Our landscape in textiles

[b]Cascading down the wall to the floor, this artwork entices visitors to Te Ara Ātea get amongst our landscape.[/b] Take a moment to lie upon the tufted fields and gaze skyward to see your own reflection.  Acknowledge the kaitiakitanga of this region. A work of art which lyrically depicts the heartbeat of the Selwyn District, from the Alps to the ocean. The work is a collaboration between Workshop e and Dilana with the former designing the stylised version of our renowned landscape and the textile design company painstakingly rendering the final product. Towering in the background are the Southern Alps Ka Tiritiri-o-te-Moana, a mountain range formed when Raki, the sky father married Papatuanuku, the earth mother and his children came down to greet their father’s new wife. The Waimakariri River makes its sinuous but determined course through the agricultural fields to the sea. The undulating green fields showcase our agricultural legacy and include a smattering of neat circles and squares. You have to imagine the wildlife gathered on the shores of Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere, and Kaitorete Spit before you wade into the Pacific Ocean.