The PangeaSeed Foundation, in partnership with the Napier City Council, and Alternative Arts Initiative are excited to announce it is bringing Sea Walls: Artists for Oceans back to Napier, Hawke’s Bay between March 19 and 26 with a fresh line up of 20 extraordinary contemporary international muralists.
Coming to Napier this weekend, 20 of the world’s top contemporary artists from the US, Brazil, Russia, Portugal, France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand will take part in Sea Walls: Artists for Oceans , a large-scale art project that address pressing ocean environmental issues.
Napier will boast 49 strong public works of art following this year’s event, which is branching out into new mediums such as sculpture and installation based work.
Says PangeaSeed Foundation’s New Zealand coordinator Cinzah Merkens, “the event was a great success last year with the creation of 29 large scale murals, raising awareness about critical ocean issues, while beautifying the town and creating a real sense of pride and ownership of public spaces by the local community and visitors.”
It will also provide the opportunity for local Hawke’s Bay up and coming mural artists to be part of the festival.
Merkens says it has a great selection of activities lined up that will appeal to families, and people interested in art and ocean conservation.
Painting for a Purpose: Sea Walls New Zealand Edition (Narration) from PangeaSeed on Vimeo .
“We’ve widened the scope of the festival this year, by partnering with some awesome US and New Zealand-based conservation organisations to encourage the community to get out and about, thinking about what is happening to our oceans, and having some fun,” he says.
Auckland-based multi-award winning charity Sustainable Coastlines will be bringing their education station, a mobile classroom constructed from a modified shipping container, to upper Emerson Street in Napier.
It is envisaged that it will become a hub for the festival with artist Erika Pearce producing a mural on the front of the container during the painting days of the festival, from March 20 to 24.
Sustainable Coastlines run solutions-based activities and education programmes, such as beach cleanups during the summer, and riparian tree plantings in winter, to enable people look after the places they love.
They will also be running a beach cleanup and art walk on the morning of Saturday, March 25, from the Education Station, while US-based nonprofit Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Programs will hold a Seaside Scavenger Hunt for children and their families during the festival.
For more, see pangeaseed.foundation/sea-walls/
