7.8 – the aftermath

On the night of the Kaiko¯ura earthquake, photographic artist Susie Baker was printing in her darkroom, a shed in the garden.

‘‘I finished printing and washing my pictures around 11pm,’’ Baker says. ‘‘As I went outside to walk back to the house, I stopped and looked at the sky. The moon was large and there was an eerie feel in the air.’’

Baker says she didn’t think much of the uncommon sea change in the night. But it was only after she retired to bed, that those spooky omens from mother nature began to tell their tale.

‘‘Just as I laid down in bed a large boom echoed and the house started moving violently, my bedside dresser instantly crashed onto the bed. We got down on the ground and I thought it would stop, but it just kept going and got more violent.

‘‘We thought the house was coming down. As we left the bedroom our grandfather clock came smashing down in front of us and the head of the clock hit the couch and flew off. We managed to jump over broken obstacles and grab the kids. We ran outside and gathered on the large trampoline. The ground was still moving.

‘‘We then sped to high ground where we slept in the truck for two nights,’’ she says.

‘‘The change to our landscape in the daylight was unbelievable.’’

Baker woke up the next day to a new world, a broken town and ravaged landscape. But what most residents awoke to that next day was a sense of unease, apprehension about their safety and a deep concern for the future of their town.

What Baker probably didn’t realise at the time was how influential that traumatic night, and the further recovery would be on her own art.

‘‘My artwork has been greatly influenced ever since,’’ Baker says.

‘‘First, I was replicating the noise and movement felt that evening. Then, as the weeks passed I captured the scarred landscape and uplift of the coastline. This, then, progressed to the changes to the town as damaged buildings are brought down.’’

The experiences of that night would eventually culminate in a series of works that is part of a new exhibit at Blenheim’s Detour Gallery to mark the one-year anniversary of the quake. The show opened on Friday and runs to November 23.

‘‘We were very aware of how much fabulous public art happened in the wake of the Christchurch earthquake,’’ says Charlene Scott, a director at Detour.

‘‘And we have proportionately a huge pool of art talent here in Marlborough, Kaiko¯ura, and Nelson.

‘‘At the top of the south we are a little art-heavy. And so it was an opportunity to see how artists here have responded to the quake.’’

There aren’t many of us here at the top of the south who haven’t been affected in some way by the devastating quake that still has Kaiko¯ura shaking off the dust and rebuilding a year later. State Highway 1 remains closed, the economic impact is palpable, and the deadly 7.8-magnitude quake was so powerful, that the 110-kilometre stretch of the Kaiko¯ura Coast was uplifted; parts of it by as much as 6m..

Baker’s works will hang alongside another talented Kaiko¯ura artist, Jane Riley, whose recent work also represents the collisions between the energy and beauty of our natural world, and the sometimes terrifying experiences that are part and parcel with living on a planet with such destructive natural forces.

One of Riley’s works, ‘Quake Supermoon Kaiko¯ura Triptych’ depicts the nights that follow November 14, 2016 with the supermoon looming high above over the devastated harbour in Kaiko¯ura, where six warships that came to Kaiko¯ura’s aid were at anchor.

Riley’s triptych shows how beauty, nature and destruction can be redefined as a dynamic part of our existence.

The show proves that we are fascinating animals, indeed. As expressive, and deeply creative biological machines, our instincts to organise the turbulence of our emotional responses to tragedy into an aesthetic activity is always surprising and at times inspiring. It almost seems that within some of us there is a psychological urge Shaken Earth is showing now at Detour Art Gallery, 67 Market St, Blenheim.

Open daily except Tuesdays until November 23.

to encounter tragedy, as well as enormous disruption, with meaningful artistic activity.

The artists in the show have brought to bear the raw emotions of the day, the aftermath, as well as those feelings of seeing their lives changed by mother nature’s seismic shrug. This will be a great opportunity to view a mere reflection of those emotions and remember a hugely significant day New Zealand’s history.

Along with Kaiko¯ura artists, Nelson and Marlborough artists including as Dean Bradley, Rowena Lukomska, Rob Jenkins, Bruce Fergus, Win Oliver and Kim Gabara, have also contributed works to the exhibition.

Exhibitions

‘Shaken Earth’, featuring Marlborough and Kaiko¯ura works inspired by the November earthquake. Detour Gallery, Market St.

Leading Marlborough wildlife painter Nicolas Dillon presents three decades of work in Observing Nature at the Millennium Public Art Gallery from October 14. Also on at the Millennium Public Gallery is Shades of Nature, a fundraising exhibition featuring works from seven artists in a range of media. Proceeds to support the development of the gallery’s permanent collection.

Peach Eaton – Embroidered Portraits and Kiwiana Exhibition, in the foyer of Marlborough Museum, runs to October 29, 10am to 4pm daily.

Music

Guy Buttery, South African guitar legend debut NZ tour, Le Cafe, Picton, Tuesday, October 19 at 7pm. Tickets $15 to $20. All ages.

George Gershwin and Friends Concert, with Steve Austin (keyboard), Barry Holdaway (bass), and Chris Cookson (violin). Friday, October 20, 6pm to 7pm, Tua Marina Church, Brayshaw Park, $5 entry.

Theatre

A Doris Day Special, tribute to America’s sweetheart of the silver screen during the 1950s and 1960s, at the ASB Theatre on October 16 from 7.30pm.

‘Maungatapu’, the story of the Burgess Kelly gang that murdered five menon the Maungatapu track near Nelson, and their subsequent arrest and trial. Havelock Town Hall, Havelock: October 19, 7.30pm; Boathouse Theatre, Blenheim: October 20, 7.30pm; Picton Little Theatre, Picton: October 28, 7.30pm. Tickets $20 from Ken Ham Music Works.

Other

Aviation Heritage in Marlborough, a talk presented by Ross Inder as part of the Summit Marlborough Heritage Festival. Wednesday, October 18, 1.30pm - 3pm, at Marlborough Museum. Gold coin donation.

Upcoming

The Sound of Music, From the producer of the recent touring stage shows Grease, HMS Pinafore, Menopause the Musical and South Pacific. ASB Theatre, Monday, October 23, 7pm. Tickets $69 to $100.

Richie & Rosie, banjo player Richie Stearns and fiddler Rosie Newton, play at Le Cafe, Picton on Monday, October 23, from 7.30pm. Tickets $15.

Dublin’s Irish Tenors and The Celtic Ladies perform opera, jazz, classics and pop at the ASB Theatre on November 19.

Dance on Grove presents Shrek the Musical Jr. at the ASB Theatre from December 1 to 3.

Saturday Night Fever 40th Anniversary Tour at the ASB Theatre on December 12.

‘‘The change to our landscape in the daylight was unbelievable.’’ Kaiko¯ura artist Susie Baker