Avonside Drive by Hannah Kidd for SCAPE 8

Hannah Kidd, Tanya Brown, Avonside Drive series, 2015. Commissioned by SCAPE Public Art. Image courtesy of the artist and Milford Galleries Dunedin. Photo by Bridgit Anderson.

Avonside Drive was a series of figure sculptures by Hannah Kidd designed for SCAPE 8: New Intimacies, comprised of four characters: Mrs Parsons, Tanya Brown, Timothy Stableman and Noel Peterson. Each was an individual of Hannah’s creation; everyday heroes based on people Hannah witnessed in the Methven and Christchurch communities offering gestures of kindness, supporting others, or maintaining familiar routines following the Canterbury earthquakes.

The figures were installed in Re:START Mall, which was a symbol of Christchurch’s regeneration and a key meeting point in the central city. Re:START Mall was run by the Restart The Heart Trust, and was set up following the quakes to provide retail and hospitality services and the opportunity for Christchurch residents and businesses to come back into the central city. The figures of Avonside Drive represented a Christchurch community that was gathering strength and renewing its identity. The sculptures’ plinths – repurposed drainage sumps common to the rebuild – were the right height for sitting on; viewers were invited to linger with the figures, and to celebrate those in their own communities who keep on keeping on.