ANDY MACDONALD/Stuff
The M of the Womad sign at the Northgate/State Highway 3 entrance to New Plymouth has been replaced with wood donated by a local builder after the original was stolen earlier this month.
After the letter M was stolen from New Plymouth’s Womad sign, the arts trust behind the festival has erected a deliberately shoddy replacement.
The M, which was taken earlier this month, was one of five colourful letters making up the name Womad, the World of Music, Arts and Dance Festival, which returns to the city’s Brooklands Park from March 17-19 next year.
The Taranaki Arts Festival Trust (TAFT), the organisers of Womad, removed the remaining four letters after the theft, but now they are back – with an M made of up of four lengths of 4×2 donated by a local builder.
“It’s a way of drawing attention to the fact that the M is still missing while also still being able to have the letters up,” TAFT chief executive Suzanne Porter said.
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“It would be a real shame to not have the letters up around Taranaki in the lead up to Womad – it’s one of the local signs that summer is coming, and Womad is on the horizon.”
Porter said they did not want to keep the letters in storage but also did not want to have to run around trying to find them. They would much rather have the missing M back.
For weeks the letters stood on the grass outside the Plymouth International Hotel where they were seen by thousands of drivers heading into the city each day.
It’s not the first time one of the letters have been stolen, and they’ve always turned up eventually in the past.
A replacement letter would likely cost more than $300, Porter said.
Supplied/Stuff
Murali Bhaskar, BOON’s Design Director and Erin Wesley, BOON’s Operations Coordinator are the brains behind the letters.
The letters were designed by BOON’s Murali Bhaskar 10 years ago to support Womad in Taranaki.
There are four sets, and they are traditionally placed all around the region in the run-up to the festival.
Andy Jackson/Stuff
The letters, which appear all around the region leading up to the festival, are an icon of Womad.
“It’s a playful, colourful design that people have really embraced for being able to climb on and take photos with.
“As a sign, it echoes what Womad is about, and it’s almost become part of the festival experience.”
Porter appealed to anyone who knew the whereabouts of the missing M to contact police or get in touch with TAFT, either by coming to its Brougham Street office, or by calling 06 759 8412.
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