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Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of members of the Wellington Emergency Management Office Emergency Response Team examining the path between two houses in Christchurch. The path is covered in rubble from the collapsed house to the right. A dog is walking through the rubble.

Research papers, Lincoln University

Creativity that is driven by a need for physical or economic survival, which disasters are likely to inspire, raises the question of whether such creativity fits with conventional theories and perspectives of creativity. In this paper we use the opportunity afforded by the 2010-2013 Christchurch, New Zealand earthquakes to follow and assess the creative practices and responses of a number of groups and individuals. We use in-depth interviews to tease out motivations and read these against a range of theoretical propositions about creativity. In particular, we focus on the construct of “elite panic” and the degree to which this appeared to be evident in the Christchurch earthquakes context. Bureaucratic attempts to control or limit creativity were present but they did not produce a completely blanket dampening effect. Certain individuals and groups seemed to be pre-equipped to navigate or ignore potential blocks to creativity. We argue, using Geir Kaufmann’s novelty-creativity matrix and aspects of Teresa Amabile’s and Michael G. Pratt’s revised componential theory of creativity that a special form of disaster creativity does exist.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Close up of the cranes working on the Clarendon Tower. Big Red behind is now the crane in Christchurch capable of lifting the largest load. The yellow crane is a tower crane which is still being assembled".