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.
