One of the notable characteristics of the CBD in Christchurch that I realised from my walking around the city was the amount of street art on the walls of the earthquake damaged buildings. I was also  surprised about how  good work the street art  was.  An example:

This eagle mural  (by DALeast?)  is one of the many murals that I saw around the CBD whilst I strolled around.  The quality of the work Christchurch suggested that  international artists as well as  New Zealand’s street artists.  Is that the result of street art festivals since the 2011 earthquake?

I presume that after the earthquake  the damaged city had a lot of unused walls, strange structural configurations, newly exposed surfaces. Whole facades of buildings had peeled revealing the levels within. None of it could be salvaged, nothing used. Concerns of ownership and appearance evaporated and major murals  starting to take up whole walls.

These images were bright and colourful, or artful, or poignant, or funny, a point of variation or emotional connection in the middle of a landscape that was dominated by ruination and rubble and various shades of grey.  

This image  of Teresa Oman which is  combined with a Silver Fern motif  is by Rone from  Everfresh in Melbourne,  was made for the 2015 Rise street art festival. 

Adelaide could do with some street art of this quality.