Hop to it

If you were out and about in Southampton or Winchester over the summer, you may have spotted one of 32 giant ornamental hares.

One of these beautifully-decorated hares has an important link to the University, in particular, the Southampton Business School – and it is hoped the legacy of the hare and what it represents will be felt for years to come.

“When the Business School was presented with the opportunity to engage with the Hampshire Hares public art event we jumped at the chance,” explained Gillian Saieva, Director of Executive Education in the Business School. “As a way to engage with the local community and join a consortium of leading local businesses, this event encapsulated exactly what we as a Business School want to do, which is serve businesses and people in the community around us.”

Hares of Hampshire was an interactive art event created by The Murray Parish Trust and Wild In Art. For 10 weeks in July and August 2022, Winchester’s and Southampton’s streets, parks and public spaces were home to an exhibition of giant hare sculptures. Each was individually designed and created, showcasing the wealth of artistic talent the county has to offer – while positively contributing to the economic, cultural, and social life of the area.

“Our hare, ‘Look Up and Within’ with the Celtic name of Eowyn, was a collaboration between the Business School and John Hansard Gallery to showcase our contribution to environmental and sustainability impact,” explained Gillian. “The hare design has its very own triple helix of hares on its chest, representing resilience, adaptation, and originality within the hare species. The artist’s design comes from a strong environmental focus, depicting oak tree leaves and acorns to signify wisdom, trailing ivy for agility and young hares looking up into a clear and unpolluted night sky.

“All of us in the Business School felt the design was the perfect fit with the University Strategy, especially with the trio of hares providing alignment with the triple helix of research, education, and knowledge exchange and enterprise.”

Hares of Hampshire brought together businesses and organisations in Southampton and Winchester, from the presenting partners of Norwegian Cruises and Ahmad Tea to sponsors such as Go!Southampton and Williams Shipping.

“Two key aims of the Business School are to serve the businesses in the community around us and to teach and promote sustainability education for businesses,” added Gillian. “Our participation in this event put us squarely at the heart of the local business community, indicating our accessibility to that community, and building connections for our students to leverage a career in a Southampton-based business.

“The legacy of the hare is set to live on as we progress our work with sustainability reporting for small to medium sized businesses in the region and establish our Global Reporting Initiative Training Centre within the School. As a business-facing school, not only staff and students but industry partners who visit will benefit from the significance the hare brings in terms of our contribution to sustainability.”

A total of £183,000 was raised for The Murray Parish Trust by auctioning the hares after the trail. Trust Founder Sarah Parish said: “Partnering with the University of Southampton’s Business School was a wonderful experience. Their positivity and willingness to engage with the charity was infectious and a perfect example of how charity and business can happily sit side by side. I sincerely hope we will partner up again on future projects.”

Find out more: haresofhampshire.co.uk

‘LOOK UP AND WITHIN’, BY ABIGAIL WICKING ART

The Celtic Triple hare represents adaptability to change, both in nature and individually. The hares are entwined, representing nature’s cycle and showing that everything is connected. They are different colours, representing the Arctic and the desert hare, and symbolising diversity.

The hare also shows global warming, with the white Arctic melting into dirt and turning to ash.

The hare is gazing up at a clear sky with no pollution and lots of stars to symbolise hope, and the intertwined oak and ivy represent old strength and wisdom with flexibility and new directions.