This summer, SCAPE Public Art will once again be decorating the streets with a curated exhibition of public art – set to this year’s theme of ‘Shadows Cast’.

SCAPE Public Art executive director Deborah McCormick says this year’s offering will be an extended eight-week season flowing into the beginning of 2022, with two installations from international artists in the mix. “Our hope with this season is that we bring a refreshed walkway of temporary work to complement the permanent works that we have every year,” Deborah says.

Olivia Webb

Read our full Q&A with Olivia here

"Resilience Training is a voluntary public performance artwork that intends to help us prepare for the seemingly unending series of crises that define our world today. The artwork reconsiders the four cardinal virtues – prudence, temperance, justice, fortitude – to virtues or practices that may provide better support or foundations for resilience in the future: mercy, poverty, humour, and courage.

"From each virtue stems a simple performance that people can choose to try: walking barefoot; carrying a rock; caring for a worm; or transporting water in a small clay pot. The performance is organised around four banners positioned throughout the Botanic Gardens Botanic Gardens Te Māra Huaota o Waipapa.

"Each acts as a gathering post for participants to offload, take-up, or change ‘performance’ tasks. If you choose to participate, you are free to complete the performance at any banner and at any time.

"There will be a public procession performed by a small ensemble of singers and musicians each Saturday of the season. The main site is in front of the Robert McDougall Art Gallery."

oliviawebbartist.com

Aroha Novak

Read our full Q&A with Aroha here

"The work I am making for SCAPE focuses on the site-specific history of Hagley Park pre-settlement, particularly looking at the indigenous plant life that was removed in order to create Hagley Park.

"While researching I found a list of native plants that botanist JB Armstrong notated in 1864 at the Hagley Park site and got really excited at the prospect of showing these plants. The artwork will be large-scale botanical drawings of these missing, absent, forgotten, lost, eradicated plants and whakataukī related to this research.

"I am also proposing to create a small publication of the plants, which will look and feel like a botanical field diary, referencing the large scale works, with more of the research inserted alongside whakataukī.

"This work is exploring the notion of bringing back ghosts that were supplanted by a colonising and institutional framework whilst highlighting te ao Māori worldviews where the environment is paramount, looking at the past through a contemporary lens. In this way, the thematic 'shadows cast' are from the ghosts of plants and people."

arohanovak.com

Sione Monū

Read our full Q&A with Sione here

"These works are an extension of my experimentations and explorations of nimamea’a tuikakala – the fine art of flower designing – in my practice. I’m really excited about working with the SCAPE team to install and present the floral works in the Cunningham House. It’s such a great opportunity.

"The installation is named ‘Ao Kakala Ōtautahi – ‘Ao means cloud and Kakala means floral in Tongan. The exploration of flowers and clouds came about quite organically and has become a motif that I respond quite strongly to. A cloud to me is so dreamy; it can be sometimes grand, sometimes quiet and contemplative. It is quite joyful to me.

"With all the beautiful plants and florals, Cunningham House is an obvious connection and venue for my floral cloud forms, but I’ve never shown these works in this kind of environment so it’s exciting to see how it comes together.

"Choosing the materials is very intuitive and emotional. I feel like each cloud is a character and I’m a costume designer making their costumes around their personalities."

scapepublicart.org.nz