Creative Junction Magazine June 16th 2017 | Page 7

The Northland construction industry is expected to get a boost should a controversial Whangarei project go ahead in the next two weeks.
The $20.9 million Hundertwasser Art Centre and Wairau Maori Art Gallery is expected to reach its fundraising deadline by June 30. Prosper Northland Trust Chairman Barry Trass says this will equate to at least 60 carpenter’s jobs.
A further 30 people will be employed full-time to keep the centre running once completed.
“It’s so much more than just employment though,” says Mr Trass. “Northland Inc have estimated that the project will bring an extra $2.7million in revenue per year from tourists visiting Whangarei and surrounding areas.”
But it’s down to the wire for the controversial project. The Trust have until June 30 to raise a further $1.25 million.
Mr Trass says he is confident the project will go ahead, but will not know for certain until the day.
“It’s definitely not a done deal,” he says. “And we’ve had to pull every last contact we have into the project. We are so grateful for every bit of help we’ve received- we couldn’t have got this far on sausage sizzles alone.”
The Hundertwasser Art Centre with Wairau Māori Art Gallery is predicted to be an iconic landmark on a grand scale and the last authentic Hundertwasser building in the world.
Like the artist’s work, the building will be multi-faceted and multi-functional with two galleries as well as a café, cinema and student resource centre.
Housed within the centre will be collections of equal significance, creating a wakahuia - a treasure box - of exemplary artworks from renowned contemporary Māori artists and Hundertwasser himself.
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and Auckland Art Gallery have agreed to loan contemporary works to the gallery for four, three-month long exhibitions every year.
It will be the world’s first gallery dedicated solely to contemporary work by internationally recognised Maori artists.
To donate visit http://www.yeswhangarei.co.nz/donate/.




Economic Benefits
It’s estimated that the Hundertwasser Art Centre will attract over 140,000 visitors a year. International consultancy Deloitte estimates the Centre will bring $3.5 million a year in net economic benefit to the Northland Region.
These conservative figures are based on government statistics of domestic and international visitors to Northland, and on the number of these visitors who will frequent art galleries and museums. Based on these estimates, the Hundertwasser Art Centre would pay for itself in 3.9 years.
Hundertwasser believed in human architecture, designed in harmony with nature – the lines and colour of his paintings are echoed throughout his buildings.
Each new Hundertwasser building has gone on to become an iconic destination for locals and tourists, revered by the cities they inhabit, visited by thousands and thousands of people.