We needed to make Australians realise that Christchurch is a better tourist destination now than it was before the earthquakes.

Australians made up 50% of Christchurch’s tourism market before the earthquakes. Afterwards, that number dropped by half.

However, three years later, residents have rebuilt parts of Christchurch in truly inspirational ways.

To demonstrate to Australians that Christchurch is now stronger and more beautiful since the repairs began, we created ‘Christchurch Repaired with Gold’, an exhibition made from pieces that were broken in the earthquake and carefully repaired with gold.

This technique was inspired by a Japanese philosophy called Kintsukuroi; The art of repairing with gold and understanding that the piece is more beautiful for having been broken.

Each object was supported by a story about how Christchurch is rebuilding itself today, and how creativity and innovation has been injected into the city.

83% of Australians who have seen the campaign have a much better opinion of the Christchurch region as a holiday destination (vs. 71% of those who haven’t seen the campaign).

Arrival numbers from Australia are now 4.5% greater than they were pre-earthquake.

The artwork is now on permanent display at the Christchurch Museum.

We launched the campaign on Christchurch & Canterbury Tourism’s Facebook page asking people in Christchurch to donate pieces that were broken in the earthquake.

We then repaired the pieces with gold and turned each into a poster advertising the exhibition, which we placed in outdoor spaces around the city.

We sent out gold repair kit invites to key travel journalists, which included a broken piece from the Christchurch earthquake and instructions on how to repair it with gold.

The exhibition housed the pieces repaired with gold. For each piece we told the story of how it was broken, and linked it to what creative things are happening in Christchurch now.

‘Christchurch – Repaired with gold’ celebrates a city that is stronger after being broken. Each piece tells a different story of the strength and the desire to breathe new life into a city bought to its knees.