KIWI MOVE

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The contrast between the furry, khaki-coloured skin and the vibrant, soft shades of green within a kiwi fruit is striking. The tiny black seeds are arranged in a beautiful formation inside the fruit.

The soft green of a kiwi is, for me, associated with the young leaves of vegetation. The green is calming but I found it challenging to recreate, even with modern paints and stable pigments.

The kiwi originated in central China, in the valley of Yang Tsé Kiang, and is sometimes called a Chinese gooseberry. 

It arrived in New Zealand in 1904 and became popular with British and US servicemen based there during World War II. But it was renamed ‘kiwi’ by New Zealand growers in 1962 because its fuzzy appearance was similar to the kiwi bird. This word was then used to market and export the produce worldwide.

In 2020, global production of kiwi fruit was four million tonnes, with China producing more than half of the total consumed worldwide.