We saw 185 Empty Chairs
…..set up in a vacant lot in the center of Christchurch.
From a distance, the chairs looked like a big, white square. In fact, it wasn’t clear to us from our vantage point that we were actually looking at chairs. But, as we approached we could see each chair begin to form and then separate…one from the next….. eventually lining up into perfectly symmetrical rows. From the distance, the chairs looked all the same. But as we got closer, we realized they really were quite different. All of the chairs were painted white. But, this is where the similarities ended. Each chair had a different style……each one representing the unique individual that was killed in the 2011 earthquake that hit Christchurch.
Around the world, there are many examples of memorials composed of empty chairs going back to the time of Dickens and Van Gogh. Most recently, there was a chair memorial set up in Bryant Park commemorating 911 and one in Oklahoma City to remember the victims of the Oklahoma bombing. There are others, too. I haven’t seen them. But, I did see this one in Christchurch a few weeks ago. It was quite moving.
I was humbled……
After spending some time among the chairs, we walked across the street to the “cardboard church”.
This church was damaged by the earthquake and was rebuilt with cardboard tubes and storage containers. It’s temporary….but, who knows for how long. I talked at length to one of the docents about the construction of the church. The cardboard idea was developed by the Japanese for use as a temporary, yet sturdy building material for use in situations just like the one faced by the people of Christchurch.
Without prompting from me, the docent talked about the consequences of the earthquake on the town. They are substantial. It takes a long time to reconstruct the buildings. But the real challenge is rebuilding the confidence of the people. They are moving out of Christchurch because they are afraid of more earthquakes, they are disturbed by the changes the earthquake created, and they are frustrated by the time it is taking to get their city back…..
……and, they are sad……..about all of the loss……….
I think the hardest part for people to accept, though, is that it could happen again……and, probably will.
The docent had a positive slant on the situation. She said, “We just keep going on. That’s what we do.”
I guess that’s about all they can do.
We saw lots of evidence of the earthquake in the buildings in the town. There was a lot of devastation.
There was also a lot of construction going on all around, which made it difficult for us, as tourists, to negotiate our way….even with a map. But, negotiate we did so that we could see everything.
We enjoyed the city.
The Botanical Garden that we walked through from our accommodation to the central business district was beautiful.
And, we enjoyed the main square where the town was preparing for the Chinese lantern festival.
The section with the Spanish architecture that we spent a fair amount of time trying to find was really cute and filled with lots of little shops and restaurants.
And, the views of the city from the top of the Gondola were spectacular.
Christchurch is a great city filled with beautiful sights. But, the best story is the people who remain in the city to rebuild. They are taking each day as it comes…..slowly moving forward…….one foot in front of the other in order to rebuild their city and their lives. It’s a story of tenacity and hope.
It won’t be long before things are back to normal.
At least I hope not.
Travel With Betsy 
Leave a comment