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Overview
This chalkboard was part of a 'spontaneous memorial' project titled 'I love Christchurch because' created by Massey University Honours student Amanda Gilchrist after the devastating Canterbury earthquake of 22 February 2011.
The project involved three chalkboards set up for 30 hours during a weekend in July 2011 in Christchurch. Two boards were attached to inner city cordon fences at the Bridge of Remembrance and St Asaph Street. The third board was attached to the fence surrounding Cave Rock in Sumner, another badly affected area. This particular board was displayed in St Asaph Street.
Amanda's theory was that spontaneous public involvement in an informal environment would provide authentic emotions and give communities a voice. Anybody could write on the boards and could remain anonymous. She chose the words 'I love Chch because' she wanted positive responses to fill the boards, but knew that emotions would still surface because of the locations of the boards. She documented the responses every three hours. There were so many responses, that she needed to wipe the boards clean every time and start again.
Amanda then created a book which documented the process and all the responses over the 30 hours of display. Then she researched examples of spontaneous memorials overseas and how many of these types of memorials were present in Christchurch, and how they played a role in the grieving process and were the 'voice' of the community. She created a book of photographs of these spontaneous memorials.