Welcome to Auckland’s original ‘Municipal Destructor’. Everyone, like me, know it as Victoria Park Market – a super popular open air market through the 80's to 2000's – a great place to buy your crystals and tie-dies etc! I've always known that it was originally the city rubbish dump – when the city was waaaay smaller). There is more to the story, of course. It was originally created in reaction to a bubonic plague scare in Sydney. For sanitary reasons it was built to burn Auckland’s rubbish and waste while using the heat generated to provide electricity to power the city. Sounds pretty clever eh, and I guess we were plague free. However, we must have been breathing some seriously toxic smoke fumes! That 38 metre tall chimney must have helped a little but don't forget all the horse manure and night carts, they were definitely smellier times. The municipal destructor is now a gentrified place that's home to restaurants and businesses, like the superb Milenta restau...
I recently completed an article on Auckland's recent World Manu Championships for On the Spot – the magazine for graphic journalism created by Gabi Campanario. This was a fantastic opportunity to bring a quirky slice of Aotearoa culture and share it with the world through words and pictures.
Quick sketching on the spot at an event isn't that unusual for me, but this opportunity encouraged me to push a bit deeper. As well as capturing the manu action and crowds I was able to introduce myself to some of the competitors, drawing their portraits and asking a few questions. It was a long but very satisfying day sketching amongst the crowds and blazing sun and I even got to meet (and draw) one of the winners.If you haven't read On the Spot yet, head on over there and check it out. In this issue you will also find excellent articles by reportage artists from around the globe including; Eleanor Doughty, Rolf Schröter, Joey Mason, Thierry Chehab and Lis Watkins.
Comments