Storybox Christchurch | Past: Recalling Puari
Past: Recalling Puari
This work observes how an abundance of things – people, objects, buildings, flora, fauna – have occupied and passed through Cathedral Square since the beginnings of time, the Ngai Tahu people lived there for generations and established Puari Pa as a place for seasonal food gathering.
Developed using openframeworks, a unique creative-programming language, the work is subtly different every time, creating dynamic links through history. The work demonstrated how ‘objects’ have been culturally displaced by progress, time and political power throughout New Zealand’s history. It starts peacefully at the beginning of time, and progresses, towards a state of chaos. It consists of familiar symbols that float and fall through space. As they descend, links between specific objects are formed and so points of connection or displacement are established creating an interactive whakapapa of events and objects.
Christchurch Arts Festival, Catherdral Square
For the festival a Storybox was developed with Ngai Tahu. The result was a site-specific double-stranded celebration of the iwi: ‘Future Gateway: Mo Tatou’ and ‘Past: Recalling Puari’.
The Storybox was presented in two paired stacked gateways of containers facing each other in Cathedral Square alongside the Christchurch Cathedral. Stacked 3 high each paired stack contained 4 projection screens and a sound system and played each night between 6pm and 10pm.
The results were outstanding and exceeded the brief of placing Ngai Tahu stories in a leading position within the CAF WinterGarden. The Festival has estimated 7,200 people actively viewed these works over the 18 days of the CAF 2009.
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Storybox ProjectStorybox is an award-winning arts production and adaptive installation design company. The company produces engaging content that tells stories relevant to the site where it is placed, using innovative techniques and local community involvement where possible.
