‘Vigil’ ends with sculpture’s exit

Authorities have hauled away a sculpture installed in protest outside Environment Canterbury’s (ECan) headquarters.

Artist and activist Sam Mahon placed his work, Vigil, on the forecourt of ECan’s Christchurch headquarters last month.

The sculpture was a bronze-cast bust of teacher and conservationist Catherine Sintenie, who died of cancer in 2014.

Yesterday, exactly one month after Vigil was put in place, it was lifted onto a truck and taken to a storage unit.

There had been disagreement between ECan and Mahon about the sculpture’s future.

They were at odds over its plaque, which paraphrased a conversation between appointed ECan councillor David Caygill and Sintenie.

A line attributed to Caygill suggested he had admitted breaking promises.

ECan said it wanted to keep the sculpture as a memorial to Sintenie, but the direct reference to Caygill would have to be removed. Mahon refused.

‘‘Since the plaque represents Cathy’s voice, to remove it would make her presence pointless . . . To agree to that half representation would be like agreeing to half a democracy,’’ he said.

Because the sculpture was on a public reserve, it came under the jurisdiction of Land Information NZ (Linz).

A Linz spokeswoman said it removed the sculpture because it was placed without permission. It would hold the sculpture until Mahon collected it.

It was moved less than 24 hours before the new council met for the first time since the local body elections.

Mahon said removing the sculpture was an issue that should have been put before the council.

He planned to move the sculpture to Cathedral Square.

Elected ECan councillor Lan Pham said the sculpture represented ‘‘concern and disappointment with how water has been managed in Canterbury’’.

‘‘We need appropriate ways of responding to and discussing public shows of people wanting their voices heard.’’