A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the University of Washington Botanic Gardens and the Christchurch Botanic Gardens was officially established at a small signing ceremony on Friday 8 June.
Dr David Mabberley, Director of the University of Washington Botanic Gardens in Seattle, joined Council Transport and Greenspace Unit Manager Michael Aitken to sign the MOU at the Townsend House in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens.
The idea of a MOU between the two Botanic Gardens was pursued a few years ago during a Mayoral visit to Seattle - one of Christchurch’s seven sister cities. It was suggested there would be real value in formalising the relationship between the sister cities’ botanic gardens in order to facilitate academic and scientific exchange as well as establish partnership projects.
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A Seattle husband and wife team, Mike and Donna James, will arrive in Christchurch in early April, and spend six days in the city.
They have been hired by the Seattle Channel for various projects, one of which is making documentaries of several of Seattle's sister cities. Mike James is a retired news anchor for a Seattle TV channel, winner of several Emmys and documentary producer, and Donna James used to be the Director of the Seattle Office of Film and Music.
This project is being supported by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. The documentaries will be shown on Seattle TV as well as here in Christchurch. They will film in Christchurch over three days, 10 - 12 April. This is a great opportunity for Christchurch to raise its profile with the people of Seattle.
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| Title: Karanga 2002 (ceramic, harakeke, feather, shell) Ngai Tahu Collection Artist: Cath Brown, Ngai Tahu, Kati Mamoe, Waitaha Photographer: Patricia Wallace Exhibition: Toi Maori: The Eternal Thread. Te Aho Mutunga Kore. |
This unique exhibition of ancient and modern Maori weaving will open to the public at the Burke Museum in Seattle on February 4, 2006 and will remain until Memorial Day, May 29. It is hoped that, later in the year, the exhibition will be shown in Christchurch: details will be included when confirmed.
Early in 2003 the Christchurch Seattle Committee became aware of plans to set up and tour the exhibition in the US after its New Zealand launch at the Pataka Museum of Arts and Cultures, Porirua. The Committee was able to put the organisers in touch with the Directors of both the Seattle Art Museum and the Burke Museum.
The Christchurch connection is strong, as one of the major movers of the exhibition was Cath Brown, a much-respected kuia of Ngai Tahu; her place has now been taken by Ranui Ngarimu, also of Ngai Tahu and Christchurch. Other artists are also from the city and region.
The exhibition offers a unique opportunity to see some of the finest Maori cloaks (kakahu), maro, Whariki, taniko, Tukutuku, piupiu and kete from private collections around New Zealand: treasures of great weaving dynasties accompany the best of contemporary weaving. The exhibition includes work of traditional artists from the Pacific Northwest, who have established a strong cultural bond with their Maori counterparts.
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| Jay Harvik carving the log at the Arts Centre, Christchurch |
Since the Seattle garden, Halswell Quarry, was first planned it had been hoped to complement Doug Neil's stone seating arrangement with a totem pole, typical of the Seattle region. The committee was fortunate to gain the interest of Seattle Carver Jay Haavik, a personal friend of Doug Neil's, in this work. Jay designed the totem as a 'Welcome Pole' to the city of Christchurch, carved in the Haida sytle of the native peoples of Queen Charlotte Islands, off the coast of British Colombia, Canada.
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| Mayor Garry Moore, Brian Palliser, Chair of Christchurch-Seattle Sister City Committee, Jay Harvik, the carver from Seattle, Doug Neil, ex Seattle Christchurch sculptor |
Jay Haavik has been a professional carver for more than 30 years and specialises in styles from North West Native American art and Viking art. He agreed not only to travel to Christchurch to carve the pole, but also to provide a four metre Western Red Cedar log to ensure authenticity. This large and heavy object was freighted to Christchurch by Air New Zealand, free of cost - a huge and much appreciated contribution to the project.
On top of the pole that has been gifted to Christchurch is a human face with its hands in a welcome gesture between the ears of the next figure, an eagle. The eagle is a symbol of greeting and hospitality. The eagle's claws are clutching the head of a bear, which has its tongue outstretched. In the claws of the bear is a salmon, a symbol of the marine and fishing connections between Christchurch and Seattle.
The following has been provided by sculptor Doug Neil, who sculpted the seating arrangement in the Seattle Garden, one of the six sister city gardens at Halswell Quarry Park:
“The Indian art of the Northwest Coast of North America is like the Maori art of New Zealand, one of the most sophistictated indigenous art forms in the world. The cultural groups that developed and practiced the art, range from the state of Washington through British Columbia, Canada and Alaska. Seattle is part of this rich cultural and artistic tradition.
The figures chosen for the seating arrangement in the Seattle Garden are three of the more prominent creatures in Northwest Coast art. The orca, frog and eagle are clan crests, which appear on totem poles, house fronts, blankets and utilitarian items. They are drawn from mythical and ancestral stories of the region’s native peoples.
The frog and eagle are represented here on opposite sides of a Northwest Coast canoe prow. The frog is naturally quite popular in transformation stories, as it passes throuugh quite different forms in its life cycle. The idea rendered sculpturally suggests the notion of the frog and eage guiding the canoe across the Pacific and the stylised Orca (a symbol of considerable power in the Pacific) on the other end connecting the artistic traditions and ‘parallel’ cultures, of which Seattle and Christchurch are a part.
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| (From L to R) Past Committee Chairman Tim Nicholls, sculptor Doug Neil, Committe Chairman Brian Palliser testing the seating arrangement the day the Sister Cities Gardens were officially opened 17 February 2001. |
The figure on top of the orca’s head is a typically stylised ‘blowhole’, which often depicts a human form within.
The top side of the canoe prow is an abstraction of the mythical Sea Wolf, a creature often represented in elaborate two-dimensional designs."
Doug Neil, from Seattle, now lives in Christchurch.
Seattle senior school student’s artworks continue to be exhibited at the ArtZone, Centre of Contemporary Art, Gloucester Street. The theme is 'First People'
Christchurch Girls High School and Geraldine High School also contributed some excellent works for the exhibition, which it is now hoped will be taken to Seattle later this year.
It will be possible to view these works on the GlobalNet website in the near future.
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| The exhibition opening |
Seattle children's artworks were exhibited at the ArtZone in April 2000, alongside artworks from Christchurch primary school children. Artworks were based on the children's concepts of what they imagine their environment and activities taking place in it will be like in the year 2100.
To view a selection of the Seattle children's artworks visit the GlobalNet website.
In 2000 contacts were made between the Seattle Opera Guild and local opera enthusiasts.
