Sculpture Symposium

This weekend we made a trip up to Bastion Point in Orakei to take a look at the sculpture symposium the whole neighbourhood is chatting about. I decided to put up a post about this event because I can’t find any mention of it online. It doesn’t seem to have any advertising outside of word of mouth.

Bastion Point is part of the Michael Joseph Savage Memorial Park atop Tamaki Drive. It is possible to drive up to the top of the hill or you can enjoy a walk along the water and Mission Bay and take a steep staircase up to the top. My kids managed to ride their bikes both up and down the steep hill which was a surprise. I expected everyone to be walking about half way up.

The sculpture symposium consists of about 25 New Zealand sculptures from all over the country working in open air tents. They’re creating works of art out of different metal, wood, and stone materials. There’s also a central tent where kids are learning how to sculpt. We spent some time talking to one teenager who had never picked up a chisel before last weekend, but he had already created a lovely nautilus out of limestone that he was nice enough to let the kids touch and hold. The professional artists were fascinating to watch. Some were using power tools and hooked up to fancy respirators while others worked by hand. (Side note - they had some masks on hand in case all of the little particles floating about start to bother visitors, but I’m sure they would appreciate if you brought your own.)

Next weekend - on the 28th of March - all of the sculptures will be auctioned off at 4 pm. I’ve heard that some of the proceeds will go to the coastguard. There are small pieces and huge creations to admire and possibly bid on. It’s a very worthwhile experience that can take as long or as short a time as you want.

The interesting photos are courtesy of my five year old. Enjoy :) The lovely squid photo is courtesy of Jasmine Soa.