In February 2011, Christchurch was struck by an earthquake
that registered a 6.3 on the Richter scale. Centered just 10 kilometers outside
the city center, the earthquake and its aftershocks left the city badly damaged,
with 185 dead. At the time, Christchurch was the second most populous city in
New Zealand.
Visiting Win’s family friend in 2016, it was amazing to see
the CBD (Kiwi for central business district) still full of empty lots. Patched
here and there with intense construction, efforts to save historic buildings,
and invisible bureaucratic red tape, the city is still in partial disarray five years
later. Outside the city center, many suburbs were completely red-zoned, with
vast acres that were once filled with cookie-cutter subdivisions being gradually reclaimed by flora and fauna.
And in the midst of it all, endless examples of the triumph
of the human spirit and the artistic response to tragedy are on display. From
the transitionary church (known as the Cardboard Church) to the pop-up shipping
container mall to the sprawling street art, Christchurch has equal parts
physical and emotion construction underway.
