Giant Pouwhenua billboards bring Festival to life

The Festival of Colour will officially open at 8.00am tomorrow (Tuesday) with the launch of the 2011 Pouwhenua project featuring five giant billboards along the Lake Wanaka waterfront.

These contemporary markers on the land have been conceived by some of New Zealand’s top artists – Michel Tuffery, Flox, Fleur Elise Noble, Lonnie Hutchinson and Simon Kaan – and portray their concept of people and place.

Cut Collective artist, Flox, has taken the theme ‘home is where the heart is’. The mural, which incorporates native birds and flowers for a strong Kiwiana feel, talks about identity and how, due to its isolation, New Zealand has a very strong take on home and what it is. “It’s really important to us as Kiwis to know where our roots are from,” said Flox. “My marker is my home town, it’s where I’m from and it’s who I am.”

Te Reo Maori is the theme of Ngai Tahu artist, Lonnie Hutchinson. “My geographic marker is language, in particular the Kai Tahu dialect,” she said. Her billboard is a play on the blue and white of directional motorway signs and features phrases such as Korero Mai Wanaka (talk to me Wanaka) and Kai te pehea Koe e hoe? (How are you my friend?).

Michel Tuffery, who has taken part in every Festival of Colour, was inspired by a trip in 2009 to Ruby Island in Lake Wanaka and the area up the lake where ancient moa bones have been found. Through his ‘tree of life’ billboard features he wants to popularise New Zealand’s native birds and flora and communicate how working with spray paint can be creative and positive. “We don’t have to mimic that tagging from overseas, we can do our own stuff and make some awesome images. The most important part of this project is having the conversations with the public and exchanging your thoughts.” Tuffery said he was also inspired by the amazing light in Wanaka. “Every colour on this billboard is blue – the blue colours when you wake up early in the morning here are awesome. I’ve been watching the colours over the last few days and wanted to create a play on them for the pouwhenua.”

Simon Kaan’s pouwhenua was also inspired by his visit to Lake Wanaka in 2009. For that pouwhenua project he smashed a vase he had bought from Wastebusters and glued it back together and in doing so the story of the vase came out as it was recognised by a member of the public. Kaan’s billboard features six artworks, all collected from Wastebusters, hanging on a ‘wall’ covered in wallpaper. “I’m really interested in what happens to an artwork when it leaves the artist, what its journey is,” he said. “People can go to the blog site which supports this artwork and tell their stories of the pictures they recognise.”

The Festival of Colour Pouwhenua billboards will remain on the lake front for the duration of the Festival which runs from 12-17 April 2011. For further information, visit www.festivalofcolour.co.nz.