We are the river and the river is us

Whanganui Walls Street Art and Music Festival returned in 2021 with seven of NZ’s most prominent street artists transforming the town into an open-air gallery. Artists included: Milarky, Dan Mills, Swiftmantis, Flox, Mica Still, Charles & Janine Williams, Mike Marsh. 

"Every day we hear little voices. The loudness of life muffles them sometimes, but they’re still there – listen. My art is really a by-product of listening to those voices and making sense of the world around us, illustrating an ongoing narrative of a larger story. Like pages of a book set on walls across the globe. 

In this current chapter, the creatures or ‘voices’ are all lost, trying to find their way home working together to find that new place… wherever or whatever that may be. 

This piece for Whanganui Walls, was deeply inspired by Whanganui’s unique energy and history, with the well-loved verse ‘I am the river and the river is me’. The idea of us all being part of, not separate to nature, and connected through a larger entity. 

It’s my belief, that if we use our imagination, through deeper connection with the natural world, togetherness and bravery for new possibilities, we can find a future for us all. 

We are the river and the river is us." - Hayley Welsh