A photo of Julia Holden standing next to her Big Egg artwork, 'A Shell of Her Former Self', in Cathedral Square. The egg is part of the Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt.
A photograph of Julia Holden's egg artwork, 'A Shell of Her Former Self', in progress at her temporary studio in Sumner. The egg is to be part of the Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt.
A photograph of Julia Holden's egg artwork, 'A Shell of Her Former Self', at her temporary studio in Sumner. The egg is to be part of the Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt.
A photo of Julia Holden standing next to her Big Egg artwork, 'A Shell of Her Former Self', in Cathedral Square. The egg is part of the Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt.
A photograph of Julia Holden's egg artwork, 'A Shell of Her Former Self', at her temporary studio in Sumner. The egg is to be part of the Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt.
A photograph of Julia Holden's egg artwork, 'A Shell of Her Former Self', in progress at her temporary studio in Sumner. The egg is to be part of the Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt.
A photograph of Julia Holden's egg artwork, 'A Shell of Her Former Self', at her temporary studio in Sumner. The egg is to be part of the Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt.
A photograph of Julia Holden's egg artwork, 'A Shell of Her Former Self', at her temporary studio in Sumner. The egg is to be part of the Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt.
A photograph of Julia Holden's egg artwork, 'A Shell of Her Former Self', in progress at her temporary studio in Sumner. The egg is to be part of the Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt.
A photograph of Julia Holden's egg artwork, 'A Shell of Her Former Self', in progress at her temporary studio in Sumner. The egg is to be part of the Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt.
A photograph of Julia Holden's egg artwork with the first outline layer of paint, situated at her temporary studio in Sumner. The egg is to be part of the Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt.
A photograph of Julia Holden's egg artwork, 'A Shell of Her Former Self', in progress at her temporary studio in Sumner. The egg is to be part of the Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt.
A photograph of Julia Holden's egg artwork, 'A Shell of Her Former Self', in progress at her temporary studio in Sumner. The egg is to be part of the Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt.
A photograph of Julia Holden's egg artwork, 'A Shell of Her Former Self', in progress at her temporary studio in Sumner. The egg is to be part of the Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt.
A photograph of Julia Holden's egg artwork, 'A Shell of Her Former Self', in progress at her temporary studio in Sumner. The egg is to be part of the Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt.
A photograph of Julia Holden's egg artwork with the first layers of paint, situated at her temporary studio in Sumner. The egg is to be part of the Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt.
A photograph of Julia Holden's egg artwork with the first layers of paint, situated at her temporary studio in Sumner. The egg is to be part of the Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt.
A photograph of Julia Holden's egg artwork, 'A Shell of Her Former Self', in progress at her temporary studio in Sumner. The egg is to be part of the Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt.
A photograph of Julia Holden's egg artwork, 'A Shell of Her Former Self', at her temporary studio in Sumner. The egg is to be part of the Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt.
A photograph of Julia Holden's egg artwork, 'A Shell of Her Former Self', at her temporary studio in Sumner. The egg is to be part of the Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt.
A photograph of Julia Holden's egg artwork, 'A Shell of Her Former Self', at her temporary studio in Sumner. The egg is to be part of the Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt.
A photograph of Julia Holden's egg artwork, 'A Shell of Her Former Self', in progress at her temporary studio in Sumner. The egg is to be part of the Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt.
A photo of a friend of Julia Holden's standing with Holden's Big Egg artwork, 'A Shell of Her Former Self', in Cathedral Square. The egg is part of the Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt.
A photo of a friend of Julia Holden's standing with Holden's Big Egg artwork, 'A Shell of Her Former Self', in Cathedral Square. The egg is part of the Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt.
A photo of a friend of Julia Holden's standing with Holden's Big Egg artwork, 'A Shell of Her Former Self', in Cathedral Square. The egg is part of the Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt.
A photograph of Julia Holden's Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt artwork on display at the Auckland Museum. The artwork was on display during a black tie auction where it was auctioned to raise money for the Starship Foundation.
A photograph of painted artworks from the Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt on display at the Auckland Museum. The eggs were on display during a black tie auction where they were sold to raise money for the Starship Foundation.
A photograph of painted artworks from the Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt on display at the Auckland Museum. The eggs were on display during a black tie auction where they were sold to raise money for the Starship Foundation.
INTRODUCTION: There is little research on the role of creative arts and craft in disaster recovery. This article reports findings about the emergent role of crafting from research conducted after the 2010–2011 series of earthquakes in Christchurch and surrounding districts in Aotearoa New Zealand. In particular, the article focuses on the significance and differing interpretations of the notion of place expressed by participants through their craftwork, in this case led by women and mediated by the post-earthquake geographic and temporal context. METHOD: This qualitative research included nine individual interviews and five focus group interviews with crafters from Christchurch and surrounding districts. There were 35 participants in total, 33 were women. Applied thematic analysis was used to code the data and identify themes. These themes included connection to place, the symbolism of craft, the healing experience of craft groups and places for women. The notion of place was evident across all three themes. FINDINGS: The findings from the research demonstrate differing ways in which the significance of place was reflected in the craftwork. Participants interpreted the concept of place in descriptive, symbolic, and therapeutic ways. IMPLICATIONS: More understanding about the way creative endeavours like crafting can be used to help ameliorate the impact of natural disasters is needed. Social work practitioners are encouraged to explore place-based wellbeing during their work with service users and to include aspects of artistry, craft and creativity.