Libraries  |  30 Sep 2024

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Celebrate Christchurch’s connection to Antarctica with interactive activities, speakers and films.

Days of Ice will be underway at Christchurch City Libraries from 8 – 13 October, with the series home base in Tūranga.

Watch a documentary on two talented carvers and their whakairo (carving) at Te Whakairo - Ngā Kī O Te Tai Ao and a second on a whale-shaped mountain in the Southern Ocean, hear the story of three young explorers skiing across Antarctica to the South Pole at Polheim on the Big Screen and explore New Zealand’s first 100% Antarctic Film Festival.

Immerse yourself in a VR adventure, experiencing the extreme environment around Scott Base, and look back at the heroic age of Antarctic exploration through the lens of a wet plate camera.

Get in on the penguin action and learn how to find penguin colonies on Google Earth, explore a new educational resource for Ocean Literacy with Pōhatu penguins Immersive and bring your tamariki to enjoy some fun penguin stories and colouring in.

Take a guided walk to connect with our city’s Antarctic heritage and provide an inside into programme’s operating out of our Gateway City, and explore Lyttleton by foot on a kid-friendly, Antarctic themed window hunt.

Join us at the Christchurch Transitional Cathedral to bid all those travelling to Antarctica this season a safe and successful journey, and attend a traditional Antarctic wreath-laying ceremony at Captain Scott’s Memorial.

Hear from Colonel Ford, Deputy Commander of the U.S. Military's Joint Task Force - Support Forces Antarctica and Commander of the 13th Air Expeditionary Group, learn about the world’s first indigenous-led Antarctic research programme, and listen to research professor Mr. Hongqiao Hu as he shares his personal experiences from four China Antarctic Research Expedition missions.

Explore the fascinating world of Antarctica’s icy architecture with researcher Jessica MacFarquhar and join senior lecturer and Honorary Antarctic Arts Fellow, Patrick Shepherd to learn what writers. Musicians and artists discover in Antarctica’s cold vastness.

Plus, celebrate our city’s connection to Antarctica with interactive activities at the expo-style event, Explore Antarctica.

Most events take place at Christchurch’s central library, Tūranga, please note some events have a cost. View the full list of events on the What’s On website and the full programme on the Christchurch City Libraries website.

Images: Supplied