Christchurch street art tour gaining popularity as artists transform empty spaces

January 22, 2018
The prestigious travel guide has named Christchurch as one of the world's street art capitals.

An array of colour is beautifying Christchurch nearly seven years after a devastating earthquake hit the city.

It's not only new construction transforming the city into a modern day hub, with artists using any empty space they can get their hands on to deliver bursts of vibrancy and creation to the rebuild.

The variety of murals is gaining popularity with locals and tourists alike and has even led to community organisation Watch This Space developing a street art tour of the city.

Dr Reuben Woods, who leads the tours, says the works around the city tie into the global culture of street art becoming a way to contribute to city building in official and unofficial ways.

"Christchurch was fractured physically and in many ways emotionally and people were striking out and making creative interventions taking place all over the city," he said.

"(Aritsts) were using empty spaces to beautify the city and it was a way to fill their time."

The first street art tours kicked off in November and December and are starting to see numbers increase.

Dr Woods said the art has been a way for many locals to connect emotionally with the city again, while it's a nice juxtaposition for tourists.

There's the story of the earthquake which makes tourists aware of the spectre but there's ongoing construction and now artists are adding murals to buildings which is adding to the city's larger and longer narrative, he said.

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