Impressions from visiting Czech artist
Located under Lockdown in the Czech Republic, Woodville’s Artist in Residence Martina Havlova compiled a comprehensive report of her adventure down under. The following are extracts from her letter sent to her hosts Joan and Kevin McIntyre.
“Going to Woodville from the airport already felt like a tour ride. On our way from the airport, Kevin and Joan had taken me to one end of the Manawatu Gorge and I think that was such a great thing to do. Seeing one of the most beautiful parts of the river on day one was a very exciting spark to a project that still existed only in my head. It made me looking forward to start working on the river theme.”
“My memories from the first day are still very vivid. Seeing a completely new place on the Earth, driving in the sunset into the Ferry reserve, visiting bush and admiring lush New Zealand flora. I had a very warm welcome from everyone and had an opportunity to meet the local community just a couple of days after I arrived.
“My time in New Zealand was packed with experiences of all kinds from the first to the very last day. Only after a short time in Woodville, I felt so lucky I had experienced a lot. Being a part of the community and spending almost three months in New Zealand, I felt like experiencing the real taste of New Zealand life.”
“Soon into the Manawatu project, I found out that it will not be so easy to visit places along the river. Many parts of the river were on private property and I was dependant on people’s help getting me to the river since New Zealand’s public transit does not work in the same way as in Europe due to largeness of the country with fairly small population. But what may seem like an obstacle in the beginning, turned out to be a great advantage.
Because the river was often located on someone’s property, I had a chance to talk to these people and hear what they had to say about the river.”
“I wanted to collect as many materials as possible so that I could understand the river. I was curious about how it changed over the course of years, what are people’s memories connected to it and how important the river is. It was interesting to hear different and common perspectives, memories, stories and legends tied up with the Manawatu River. I was very lucky to have many people around me who supported me and the work on the project in various ways. I could not have been able to complete the project without them.”
“I aimed to create a book that would represent the character of the river. I focused on its visual side, Ma¯ ori legends, personal stories, rock formations, flora, and fauna, the aspect of time, and the area of the Manawatu Gorge because to me, it was the heart of the whole river.”
“Many people from the Gottfried Lindauer group helped me to get to the river but not only that. They shared their knowledge about the river, organised different things and through the time we spent together, we became friends.”
■ See part two next week.