All in the name of art

MARTIN DE RUYTER/The Nelson Mail

REASON TO CELEBRATE: Golden Bay artist Chris Finlayson, right, with the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, also Chris Finlayson at the unveiling of the Aotearoa Mural on Wakefield Quay.

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In a curious twist on namesakes, Minister for Arts Culture and Heritage Chris Finlayson celebrated artist Chris Finlayson's newly restored Aotearoa mural on Nelson's waterfront yesterday.

The minister revealed to the crowd at the official unveiling on Wakefield Quay how confusion over their names had worked to his advantage.

Some years ago, he received a phone call from someone at the ministry asking him to go on the arts board of Creative New Zealand. Describing himself as "a boring, straight-laced lawyer", he then started to get invitations to arts functions.

"Then it dawned on me the reason I was appointed to the arts board was because of this guy," he said. "The rest is history and I am now Minister for Arts." The politician is a fan of Finlayson's murals, particularly at the former Il Casino restaurant in Wellington, and praised the artist.

Finlayson the artist told the crowd: "There can only be one."

He thanked the 28 volunteers who had helped him restore the landmark mural that he first painted 25 years ago on the wall of the Plant and Food Research building, which originally housed Nelson's first electricity generator. The mural project had been a council initiative and he had been asked to pick some buildings for public art.

"The location was very important when I first found it in 1983. I didn't know what it was about this location, but I was drawn to it.

"I chose this building because I knew what I painted on it would look on the edge of our artificial work on one side and the great expanse on the other."

He acknowledged former Nelson Mayor Peter Malone for allowing his work to go ahead.

"If it hadn't been for him, it would not have happened. Everybody else wanted me to paint the Wakefield ship coming into the harbour."

He said Aotearoa was his idea, which came from the heart. It brought mythology into the present land of the long, white cloud.

"Stand in front of it and unlock your thoughts," he said.

Nelson MP and Minister for the Environment Nick Smith said the mural was often photographed as a celebration of Nelson, and it was an inspiration for what it was to be a Nelsonian.

- © Fairfax NZ News