Award-winning Ellerslie duo to exhibit at Singapore

5 March 2012

Award-winning Ellerslie duo to exhibit at Singapore

Multi-award winning Ellerslie International Flower Show exhibitors Danny Kamo and his mate All Black Andy Ellis are off to Singapore to exhibit at the Singapore Garden Festival.

The duo, who won gold and the Supreme Award for Design Excellence in 2010 with their The Last Laugh, a serious statement about the impact humans are having on the environment and the planet’s natural resources, say they are excited about the opportunity to design their first international garden.

“Singapore Garden Festival is recognised as one of the top garden shows in the world and for us to be representing New Zealand at the event in July is a tremendous honour,” Danny says.

Their garden design is based on the Māori legend of Rūaumoko, the Māori god of earthquakes. He is the youngest child of Rangi (Sky Father) and Papatūānuku (Earth Mother) who lies with his mother underground and causes the earth to shake when he moves.

The garden will be in the Fantasy Category, Danny and Andy having brought on board Sir Richard Taylor and the talented Weta Workshop team to help create the underworld in which Rūaumoko lives.

Danny says the exhibit is quite different to their other two award-winning gardens at Ellerslie. “The exhibit will stand 4.5 metres high and is being engineered to shake as Rūaumoko moves.

“The work being done by Weta workshops is mind-blowing. While the garden has an earthquake-theme based on Maori mythology, it also focuses on the rebuild of Christchurch, offering hope as the land and city is rejuvenated.”

Danny Kamo, of Kamo Marsh Landscape Architects, and Andy Ellis designed their first exhibition garden – The Crate Escape – at the first Ellerslie International Flower Show in 2009. They won silver and a merit in the National Lighting Award.

The duo returned in 2010 to win gold and the Supreme Award for Design Excellence.

While they are not exhibiting at Ellerslie this year, rather focusing their efforts on the Singapore garden, the pair say they hope to be back in 2013 as it is through their involvement with the Ellerslie International Flower Show that saw them selected to represent New Zealand at Singapore.

“We’re hoping to win gold at Singapore and to be able to bring the garden back to Ellerslie for all New Zealand to see.”

Ellerslie International Flower Show, North Hagley Park, 7 to 11 March 2012. For more information www.ellerslieflowershow.co.nz

ENDS

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