Council weighs options for chairs
Christchurch’s 185 Empty Chairs may be a step closer to a long-term home.
Artist Peter Majendie wants somewhere to put a permanent version of his white chairs art installation, which he created after the 2011 earthquake to symbolise the lives lost.
It is now in its second location – a Crown-owned corner site on Madras and Cashel streets earmarked for the city’s new stadium.
Following a presentation by Majendie to the city council early last year, council staff have now written a report on options for 185 Empty Chairs.
They meet Majendie today to discuss it, before putting the report before a council meeting in April.
‘‘I’m interested to see what happens now. It’s taken them 11 months, but these things are never done quickly,’’ he said.
Majendie has suggested public locations for a permanent artwork including Latimer Square, the CTV site, and the Botanic Gardens. Until a decision is made about its future, 185 Empty Chairs can remain for a while on its present site.
A permanent installation would use powder-coated metal chairs to replace the existing painted ones, arranged on a black exposed aggregate base with a tree from the red zone and a split greenstone boulder.
The project would cost $500,000. Majendie said he had already had offers of financial support once a site was found and had over $20,000 of donations in a trust fund. He did not want to run a public fundraising campaign without more certain plans.
Majendie sees 185 Empty Chairs as art, not a memorial like the official Oi Manawa earthquake remembrance wall on Oxford Tce. It was often visited by tour buses, which could not park near Oi Manawa, Majendie said.
‘‘I don’t see it as competition for the official memorial. I see it as a different experience, a place of reflection for loss.
‘‘One of its strengths is that it transcends the earthquakes – it speaks widely to people who have suffered loss in all sorts of situations.’’
The artwork was intended to be temporary, but has proven very popular with the public, including tourists and quake victims’ families. Website TripAdvisor lists it as one of the city’s top attractions, carrying user 1400 reviews.