Green Party. Norman went on to stress that it was the NGOs and volunteers that are ultimately moving the discussion forward.
According to Norman, these events surrounding local water management and agricultural intensification are small snapshots of a bigger pictures. In the long run, he said…
“It’s about what kind of relationship do we want to have to the planet, and to our own local environment, and hence it’s about what kind of people do we want to be.“
Brendan Burns, MP for Christchurch Central and Labour spokesperson for water issues, acknowledged Murray Rodgers’ speech, saying that “almost all of what he said was absolutely, bang-on correct,” and conceded Labour’s past actions have not been entirely to the benefit of sustainable water management.
Burns also called Canterbury’s track record on water management “woeful,” and cited a recent Ecan report claiming that 1 in 5 farmers had been in serious breach of resource management consents, but he balanced this by saying that he has yet to meet any farmer who actually wants to damage the environment.
Both Brendan Burns and his National Party counterpart, Nicky Wagner, echoed Russel Norman’s sentiment that the issue of water management was about who we are. Wagner specifically recognized the work of artist Nigel Brown, and his piece ‘Water Through the Fingers’.
Changing the tone after the politicians, or at least changing the vocabulary, was artist and author of ‘The Water Thieves’, Sam Mahon. Mahon provided a geological and birds-eye view of the Canterbury Plains, woven over millennia by the braided Waimakariri River and her sisters. To Mahon, water mismanagement risks putting the “eternal weaver” to sleep.
While much of Saturday’s event was taken up by speech, it was the artists’ visual and textural works that provided the speech’s context. After the event I had the opportunity to talk to two artists about their works, why they were attracted to the water issue, and what they sought to convey. I will share their words with you soon.

irrigators will suck our rivers dry

Environment Canterbury’s decision to give Central Plains Water, a private company, consent to take water from the Waimakariri and Rakaia rivers for irrigation on the Central Canterbury Plains has resulted in a protest art exhibition in Christchurch next week.

Twelve artists who strongly care about the water and the environment are staging the exhibition in support of the existing Waimakariri River, at the Coca Gallery on November 24.

At the 5.30pm opening, Lady Diana Isaac will award prizes for three Canterbury school children who won Alpine Jet River rides for their art about the river. Alpine Jets is threatened with closure if the scheme goes ahead, exhibition organisers Jane Zusters and Sally Hope said today.

The three winning entries from three age groups will join the art of Mark Adams, Nigel Brown, Linda James, Sam Mahon, Albi McCathy, Ramonda Te Maiharoa, Becky Turrell, Irene Schroder, Ben Woollcombe, Margaret Ryley, Hope and Zusters .

Waianiwaniwa Valley farmers were delighted their valley will not be flooded for a dam but a private compamy still secured the water rights, they said.

``Canterbury water belongs to all of us. We love our rivers but their water is being sucked up into irrigators and our rivers could be varnishing. This is a sad day for our rivers,’’ Hope said.

At the closing of this exhibition on December 12, Russell Norman of the Green Party will speak, along with Murray Rodgers of the Water Rights Trust. Singers Malcolm McNeill and Rima Te Wiata are supporting the water cause by performing.

waiheke bach movie

win a river trip children's art competition

Children’s 2D Art Competition 2009


Winners get to take their family on a Waimakariri River jetboat ride sponsored by Alpine jets.
he awa reo - river talk:
art celebrating our rivers
COCA Gallery 25th November – 12th December
Canterbury schoolchildren are invited to produce an artwork about the Waimakariri and Rakaia Rivers. This is a water awareness project. Entries are welcome from a personal experience or any other viewpoint. The winning entries will be exhibited at Coca Gallery as part of the he awa reo – rivertalk exhibition along with the art of the adult artists;

Mark Adams, Nigel Brown, Linda James, Sam Mahon, Albi McCathy,
Ramonda Te Maiharoa, Becky Turrell, Irene Schroder, Ben Woollcombe, Margaret Ryley, Sally Hope and Jane Zusters . The aim of this exhibition is to share the art that was made as a result of these artists river journey earlier this year.

“Our latest project is to draw attention to the Central Plains Water scheme and how it will affect our rivers. Environment Canterbury has announced The Waianiwaniwa Valley will now not be dammed. However The Central Plains Water application is proceeding” says Jane Zusters

Prizes

Three students in total will be selected as competition winners - one from each of the three competition age group categories. Each winner will receive One FREE hour long trip for their family, on a Waimakariri River journey, sponsored by Alpine Jets (adult fare usually $105, child fare $75). Times and dates will be subject to availability. All winners and their families will need to travel at the same time and date.

Winning students are also invited to attend the exhibition opening on the 24th November 5:30 – 7:00pm at COCA Gallery. They will be able to view their framed winning entries (sponsored by Ronald Mottram Framers) alongside the work of the adult artists. All other competition entries submitted will be available in folders for the viewing enjoyment of everyone as well.

Entry Requirements
• Students entering must be between the ages 7 and 13 years and live in the Canterbury region. Entries will be judged in the following categories:
Age 7-9
Age 10-11
Age 12-13
• All entries must be submitted on A3 paper
• Entries can be completed in one or more of the following media: coloured pencil, felts, paint, collage or mixed media
• entry details must be completed clearly and fixed to the back of the work

• Entries should be addressed and sent to:

he awa reo – river talk,
C/O Coca Gallery,
66 Gloucester street or C/- P O Box 772,
Christchurch

Entry deadline dates/Information

• All works to arrive at COCA by 7th of November 2009 4:00pm and be collected from the gallery on Saturday 19th December 1-4pm
• Works submitted will be judged by Jane Zusters, Sally Hope and Diana, Lady Isaacs of the Waterrights Trust

Entry details

Please complete the following information on the back of the entry :


Age group of entrant
7-9
10-11
12-13
Contact Details of entrant
First Name:
Surname:
Postal Address:
Tel number:
Student E-mail address:

wall talking exhibition Tmaru Aigantighe Art Gallery 4 september

wall talking - walk up to a wall quite cautiously because some walls are very shy - politely introduce yourself and start talking to it as if it were listening to you

Painting: 'our rivers our lives', photo by Natasha Martin Timaru Herald


Its a nor'westa day in Christchurch. At last the first official day of spring after a cold wet winter. The first asparagus spears are up in my garden and I have been planting potatoes and strawberries. On friday I am driving to Timaru where thanks to Dr Fiona Ciaran, director of the Aigantighe Gallery "wall talking' is having a new incarnation 4 Sepember to 11 October. If you are heading south drop in to The Aigantighe Gallery, 49 Wai-iti Rd, Timaru. Same title and some of the works from the first exhibition at Quiqcorp earlier this year but Dr Fiona Ciaran has selected a completely new show with a focus on endangered birds and our threatened South Island rivers. It also features the largest painting I have done since 'Italian Journey' in 1985. 'our rivers our lives' is a 6 metre long canvas where the birds have been reduced to ghostly white blanks. The Mackenzie Country water hearings are about to begin and so you should come South to my exhibition and visit at the same time,this iconic landscape under threat of turning green through central pivot irrigators and dairy conversions.
wall talking is opening at the Aigantighe Art Gallery, Timaru on friday 4th September, 2009. Mike Armstrong is the guest speaker at the opening and Terry Johnstone will be launching his Mystery exhibition.
Aigantighe is pronounced 'egg and tie' and in Scottish Gaelic means 'at home'.This exhibition will run until 11th October.
Contact Details:
Aigantighe Art Gallery
49 Wai-iti Road,
Timaru.
Phone 03 688 4424
Fax 03 684-8346
gallery@timdc.govt.nz



This exhibition of Jane Zusters' paintings and photography was first shown 31 May to 26 June 2009
at Quiqcorp ART SPACE 155 High Street, Christchurch, NZ phone 0064 03 3417692

Rivertalk : Stop the Coalgate Dam

Central Plains Water wants to consruct a dam at Coalgate in Canterbury, New Zealand ,flood the Waianiwaniwa Valley and divert water from the Waimakariri and Rakaia rivers to irrigate marginal farmi...

opening Mark Hutchins Gallery Wellington,24 february 2009

Rivertalk exhibition/coming up

Media release – January 26, 2009

Christchurch artists to stage art protest campaign to save Canterbury’s Waianiwaniwa Valley and Rakaia and Waimakariri Rivers

Two Christchurch artists deeply concerned about the future of Canterbury’s water will launch their Canterbury River-talk project in March, they said today.

Artist friends Sally Hope and Jane Zusters want to draw attention to the Central Plains water and land grab scheme.

Last year the pair co-foundered a network of New Zealand artists named Artists to Save Our Water which instigates art projects about local and regional water issues.

A group of artists will camp at Kowai Bush at the site where the braided Waimakariri River will turn into a concrete canal if the Central Plains water scheme goes ahead.

An exquisite valley of lush rolling hills and mature trees planted by generations of Deans will be submerged by a 55 metre dam if the scheme is approved.

The artists involved are Mark Adams, Nigel Brown, Linda James, Sam Mahon, Albi McCathy, Ramonda Te Maiharoa, Tiffany Thornley, Becky Turrell and also Hope and Zusters.

``We are camping from March 20 to 23 where the Waimakariri River leaves the Gorge and the braided section of the river begins,’’ Zusters and Hope said.

``This is the location of the Upper Intake and canal for the proposed Central Plains scheme. We will be organising a tour of the surrounding area that would be affected if this scheme goes ahead.

``Artists will be able to see, feel, touch, collect, sketch, photograph, film, write, process and draw their experiences to use as the basis for a water art exhibition we are planning for later in the year. There will be no decision on Central Plains Water before May and so this is perfect timing for publicity purposes to protect and celebrate the river through their artwork,’’ they said.

Ends

Media advisory: for further information, comment, photos or interviews please contact Sally Hope on 03 355 2076 or Jane Zusters on 03 389 3509 or Kip Brook at Word of Mouth Media NZ on 0275 033 855

Rivertalk Exhibition: Coca Gallery Christchurch

24 november to 12 december 2009


Rivertalk is part two of a project by a group of artists to celebrate through their art making the Waimakariri River in the vicinity of the Malvern Hills. This is the site for the proposed Coalgate Dam if the Central Plains Water scheme is approved. An exquisite landscape of lush rolling hills and mature trees planted by generations of Deans will be submerged by a 55 metre dam while the Waimakariri becomes a concrete canal instead of a braided river. One of the central issues of our time is that ecological uneasy edge where natural worlds are threatened when human beings channel the whole eco system into themselves.

From Friday 20th March to Monday 23rd March 2009 the artists will camp at Kowai bush. This is where the Waimakariri River leaves the Gorge and the braided section of the river begins. This is the location of the Upper Intake and canal for the proposed Central Plains Water Scheme. The artists will travel on a voyage of inspiration/visual research by jet boat along the banks of the Waimakariri capturing the ever changing mood of the water and the plains surrounding it. They will also have bus a trip escorted by a spokesperson from the Malvern Hills protection society and have the opportunity to see some of the magnificent homesteads and historic sites that are threatened. One of these sites is one of the most significant areas of mudfish in Canterbury. The artists will see, feel, touch, collect, sketch, photograph, film, write, process and draw their experiences to use as the basis for future art making for an exhibition that Sally Hope and Jane Zusters are in the process of organising.

The following artists are participating in Rivertalk; Mark Adams, Nigel Brown, Sally Hope, Linda James, Sam Mahon, Albi McCathy, Ramonda Te Maiharoa, Tiffany Thornley, Becky Turrell, Jane Zusters. These are nationally known New Zealand artists with proven track records and the results of their research will result in a significant body of work about this threatened, iconic landscape. As artists we want to protect and celebrate this landscape through our art making.

For more information please contact;

Jane Zusters ph 3893509 Sally Hope 355 2076

This is a project by a network of New Zealand artists that we co founded called ”Artists for save our Water” which instigates art projects that draw attention to local water issues.