Hannah Shand Zealandia Exhibition

“Conservation Stories - Zealandia and Beyond”, Hannah Shand

“Conservation Stories - Zealandia and Beyond” is a fine art exhibition by Hannah Shand, which highlights the incredible conservation work being done at Zealandia and throughout New Zealand.

Each of Hannah’s artworks tells a story not only of the birds but the people and places that have enabled the species to survive and even thrive. The feature artwork of the exhibition, “Kākā Revival”, celebrates the growing population of kākā in the Wellington region and is based on a photograph Hannah took at Zealandia. The initial introduction of kākā to Zealandia was with 14 birds in 2002, and now over 1,000 kākā have been banded by their very successful breeding program. You can now see kākā around the greater Wellington region; they have even been seen down and around Parliament! Like their cousin the kea, kākā are considered to be one of the world’s most intelligent birds.

One of Hannah’s goals as an artist is to raise awareness and funds for conservation organisations, and she loves being able to combine her passion for our native birds, photography and drawing, and helping great people who are making a difference in conservation. Hannah uses reference photos taken by herself and by other bird photographers and conservationists, then painstakingly draws her large-format (usually A1 or A2) artworks in fine tip black pen, rendering every fine detail. Original and commissioned artworks are available, and many are also available as limited-edition fine art prints.

Zealandia Ecosanctuary Zealandia is a wildlife sanctuary located only a few minutes drive from Wellington City, and is home to 40 species of native birds (many endangered and found nowhere else on mainland NZ), as well as native reptiles, frogs, invertebrates, and native plants; visiting is like going back in time to pre-human NZ, and is so special that it was named one of Time magazine's World's 100 Greatest Places of 2019! As an open sanctuary covering a massive 225 hectares, the key to its success is the 8.6km of predator-proof fence surrounding it. The fence design and concept of a mainland ecosanctuary were world firsts, and so as well as being an incredible conservation success story, Zealandia is an inspiration for other mainland sanctuaries around the country (of which there are now many) to follow. It is also the reason why there is such abundant native birdlife now in not only the sanctuary, but in the capital’s green belt, suburbs and the city too! This “spillover effect” means that more people experience seeing and hearing our native birds, and they often become passionate about them. Another benefit of seeing Zealandia’s success is that it gives conservationists the courage to also dream big, as they’ve shown that anything is possible with enough time, energy, passion, and collaborative effort.

Events:

Opening Night - Wed 2nd of Dec 5.30-7.30pm

Live Drawing Event - Sat 12th of Dec 10am-2pm - Come and see Hannah drawing one of her large scale artworks. It’s the perfect opportunity to ask Hannah questions about her process, and see how she creates her artworks.

Links:

www.visitzealandia.com

@visit_zealandia

www.hannahshandart.com

@hannahshandart

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