"Silent People 1991 by Chris Booth is half of a single work exhibited at the Janne Land Gallery in 1991. The other half of the work is in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa collection. It was decided to share the cost of the work, splitting the work between the Wellington City Council and the Museum."

Source: Douglas, p.8

This work was purchased by the Wellington City Council for Civic Square in 1991 as part of the redevelopment project led by Athfield Architects.

The work is an installation of 5 stacks of Taranaki andesite boulders threaded onto galvanised steel rods to form columns. Ranging between 2.02 and 2.1m, the stack diameter tapers either upward or downward. The title suggests we are to interpret these stacks as 'people,' though if so they are of ethereal proportions. The installation see the stacks interspersed with Tī Kōuka (Cabbage Trees) with similarly proportioned and coloured trunks.

"Silent People" was decommissioned in 2023, and the rocks returned to Taranaki by the artist.

See also:

• Wellington City Recollect

• Virginia Douglas, ‘Public Art in the Civic Square’ (Victoria University of Wellington, c.1999). Courtesy: Wellington City Council Archives.

• Chris Booth, 'Silent People' (1991) - Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand object collection listing