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| April 2004 |
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Sculptor carves sister-city gift World-renowned sculptor Professor Wataru Hamasaka is the artist behind a new sculpture being exhibited
at the Arts Centre, outside the Court Theatre. The Canoe in the Canoe — a 2.2 metre long stone car ving featuring a smaller granite canoe inside — was given to Christchurch by our Japanese sister-city Kurashiki to
mark the 30th anniversary of our sistercity relationship. Professor Hamasaka spent most of March at Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology working on the sculpture. An anniversary sculpture has already been gifted to Kurashiki from Christchurch. ‘Lines Extending’ was installed in Kurashiki by Christchurch artist Graham Bennett in November 2003. Professor Hamasaka says he chose the theme of canoes as a symbolic idea that Japan and New Zealand share. “When one looks at the founding of New Zealand, you find that the canoe has
great meaning.” This significance has continued from the canoes used by the early Maori settlers to New Zealand’s more recent America’s Cup success, he says. “Canoes have also been made in Japan since ancient times and appear often in Japanese myths.” The outer canoe in Professor Hamasaka’s sculpture is made from basalt sourced from Timaru. The smaller canoe is of granite found in the Tsurajima area of Kurashiki
and has already been presented as a gift to Christchurch Mayor Garry Moore . It is designed to be floated inside the larger vessel for special events or celebrations. |