[CPProt.net] New Zealand: Art thefts may force council rethink

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

Art thefts may force council rethink
   
  
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Pania stolen from the reef
Ripples over Paul Dibbles sculpture
 
Oct 28, 2005 

Councils may have to review their policies regarding the display of public
assets following two recent thefts of public art.

Napier's iconic Pania of the Reef statue was stolen on Thursday and early
this month a Paul Dibble sculpture was stolen from a restaurant in Kapiti.

The vice-president of Local Government New Zealand, Kerry Prendergast, says
councils do all they can to conserve and protect public assets but tighter
security may be needed in some cases.

The mayor of Wellington says councils need to find a reasonable balance
between ensuring the safety of public art while making sure the cost of
doing so is not excessive. But Prendergast says she hopes it does not get to
the stage where public art is surrounded by ring fencing and closed circuit
television cameras.

Meanwhile, Napier's Labour MP is backing away from his call for a ransom to
be raised for the return of Pania of the Reef.

Council maintenance contractors noticed Pania was missing from its concrete
base on Thursday. The 60 kilogram statue has stood on the Napier waterfront
for 51 years.

Russell Fairbrother had been calling for the raising of a ransom, but now
says he meant a reward.

"I think a reward is far preferable to a ransom, we don't want the offenders
to profit from this at all, they must be caught, they must be punished and
Pania must be restored to her proper place," says Fairbrother.

Police say they have had several calls since the disappearance of the bronze
statue was made public.

They suspect the disappearance is a copycat theft following the theft of the
Dibble sculpture which was returned after a ransom was paid.

Police say whoever stole Pania used a bar to break the bolts attaching her
to a concrete block and then the statue was dragged away. There are fears
the statue has been damaged.

Napier City Council says the theft is astonishing given the city has far
more expensive artworks on public display.

"It's been suggested that it might be a copycat of a similar theft to one
that happened down the Kapiti Coast recently, it's been suggested it might
be some form of protest and it's been suggested also that it might be a
sheer act of wilful vandalism," says Napier City Council spokesman Tony
Billings.

Police investigating the theft are looking into a reports of a Subaru car
seen cruising along Marine Parade early on Thursday morning.

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