Rebecca Lush

Quake City

Firstly, Happy New Year to everyone reading this post! It’s the start of both a new year and a new decade. I am really looking forward to 2020 and I’m hoping it will be a year of further growth and new experiences. There are some exciting things planned and plenty of museums and heritage places on the horizon.

My first post for 2020 is on Quake City, a museum attached to the Canterbury Museum that delves into the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. For those unaware, Christchurch recently experienced two destructive earthquakes in September 2010 and February 2011. The earthquake in 2011 caused the most damage and basically reduced most of the city to rubble. Just walking around the streets today, it is beyond inspiring to see how the city has started to rebuild itself. What has really stood out to me is how arts and culture is being integrated almost every step of the way. For example, there are so many large public art murals painted on the sides of buildings throughout the city centre. Quake City explores each earthquake and the aftermath, including displays covering survivor stories, liquefaction and the Student Volunteer Army (to name only a few). Continue reading “Quake City”

Canterbury Museum

Our first stop today was the Canterbury Museum located next to the Botanic Gardens. There are quite a few exhibition spaces within the Museum. You could spend the entire day here learning so much about Canterbury and its largest city, Christchurch. I want to focus this review on three exhibitions: Slice of Life: The World Famous Dunedin Study, Squawkzilla and the Giants, and Christchurch Street. The first two are temporary exhibitions and the latter is a permanent display. Continue reading “Canterbury Museum”

International Antarctic Centre

The International Antarctic Centre isn’t strictly a museum, but does contain exhibitions and offers visitors a variety of experiences. These include the snow storm, penguin feeding/VIP experience, meeting huskies and the Hägglund Field Trip. My absolute favourite was meeting the huskies so there will be lots of photographs of adorable dogs in this post. I’m going to save the best for last and cover some of the other experiences first. Continue reading “International Antarctic Centre”

Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū

Greetings from Christchurch, New Zealand! We spent today exploring the city and visiting both the International Antarctic Centre and the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū. I am most excited to write about the Gallery. It is not only a spectacular building, but has an incredible array of works on display with the majority by New Zealand artists. Before sharing my favourite works, here are a few other highlights worth mentioning. Continue reading “Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū”

GOMA: Water

I have been looking forward to this exhibition for quite some time. Especially considering it is an exhibition that opens discussions on climate change and the fragility of the environment, as well as commenting on our role and relationship to our surroundings. It could not have opened at a more poignant time, particularly in Australia where drought and fires have ravaged parts of the country. It was fascinating to see how artists have interacted with this vital element. Not only in a ‘traditional’ way, i.e. photographs and sculptures, but in a playful way as well. More on that later. Continue reading “GOMA: Water”

Spring Hill Reservoirs: The Underground Opera Company

Last night I had the most incredible opportunity to attend a show by the Underground Opera Company in the Spring Hill Reservoirs. It truly was one of the best performances I have ever seen and the way it activated the heritage place was remarkable. The following blog post will be roughly divided into two sections. One on the Reservoirs, and the other on the Underground Opera Company. Weaved throughout will be my review of the evening. This will include reflections on re-purposing heritage places and why I think that process is of great value. Continue reading “Spring Hill Reservoirs: The Underground Opera Company”

Brisbane Open House: Lytton Quarantine Station

Visiting Lytton Quarantine Station has been on my ‘must-do’ list for too long. Thankfully, this weekend was Brisbane Open House, an annual event that sees select buildings open to the public. It is also a wonderful opportunity for people to engage with Brisbane’s heritage through self-guided or guided tours. It will probably come as no surprise, but I am fascinated in the history of disease. I have been researching the Spanish Flu lately so to see a place that would have quarantined those who suffered from the disease was quite remarkable. Before delving into our visit, here is some more information on the Station.

Continue reading “Brisbane Open House: Lytton Quarantine Station”