The Curatorium selected for the SCAPE Biennial 04 focuses on the influence of the Asia Pacific Region on the cultural evolution of Aotearoa New Zealand by selecting sites of cultural significance within Christchurch City and works of equally significant cultural impact and narrative. A variety of experiences and emotions are juxtaposed against different timescales and periods, with notions of historical and contemporary reference being played out.

Image: Hany Armanious from Work it:: (detail)

The Curatorium selected for the SCAPE Biennial 04 focuses on the influence of the Asia Pacific Region on the cultural evolution of Aotearoa New Zealand by selecting sites of cultural significance within Christchurch City and works of equally significant cultural impact and narrative. A variety of experiences and emotions are juxtaposed against different timescales and periods, with notions of historical and contemporary reference being played out.

Image: Hany Armanious from Work it:: (detail)

The programmes in this year's SCAPE Biennial 04 consists of major public artworks - both permanent and ephemeral; site-specific artworks and exhibitions; numerous residency and gallery/art organisation partnerships and public programmes; and four major ephemeral site-specific/exhibitions. The projects are largely led by local and national artists but also include work from leading international artists.

For further information please see the different programmes areas:

Echo :: A reflection of sound - an effect that continues after the original cause has disappeared - what resounds or reverberates - a suggestion or trace, an evocation of memory - repetition, imitation, reproduction, recollection, reiteration - retelling stories.

Echo is sited at Riccarton House & Bush Putaringamotu, installed in the House and magnificent surrounding garden. The title Echo derives from the local Maori name for the area Putaringamotu, 'the place of an Echo', and acknowledges the site's significance within Ngai Tahu history as one of the first Maori settlements in the South Island.

HOME/GROUND :: Surrounded by the ocean, Aotearoa New Zealand is increasingly a nation where people and cultures intersect at the 'crossroads' of Asia, Pacific and the West. In keeping with the SCAPE Biennial 04's Asia-Pacific focus, HOME/GROUNDexplores the fusions that occur within this complex and changing region, bringing together work by seven artists from New Zealand and Australia whose work is linked by an interest in the dynamic, sometimes problematic intersections that occur between cultures.

The installations are located in the southern bays, print room and centre south gallery of the Robert McDougall Art Gallery at the Canterbury Museum. Against this gracious backdrop of neoclassical splendor, the works consider the political implications of multiculturalism from a deliberately personal perspective, using familiar and domestic objects to allude to individual observations and experiences. The works collectively, wittily and provocatively express the resilience of culture, encouraging viewers to consider cultural collision from a range of new perspectives.

LightSCAPE :: LightSCAPE explores urban narratives by illuminating important natural and built features of Christchurch along the intersection of the Avon River (from the former Provincial Council Buildings to the Bridge of Remembrance) and Worcester Boulevard (from the Canterbury Museum to Christchurch Cathedral).

In plan, the junction appears as a cross. The two intersecting areas are named RiverSCAPE and StreetSCAPE. Lighting along RiverSCAPE and StreetSCAPE will be adjusted to illuminate a way-finding device between the different artwork sites. The numerous sites associated with the river and street will be subject for site-specific 'lightworks' by artists, with related events linking the works conceptually and spatially.

Work it. :: is a series of artworks installed in unexpected but public sites around Christchurch City, from unassuming alleyways to abandoned warehouses it weaves itself into the social and architectural fabric of the city. Work it. will take the form of a series of films and videos installed in a single site with further works located around the central city. The contributing artists represent an eclectic mix of nationalities, artistic perspectives and physical mediums. Coming across artworks in spaces logically devoted to other activities will provide a stunning impact which will be truly memorable for the public.