Street Art in Christchurch

The weekend after my visit to Australia, J and I went on a adventure together, flying down to Christchurch on the South Island for the weekend. I'd never been there (except the airport), and J had only been there for work, so everything was new and interesting, and we had a fantastic time exploring this fascinating city. I discovered upon our return that we took a staggering number of pictures for such a quick visit, and that I didn't want to get rid of any of them, as they all had a story to tell. So I will divide them into several posts.

One thing we learned is that Christchurch has been celebrated in The Lonely Planet as one of the top ten cities in the world for its street art. We'd noticed some before learning this, and then started specifically keeping an eye out, and discovered that it was everywhere! Christchurch experienced a devastating earthquake back in 2011 (more about that in a future post), and since then, street art has been part of the process of rejuvenation for the city.

This is the first one I noticed, before we knew about Christchurch's street art prowess, and I was so impressed with it. J said it reminded him of the Time Traveller's Wife, and I just thought it was striking.

We kept riding by this one on the tram (more on the tram later), and each time we passed it, I noticed something new about it. (Notice the naked biker - that seems like an extremely uncomfortable idea!)

Many of the murals are imaginative to the point of being rather abstract, in my opinion.

Many of them also use colour in really eye-catching ways.

This one was right next to our hotel, and definitely J's favourite.

  

This set made me think of Alice in Wonderland.

I didn't realize at the time that I'd take a picture of a person taking a picture of this person who doesn't look like he really wants his picture taken.

Speaking of Alice in Wonderland, we found her later that day. And I didn't notice until I was looking at this picture at home that there are also some interesting characters watching a movie of the moon. I love the imagination!

I was delighted with these elephants, as well as with the inexplicable sign stating, "Wish you were here." Not sure if that's related to the elephants (or to anything around it at all), but it's a lovely sentiment.

When it was time to catch the bus back to the airport, we got there a bit early, and so while J rested, I walked a little way down the street, and stumbled upon some street art in progress! It was double lucky, as I love paintings of birds, so this was the perfect one for me to see taking shape.

I watched the artist work with his spray paint for a few minutes before I had to get back to catch the bus. It was fascinating how he layered colours and forms to get such detail out of a spray can.
(Also, I just noticed that his yellow vest blends in with the yellow plumage of his art, as do his jeans and his shadow with the darker grey. The line between artist and art seems a bit blurry.)

Even once we were on the bus starting the trip home, the street art kept coming. J spotted this full size car on the side of the building, and managed to snap a picture in the narrow window of time before we passed it by.

Next time we're in Christchurch, we'll continue to be on the lookout for art integrated into city life.