Uploaded June 2017 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
More videos at chchdilemmas.co.nz
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It was a “ground-up” response to a city’s most devastating day and was only meant to be temporary. But such was the response to Pete Majendie’s creation that 5 years on 185 White Chairs remains a must-see for visitors to Christchurch, and locals.
According to TripAdvisor, 185 White Chairs is Christchurch’s top landmark attraction and 4th ranked in New Zealand.
Artist, Majendie, doesn’t care for such accolades. He likes that his work touches people in different ways, and that “in a sense it transcends the earthquake, though it’s rooted in the earthquake.”
An infant car seat was given by a couple who lost their baby to cot death.
“People can bring their own story and sit with it," says Majendie.
Some chairs have been gifted by families who lost loved ones on February 22, but there has also been criticism from others who claim the installation is inappropriate. A bid to install 185 White Chairs on the CTV site was rejected.
In response, Majendie says it’s not a memorial, it’s art, and “the empty chair is depicting the absence of the person, it's not as if this chair is the person.”
He adds “everybody experiences at some stage there is now an empty chair at their table.”
Majendie has collected stacks of visitor books left at the site, overflowing with comments.
He wants to see the installation find a permanent site and his preference is Latimer Square. This week he will present to the City Council his plans which include aluminium-cast chairs arranged on a sloping, concrete plinth.
Majendie says “I've talked about the city needing a soul or a spirit or a heart. I think those are the things that make a city what a city is.”
More videos at chchdilemmas.co.nz
--
It was a “ground-up” response to a city’s most devastating day and was only meant to be temporary. But such was the response to Pete Majendie’s creation that 5 years on 185 White Chairs remains a must-see for visitors to Christchurch, and locals.
According to TripAdvisor, 185 White Chairs is Christchurch’s top landmark attraction and 4th ranked in New Zealand.
Artist, Majendie, doesn’t care for such accolades. He likes that his work touches people in different ways, and that “in a sense it transcends the earthquake, though it’s rooted in the earthquake.”
An infant car seat was given by a couple who lost their baby to cot death.
“People can bring their own story and sit with it," says Majendie.
Some chairs have been gifted by families who lost loved ones on February 22, but there has also been criticism from others who claim the installation is inappropriate. A bid to install 185 White Chairs on the CTV site was rejected.
In response, Majendie says it’s not a memorial, it’s art, and “the empty chair is depicting the absence of the person, it's not as if this chair is the person.”
He adds “everybody experiences at some stage there is now an empty chair at their table.”
Majendie has collected stacks of visitor books left at the site, overflowing with comments.
He wants to see the installation find a permanent site and his preference is Latimer Square. This week he will present to the City Council his plans which include aluminium-cast chairs arranged on a sloping, concrete plinth.
Majendie says “I've talked about the city needing a soul or a spirit or a heart. I think those are the things that make a city what a city is.”
