Ratu

I came over when I was three and a half years old, so Christchurch is home to me. For whatever reason, Dad hadn’t sorted out our visas through my primary years. In 2013 we got to the airport heading over to Fiji; he told us we’re going for a holiday. The customs officer told us that we’d overstayed. I was 16, so it was heavy news.

Johnny

“I lost my boy in the mosque. He was 14 years old. A tough bloke, he had dreams of being a goalkeeper. It’s been a hard two years. I’ve got through it and my faith and belief and knowing where he is, knowing that there’s an afterlife, he’s there, enjoying life. I could have lost […]

Sarah – P2

“Music education is so important because it teaches you another code. It’s like another language that you’re learning and that’s amazing weightlifting for your brain. Then it also teaches you a code for how to be as a human as well! I’ve seen shy people come right out of their shell and be able to […]

Sarah Hickman – P1

“When I first started playing music as a youngster, I was very much a music-reading machine. It was a technical exercise, of knowing the code; what the symbols meant. I remember when I was about 15, we got stuck in a snowstorm, and we had to sleep in a shearing shed. One of my dad’s […]

Matt and Robbie

I just enjoy doing the band; it’s my creative outlet aye. We’ve all got day jobs so we don’t play that many gigs, so we look forward to each one. It’s really hit home how important playing music is for us; just the great thing that we have, and how really lucky we are. We are super important to one another.

Allan

They stuffed the whale. The council had the plans; it could’ve been lifted out in one piece. But they basically demolished it and just made another one the same. I don’t quite know why.

Kirstee

“I’ve always needed to do things with my hands. When it comes to creative work, if i’m not doing it i’ll be thinking about it. I had my business pre-earthquake but it looked alot different back then, and it evolved as I’ve evolved. It started when I filled my house with too many pieces. I […]

Colin

I always joke about matai starting off life looking like a pile of dead twigs, but eventually becoming a giant of the forest. I kind of identify with that.

Olivia D

“I made this dress for my school formal. Unfortunately due to Covid-19 it was cancelled. My grandma was a seamstress and we spend a lot of time making things together. The dress took me a couple of weekends to make; my first day was spent at Grandma’s, cutting everything out and over-locking everything. The gold […]

Reuben

“It’s a strange feeling I guess, like everybody in the city you still vividly remember that day 10 years ago. Everyone’s affected in some way, some more directly than others. I think for me my life would be so different without the earthquake experience. It’s hard to say that because of the tragedy that the […]