skip to main content

I want to...

Current filter:

Rubbish & Recycling Rubbish & Recycling

Large light sculptures to pop up in Hastings city

Shrooms 1 Small

Hastings City centre will light up in the lead up to Christmas this year, with two temporary, spectacular, large-scale interactive light art installations helping bring Hastings alive.

Switching on in Civic Square from November 28, the same night as the lighting of the Christmas tree in the city centre mall, is Shrooms by Amigo & Amigo - an interactive lighting and design studio that explores the combination of light and sculpture in public spaces.

The Shrooms are large inflatable mushrooms – five of them of various size, shape and colour. They tick all the boxes for interactive installations: very bright, very big, up to six metres tall and very mesmerising.

In many cultures mushrooms are symbols of good luck, and these stunning displays encourage social interaction and bring colour to the urban environment.

Amigo & Amigo designer-in-chief Simone Chua says: “We love hijacking public spaces, embedding them with colour, nature and play.”

With bold, contrasting colours these not only illuminate at night, they are also a colourful spectacle during the day.

Following the last free outdoor movie night on November 29, the second installation, UV Spaghetti, will appear in Albert Square on November 30.

A tactile and immersive artwork by Auckland-based light artist Angus Muir, this is a playful, luminous jungle comprising 2000 metres of glow-in-the-dark ropes, described as a wild and wonderful playground suspended from the sky.

This immersive, interactive display has previously brought delight to light festivals throughout New Zealand.

spaghetti SmallBoth installations are brought to Hastings by local artist Anthony Van Dorsten of Vesica Aotearoa, and they will add to the other festive activities happening in the city centre in the lead up to Christmas, including the night markets, lighting of the Christmas tree, and Santa's grotto.

The Hastings library and City Art Gallery will also be making the most of the Shrooms while they are in place.

The library will be holding its “story time” under the installation, while the gallery will have a number of art programmes running alongside it.

Daily kids’ art activities will be set up outside from 3pm to 4.30pm every week day from November 28 to Saturday, December 12, and on the weekend (November 30, December 1, 7 and 8) from 10am to 2pm.

Hastings mayor Sandra Hazlehurst says the council is committed to investing in the city centre to increase its vibrancy and create the kind of environment that people want to do business and socialise in.

“These lighting installations are just the kind of thing that draws people into the city, and brings them together to experience something new and exciting.

“While you are enjoying the other Christmas activities that are starting in the next couple of weeks, we encourage you to take time to explore the city centre a bit more and visit these artworks while you are there.”

The installations will be in place until December 13.

22 November 2019

Back to City Centre Revitalisation

Hastings District Council - Copyright © 2024 Hastings District Council

Disclaimers and Copyright
While every endeavour has been taken by the Hastings District Council to ensure that the information on this website is accurate and up to date, Hastings District Council shall not be liable for any loss suffered through the use, directly or indirectly, of information on this website. Information contained has been assembled in good faith. Some of the information available in this site is from the New Zealand Public domain and supplied by relevant government agencies. Hastings District Council cannot accept any liability for its accuracy or content. Portions of the information and material on this site, including data, pages, documents, online graphics and images are protected by copyright, unless specifically notified to the contrary. Externally sourced information or material is copyright to the respective provider.

© Hastings District Council - / +64 6 871 5000 / customerservice@hdc.govt.nz