World Art Utopia

Olive

A giant mural of a black cat with green eyes and her paws over a painted ledge, covering the side of a building in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Artwork FileChristchurch · New Zealand

Olive

Reported in 2023

SWIFTMANTIS · Christchurch · New Zealand · 2022

Image from Street Art Utopia; artwork by SWIFTMANTIS.

SWIFTMANTIS painted Olive, a black rescue cat, on a Christchurch wall for the 2022 FLARE Street Art Festival. His project page says she was waiting at the Cats Protection League of Canterbury and later adds that she was adopted. swiftmantis.com Reported

💡 4 things to know

  1. A real rescue catThe artist says Olive was living at the Cats Protection League when her portrait was selected for the mural. swiftmantis.com Reported
  2. Painted for FLAREThe work was made during Christchurch’s 2022 FLARE Street Art Festival. blog.watchthisspace.org.nz Reported
  3. Adoption was the pointLocal coverage records that the mural raised awareness of Olive and that she was adopted. aa.co.nz Reported
  4. Photographic referenceThe artist credits Furtography New Zealand for the reference image used to paint Olive. swiftmantis.com Reported

📍 Documented location

255 Saint Asaph Street (artist-listed address), Christchurch, New Zealand swiftmantis.com Reported

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🗓️ Sightings

  1. 202214 Mar

    Street Art Cities record created; photograph date unspecified

  2. 202220 Apr

    FLARE organisers reported that Olive had been adopted

  3. 2023

    AA Directions featured Olive in its Winter 2023 issue

Each stamp links to its evidence. Green stamps are dated photographs; amber stamps are records or reports. Publication dates are not necessarily photograph dates.

✅ The facts

Artist
SWIFTMANTIS swiftmantis.com Checked
Festival
FLARE Street Art Festival blog.watchthisspace.org.nz Checked
Address
Artist: 255 Saint Asaph Street; Street Art Cities: 5/177 High Street swiftmantis.com streetartcities.com Conflicting
Subject
Olive, a Cats Protection League rescue cat swiftmantis.com Checked
Outcome
Olive was adopted after the mural appeared aa.co.nz Reported
Dated evidence
Reported in 2023 aa.co.nz Checked

🔗 Related

All sources (4)

The artist, local coverage and Street Art Cities provide three evidence sources. AA’s tour report draws on Watch This Space, so those two publications are grouped together in the source count.

Artwork File · Last checked 23 October 2026 · Certainty labels follow How We Verify Art · All Artwork Files