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Art Deco reborn

Dominique Schwartz reported this story on Sunday, March 10, 2013 07:19:00

ELIZABETH JACKSON: New Zealanders have recently marked the second anniversary of the deadly Christchurch earthquake which killed 285 people.

After two years of demolition, the rebuild is about to get underway.

The dream is to create a city like no other - a modern landmark.

A pipe dream? Not necessarily.

New Zealand has done it once before. In the 1930s: Napier, a city which prides itself on being the Art Deco capital of the world, was created.

Here's our New Zealand correspondent Dominique Schwartz.

(An old carnival record plays)

DOMINQUE SCHWARTZ: It's the annual Art Deco weekend in Napier and Bentleys, boas and boater hats are out in force.

CLARE RHINEHART: We come to dress up and enjoy the weekend.

It's so unique.

PAT RHINEHART: We spend most of the year planning a new outfit.

BARBARA ARNOTT: It's huge, not just for Napier, but for the whole of Hawkes Bay.

Our accommodation is booked out, usually a year ahead, throughout the whole of Hawkes Bay.

DOMINIQUE SCHWARTZ: Barbara Arnott is the mayor of Napier, a town of 60,000 people on the east coast of the North Island.

BARBARA ARNOTT: There's more than 400 events, 250 bona fide antique vintage cars that come, at least 20,000 people who come into the city.

DOMINIQUE SCHWARTZ: And how much money does it generate for the economy?

BARBARA ARNOTT: $15 million just this weekend. But the weekend is the tip of the iceberg.

We have Art Deco 365 days a year. And for Napier, it is our point of difference.

DOMINIQUE SCHWARTZ: Napier's triumph rose from the ashes of tragedy.

KATE PRICE: Here we have a sunburst. That was another iconic sort of feature of Art Deco. Sunburst, new life, sunshine, you name it, it's supposed to be a positive kind of symbol.

DOMINIQUE SCHWARTZ: On the morning of February the 3rd 1931, Hawkes Bay was shaken by a 7.8 magnitude quake.

It was, in relative terms, more devastating than the Christchurch disaster two years ago. Two-hundred-and-sixty-one people were killed out of a population of just 30,000.

Many of those who died were killed by the fires which consumed the city after the quake.

KATE PRICE: Unfortunately during the day, a fire broke out in a chemist shop just perhaps two streets away down there. And a fire, blown by an onshore wind, raged through the town and so what didn't fall down in the earthquake was burnt out because they were mostly wooden buildings.

DOMINIQUE SCHWARTZ: It was swift and decisive action by the government of the day which Mayor Arnott says paved the way for Napier's bright future.

A point which should not be lost, she says, on those overseeing the rebirth of Christchurch.

BARBARA ARNOTT: The government of the time did absolutely the right thing.

They said to the city council, stand aside. They themselves said "we're the funders", and they put in two commissioners, one an engineer and one who was a governor, and they made the decisions.

So within two years, Napier was built again in this Art Deco style.

And really, this is a weekend which is a not so serious weekend, so it's full of fun, but the kernel of commemoration of the earthquake is always there, and we always the remember the faith and courage of those people in 1931 who rebuilt the city.

("Sway" performed by big band)

DOMINIQUE SCHWARTZ: This year, Napier pulled out all stops, celebrating its 25th annual Art Deco weekend.

There were big bands, vintage airshows and car parades, the fine-dining Gatsby picnic, and meal-in-a-mug Depression dinners.

And my favourite:

ANNOUNCER: The last heat of the open coming up now.

DOMINIQUE SCHWARTZ: Street racing by kids in leather flying caps and goggles, in home-made contraptions that didn't always last the distance.

TROLLEY RACER: My cousin went first, and he got a flat tyre so we couldn't have any more races.

At the start he wobbled a little bit, and we parked it over there, then a bang went and then a bang went again, and then the tyre popped.

BROTHER OF RACER: Yeah well, the pit crew obviously weren't organised.

That's big-time racing.


('Charleston' played by big band)

DOMINIQUE SCHWARTZ: I learnt a lot about life in the 20s and 30s.

MELITA, DANCE TEACHER: So today what we're going to be doing is a little bit of 1920s Charleston.

DOMINIQUE SCHWARTZ: But the Charleston is harder than it looks.

MELITA: Let's add some arms, too, because what you do with your arms in Charleston is just as important as what you do with your feet.

DOMINIQUE SCHWARTZ: The tassles on a flapper dress are considered quite sexy, until they're mistakenly tucked into your undies, and that gloves don't work on smart phones.

And I was reminded that no matter how old you are, playing dress-ups is a lot of fun.

In Napier, New Zealand, this is Dominique Schwartz for Correspondents Report.

ELIZABETH JACKSON: I think that might be the second undie malfunction that Dom Schwartz has experienced. I'm not sure, but I have my suspicions.


  • Click an image to enlarge
  • The ABC's very own flapper, Dominique Schwartz
  • Vintage cars parade through Napier, NZ
  • A very Deco high tea in Napier, NZ
  • And they're off - Napier, NZ Art Deco Festival
  • One of Napier's Divine Art Deco buildings
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