Kaikoura quake stories boxed up
Residents have had their chance to tell their stories in a new earthquake exhibition at the Kaiko¯ura Museum which opens on Saturday.
Dubbed the ‘‘New Normal’’, a term used to describe life after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake on November 14, 2016, the exhibition tells a diverse range of stories and reflects how many in the community interpreted the quake.
Museum manager Stephanie Lange said the museum wanted the community to tell the human side of the story.
The community were asked to contribute to the exhibition by sharing photographs and objects relating to the earthquake.
Last month the museum ran a mini-curator workshop for people to design their own Exhibition in a Box, which forms the heart of the exhibition.
Lange said the idea was to give people a chance to be part of their own exhibition and to interpret what the quake meant for them and their family.
‘‘There are so many stories out there, this enabled people to have an opportunity to tell theirs,’’ said Lange.
Within the formal display are more than 40 mini exhibitions contributed by people and community organisations in Kaiko¯ura.
The result is an insightful and fun exhibition which not only looks at the effects of the earthquake on the landscape and natural environment but has humour, connection and some very personal elements as well.
‘‘No two stories are the same,’’ said Lange.
‘‘There’s humour and ones that want to make you cry, but they are all individual stories and really special.’’
Mary Shanahan, who designed her own Tired, Wired, and Rewired story in a box, also helped Kaiko¯ura Hospital residents put one together.
Kaiko¯ura Primary School’s Aroha is a collection of supporting letters received from all over New Zealand.
The Clarence slip-stranded calf and cows, which made headlines around the world, have been modelled by Laura Finney from Emporium Brewing.
The North Canterbury Transport Infrastructure Recovery (NCTIR) alliance, which is rebuilding Kaiko¯ura’s damaged road and rail network, designed a diorama of the KiwiRail train stuck in a tunnel, as the quake struck just after midnight, as well as a box labelled NCTIRVITY Scene.
There are scientific models, footage of ruptured fault lines and an interactive virtual reality sand box, and film-maker Kim BoyceCampbell has put together a15-minute documentary of interviews with eight quake-affected residents .
‘‘The boxes are element, said Lange.
The mini box exhibition sits inside The Text, a large tent. Standing guardian outside is Of Fist and Fluke, a poem by museum consultant Te Awhina Arahanga, about the ‘‘set-to’’ on the night between resident kaitiaki whale Matamata and Ruamoko, the god of earthquakes.
New Normal opens on Saturday at the Kaiko¯ura Museum, 10am to 5pm daily. Go to kaikouramuseum.co.nz for details. only one
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