“Your humanity is more powerful than any act of nature.” – John Key

On 4 September a year will have passed since the first large earthquake rocked Canterbury and the nation. To mark this event and the significant effect it has had on New Zealanders’ lives we would like to invite you to contribute photos and films to OurSpace that reflect the resilience, innovation and kindness of Cantabrians in the wake of this disaster. We will profile the photos in the OurSpace site in Te Papa from 2 – 9 September.

Since the September 2010 and February 2011 earthquakes in the Canterbury region there has been an immense amount of heartbreak, stress, frustration and anger residents try to rebuild their lives in a city that is physically, systemically and emotionally broken.  However, the earthquake has also brought out the extraordinary in many.

Extraordinary strength – remember Ahsei ‘Ace’ Sopoaga, the ‘awesome Maori guy’ who was really Samoan, who tossed concrete slabs aside ‘like Lego’ to rescue two strangers?

Extraordinary inventiveness and creativity, from  longdrops to Gap Filler, a creative  urban regeneration initiative, to the transformation of Christchurch into a giant skate park.

And thousands of selfless acts of kindness.

We would love you to share your experiences of the good times and moments of inspiration within the hard times with Te Papa, the nation and our visitors through OurSpace. In the meantime, I will leave you with an inspirational short film by James Muir called Love in a Little Town. Its speaks of everything we are after as we mark the anniversary of the September 4 Canterbury Quake:

‘When everything is stripped back by disaster it reveals what is at the heart of a resilient neighbourhood… Its the love, time and energy of its people… This film tells a little of the healing power of arts and the connected nature of the community in Lyttelton’.