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Call To Nature a soothing success

Culture

Hannah Powell
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Calling nature proved popular for Flourish Kia Puāwai.  Hannah Powell

Twelve telephones took up residence for two weeks along the Avon-Ōtakaro and Heathcote-Ōpāwa River. The message was 'tell the river your worries and let them float away'.

A spinoff from the River of Flowers project, Call to Nature continues to help people heal by the water.

Each year, a small charity has organised and collaborated on the River of Flowers earthquake commemoration along the city waterways. 

Using the same sites for the phones, twelve of them were set up along the Avon-Ōtākaro and Heathcote-Ōpāwaho rivers by Flourish Kia Puāwai to offer relief from feelings of grief, sadness, and stress. 

"We realised that people in the city are struggling with a lot of things at the moment, and mental health issues are quite big," co-director Mark Gibson said.

"We thought the phones were a creative way of encouraging people to get things off their chest and say the things they need to say in a non-threatening and accessible way."

And what better way than to call in nature, an environment that's at the core of Flourish and the work they do. 

The idea behind the art installation was inspired by a story post-tsunami in Japan. A man who lost his cousin to the event would talk on an unplugged telephone to process his grief. Through the receiver, the man was able to say the things he wished he had said. His neighborhood got on board with the phone, too.

Flourish picked up the idea to take it to a community level.

"Why not here in Christchurch?" Gibson said.

 

call to nature

 

Bright and cheery in pink, red, and blue, the phones were easy to spot amongst the Autumn foliage. The feedback on the two-week project has been hugely positive.

"Universally people think that it's a pretty cool idea. We've had very little skepticism,” Gibson said. 

Although a few phones have gone missing or been tampered with, Gibson said it was expected. Those that went rogue were replaced quickly. 

One touching story they received was from a resident who picked up a phone near where a friend of his had lived. In the wake of his friend’s death, the resident had a few things to get off his chest.

“He went and sat with the phone, [and] he said all sorts of things to his friend and felt a lot better for it,” Gibson said.

The resident wanted to thank Flourish for putting the phone there.

Gibson has dealt with his own grief through the project, too. The phone placed by the estuary he has picked up to talk to his mother, who died three months ago.

“A lot of her growing up happened in Redcliffs, so when I’m there by the estuary it helps me feel close," he said.

Although the phones were collected on Friday 6 May, the team at Flourish will be discussing the next steps.

Gibson said the sites Flourish used were connected to memories both universal and personal. Reactivating the sites with a slightly different focus, they continue to be places that are important to those communities affected by the earthquakes and beyond.

At the end of the day, Call to Nature has served a purpose.

“It’s encouraged people to verbalise what they’re holding inside themselves,” he said.

And that, Gibson said, is a big success.