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Overview
This chair was made by Christchurch company Rekindle from wood salvaged from the Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church which was converted into a private residence after the devastating Canterbury earthquake of 22 February 2011.
Prior to the earthquake, the Mount Pleasant Church had a small congregation. The building was badly damaged in the earthquake but was deemed to be repairable. However in the months that followed, many people made the decision to move away permanently from the suburb (many people lost their homes in the steep hill areas), and in some cases away from Christchurch. It soon became evident that the parish would be unsustainable, both numerically and financially. The damaged building was subsequently sold and eventually converted into a private residence.
Remaining parishioners went to the nearby Uniting Parish at Red Cliffs instead. That building also needed extensive repairs. The Mt Pleasant parishioners were able to rescue and incorporate their communion table, swing doors and a stained glass window into the refurbished Redcliffs church building.
Rekindle
The timber used to make this chair came from rimu sarking which had been used under the eaves and the gable ends. It was probably acquired during the rebuilding of the church into a private residence. Juliet Arnott of Rekindle came across a pile of free wood on the land labelled as firewood. Rekindle turned this wood into furniture. Such a direct provenance is not always possible with salvaged wood.
Rekindle was founded by Juliet Arnott as a social enterprise to create opportunities for people to make purposeful objects from waste material. She and others were concerned by the huge waste of mainly native timbers coming from the residential demolition process in Canterbury. Much of the wood was rimu, originating in New Zealand forests.