Selling Us Short

I would strongly support the Hundertwasser Gallery if it was built from a genuinely original design by Hundertwasser and watched over by him during its construction (this view is also shared by many of my colleagues in the Arts) . It would then be a very special building and well worth the expense and effort because it would be amazingly good and pay for itself in many ways - by enriching our culture and its cost offset by ticket paying visitors. Alas, after Hundertwasser's death this cannot happen and the proposed building, in my opinion, is a well intentioned pale imitation that will fail - artistically and financially.

If it is going to be built by the new Whangarei District Council, then shifting the site to a gallery site recommended in the 20/20 planning proposals, commissioned by the WDC some time ago, would be a better decision in my view - i.e. further up the riverside as a stand alone structure in a park setting. This would enhance Hundertwasser's work in an a more aesthetic and ecological setting that is more in keeping with his ideas and works. We could then walk around and over it. It would also provide the opportunity to raise the structure and put a car park underneath (like Te Papa in Wellington). This would protect the gallery from flooding, which is a very real hazard in the Town Basin area. The extra revenue from parking fees would help pay for it too. 

Caught In The Act?

Larry Mitchell is campaigning to expose the creative accounting that Councils are using to hide the real extent of their debt. Apparently Councils are using their reserve and contingency funds as sources for internal borrowing and not openly declaring it with the total debt each year. Debt is debt and if what Larry says is true then it is time Councils came clean with with the real figures instead of funding projects and fudging the book-keeping to pay for them.

Democracy WDC Style

Mayor Cutforth has made some very odd comments about his council's refusal to provide Whangarei rate payers a chance to vote on the proposed Hundertwasser Art Museum. He seems to think he is in touch with the "Silent Majority" and this justifies his actions. The last time I heard that memorable phrase tumbling out the mouth of a public figure was in one of President Nixon's speeches. Not a good role model I would have thought because Nixon was later forced to to resign.

WDC Votes For Hundertwasser Art Museum

At a public meeting I attended, I heard WDC deputy mayor Phil Halse make a commitment to those assembled that the Council will not go ahead with the Hundertwasser Art Museum if they cannot find the additional funds above the $8 million the Council intends to borrow. This apparently, will be around $5 - 6 million and it will be interesting to see if the WDC begins the project, despite this commitment, under the guise of strengthening the old Regional Council building to meet new government requirements since the Christchurch earthquakes. Councilor Kahu Sutherland would no doubt like the project to keep going once this work begins and if Whangarei citizens remain silent, that is a very likely outcome in my opinion. Click on the cartoon to enlarge it.