Bovine art pieces moovin' to urban pastures

By KATHERINE HOBY

Calling all moovers and shakers.

The CowParade 2003 - a novel public art event where the cow is the canvas - has its official launch tomorrow.

The event aims to bring art to the streets while raising money for charity.

"By bringing art to the streets in a fun and unique way we hope to get people who might not have been interested in art before to take a look," Liz Smith, marketing manager for Heart of the City, said.

The event was launched in Zurich in 1998 to attract tourists. It is the world's largest public art event and lets local artists go wild with their ideas for a cow theme.

The life-sized, fibreglass cows - some of which are sponsored by businesses - are painted by New Zealand artists and will be placed in herds around Auckland City.

Auckland's cows come in three stances: lazing, grazing and gazing.

The cows - Buzzy Beef, Pohutucowa and friends - will be grazing urban pastures and be seen at the best events around town right up until April.

At the conclusion of the exhibition, many of the bovine art pieces will be auctioned with proceeds going to charity.

Members of the public are invited to attend the public opening of CowParade 2003 at Market Square, Viaduct Harbour at 2.30pm tomorrow.

The "Team Moo Zealand" cow will be launched at 3pm.