FLARE festival brings street art back to central Christchurch

Seven large murals are taking shape on buildings across the central city as part of a new 10-day festival under way in Christchurch this week.

The inaugural FLARE Street Art Festival aims to enhance the city's reputation as a global street art capital. Seven Kiwi artists are creating the giant artworks.

Christchurch became a epicentre for street art after the 2011 earthquake, with Lonely Planet ranking it alongside the likes of New York, Barcelona, and London.

But as new buildings popped up, the city lost many of its artworks.

FLARE project manager Selina Faimalo said while it hopes to reclaim Christchurch’s title as a world street art destination, the event is focused on driving visitors into the central city to help businesses.

The artists have the creative freedom to paint what ever they like.

Faimalo said convincing business owners to agree to have a large mural on their building was a challenge, particularly when they didn't know what it might look like once finished.

Christchurch graffiti-artist Ikarus is one of the creative talents taking part.

He believes Christchurch still has one of the strongest street art scenes in the Southern Hemisphere, despite losing some art works over the last decade. 

Ikarus is promoting his more traditional style of graffiti-art in the festival.

The mural creations are going up this week, with the FLARE Street Art Festival running until Saturday.

- By Geoff Sloan
- Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air