Over the next few months a team of leading street artists is transforming drab concrete and brick into a colourful collection of murals.
The South Dunedin Street Art group has contracted artists Flox, Koryu, Aiden Geraghty, Hemi Hosking, Guy Howard-Smith and Ana Teofilo to transform blank walls and industrial sites in South Dunedin over the summer.
Co-ordinator Rachel Elder said Waka Kotahi, KiwiRail and local businesses had agreed to have street art murals on their walls, including the TAB car park on Hillside Rd and the Glasgow St car park, with more in the planning stages.
The pillars on the King Edward St motorway overbridge were the first to be transformed by international street artistKoryu.
"KiwiRail have sponsored Koryu to do the street art for them, for which we are extremely grateful," Ms Elder said.
Koryu, from Japan, said the two pillars were his interpretation of a pair of lion-like creatures, one with its mouth open, one with its mouth closed, that were often placed at the entrance of houses or villages as guardians, because many people would enter South Dunedin via King Edward St.
It could also represent the wings of an albatross, because of the Royal Albatross breeding colony in Dunedin.
A second mural on the rail embankment depicted a lion combined with a train which emerges from the water, representing Chinese lion dances that were performed to help usher in a good harvest, as well as acknowledging the influence of rail in the area.
It also referenced the early history of South Dunedin when Chinese settlers worked to turn marshy swamp land into market gardens.
Ms Elder said the Dunedin Street Art Group had been working on the project for the past 18 months, and had received grants totalling about $140,000 from Creative New Zealand, KiwiRail and Otago Community Trust to help complete the works.
It had also received sponsorship from Resene Paints, Mitre 10, and Waka Kotahi.
The group believed the murals would be symbolic of resurgence and recreation happening in South Dunedin.
"The pillars will be like a gateway of creativity and culture."
The vision of the South Dunedin Street Art group was to invest in high quality street art to enrich the lives of those who live in greater South Dunedin, and to celebrate the diverse communities living in the area.
The street artists involved in the project represent Mana Whenua, Pasifika and Asian influences in the community as well as New Zealand European.
"Street art is democratic art in the sense that everyone in the community can enjoy it," Ms Elder said.
"And it is a kind of performance — people can see it as it is being made by the artists.
"We also know that good street art has the capacity to lift the spirits of people and create a sense of identity and pride in a community — which in turn lifts the attractiveness of that community."
The greater South Dunedin area had great potential and it was good to see a renewed sense of positivity through the development of the South Dunedin library and hub, KiwiRail’s Hillside Workshops, playground upgrades and growing retail space in King Edward St.
"South Dunedin is getting investment to lift it up, and this is something that needs to continue.
"We are just getting started with our street art project, but we have big plans and are getting offered more walls around the area — it’s very exciting.
"Over the next few months, South Dunedin will start to look quite different."
The South Dunedin Street Art Group said it was keen to hear from businesses and individuals with walls and/or sponsorship to offer, and would welcome a volunteer with administration and treasurer skills.
For more information on the project, and to make contact, visit facebook.com/SouthDStreetArtTrail
