The Flare Street Art Festival is underway in Christchurch and the walls of the city are being transformed into works of art.
For street artist, Koryu, it’s an opportunity to work on a wall that’s a larger canvas than he’s used to.
“It’s 8 metres, and it’s really going to be challenging to me because it’s so big, even the scaffolding frame is massive.”
Originally a graphic designer in Japan, Koryu studied street art in Melbourne, and moved to Aotearoa in 2020.
He’s impressed with both the quality and quantity of the art on display in Christchurch.
“I’ve been to a lot of big cities, and also really got to know the street art culture in Melbourne, but Christchurch really has its own style – the works here are on a massive scale and very high quality – and I really like the open-ness of them – the fact that the city itself seems to really value murals and street art.”
For his project in Flare, he’s designed a mural depicting two Japanese Gods.
“My wall has two God guardians from Japan. They’re like a talisman, they protect the people. Christchurch has had a lot of natural disasters, like we have in Japan, and so I just wanted to bring some protection for the city, as well as do something different.”
Koryu will be working on his mural at 158 High Street until 12 March when the Flare Street Art Festival comes to an end.
Check out the festival here.
Follow Koryu on Insta: @koryu88
Facebook: Koryu Official (Koryu88)