Locals and visitors have a chance to find out more about Napier's Sea Walls murals, thanks to free guided walks during Seaweek 2017, to be held next month between 26 February and 5 March.
"Everyone knows something interesting about Antarctica or the Amazon River, but closer to home the natural world can be a mystery," says National Aquarium of New Zealand Educator Jake Brookie. Mr Brookie has teamed up with Napier based mural artist Cinzah Merkens to lead the walks to view the murals in Napier's CBD and Ahuriri, focusing on how they have been made and what they depict.
Napier hosted New Zealand's first Sea Walls: Murals for Oceans festival in March last year. Sea Walls events, founded by the Hawaii based non-profit PangeaSeed Foundation, are held all over the world and use contemporary art to raise awareness of ocean environmental issues.
Mr Merkens, PangeaSeed's New Zealand Coordinator, is currently involved with organising the second Sea Walls: Murals for Oceans festival in Napier, to be held between 17 and 27 March 2017. "I'm excited to work with the National Aquarium and give a little insight into this amazing body of work. Our artists had an incredible time working with the community and volunteering their time, gifting these works of art to our city.
The works beautify Napier and also convey powerful messages about the issues currently affecting our oceans," says Merkens.