Inaugural Wanganui sculpture event puts city on international arts map

Wanganui's inaugural sculpture event ran from Saturday, 18 September to Monday, 4 October 2010.

Four unique sculptures by artists Mikel Durel (with Max Cody and Kerry McDonnell), Paul Dibble, Daniel Clifford, and Matt Pine were chosen from 12 original entries to create a temporary sculpture park on the banks of the Whanganui River.

The sculptures were sited on the riverbank between Dublin Street Bridge and Plymouth Street.

The overall winner was Balancing Act by Daniel Clifford.

The artist received a prize of $50,000 and the sculpture was permanently installed on the Whanganui River bank on Somme Parade on 22 December 2010.

The Powerco Wanganui Trust People's Choice Award winner was Kereru by Paul Dibble.

The People's Choice award was voted for by the Wanganui communtiy. The artist received $25,000 provided by the Powerco Wanganui Trust and the work will be permanently sited at a location to be decided.

The Sculptures
Click on the images to see a larger version

Overall winner
Balancing Act by Daniel Clifford

Balancing Act attempts to straddle concepts of the sublime in a traditional and contemporary sense. Traditionally the sublime was to be found in an awe inspiring sense of scale and in this manner the region of Whanganui provides a great deal of this. The contemporary version of the sublime discusses the notion of language and its structure.

This sculpture takes its inspiration from the Staedtler tradition pencils the artist used throughout his studies in fine arts and Balancing Act reflects the artists idea that Maori is traditionally an oral culture and European is traditionally a written culture.

Powerco Wanganui Trust People's Choice award winner
Kereru
by Paul Dibble

Birds have a huge significance as the predecessors of the ancient land and as symbols of the surprising beauty of New Zealand’s landscape. The return of native birds to the bush and our towns after a long absence is a celebrated event. For a sculpture sited on the banks of the Whanganui, which flows into large areas of lowland forest, the use of birds as part of the motif provides an obvious point of connection.

From mountain to the sea
by Mikel Durel Browne, Kerry McDonnell and Max Cody

This sculpture represents the awa, the source of the awa and the significance of water borne travel from the two main cultures. Overall it represents the many generations of people that lived on or near the Whanganui River.

The stone "andesite" comes from the farmland close to National Park, which is the source of the Whanganui River. The space in between the stones represents the awa, the waka or boat form forms the main shape of the stones and is void of cultural markings kept simple as a universal symbol of water travel.

From "Generations/Endangered Fauna" series
by Matt Pine

The work consists of two kiwi line profiles opposite each other on a circular grid, one upright and one upside down, the form inspired by the childhood game of hoop and stick.

The sculpture represents the kiwi in a spin with the loss of habitat and danger from predators unless it is protected. The work is part of an ongoing project to raise public awareness of the fragility of our native species.