English: They had just finished their work and were having a few shots taken of them.

What I found on my walk around the city 18 January 2014 Christchurch New Zealand.

A corner of Christchurch is turning into a battleground where artists armed with spray paint congregate every Saturday. Over seven weeks, eight people will go head to head in live graffiti art battles as part of Style Walls - a new event organised by some of the city's most prominent street artists.

Sponsored by the Christchurch City Council, and part of the Art Beat Project, the event is inspired by similar competitions run internationally. Style Walls organiser Emma Wilson said the focus was on finding and developing new talent.

"Overseas, big name artists compete but here in Christchurch we don't have as many established artists and we thought it would be a great opportunity for the young and emerging."

"Christchurch is the centre for street art at the moment so there is no better place for this to be happening."

In the competition each artist is given a panel measuring 2.4m x 2.4m, five cans of spray paint and three hours to create a masterpiece. The winner proceeds to the next round until only one person is left.

Style Walls will take place every Saturday on the corner of High and Hereford streets between midday and 3pm, with the grand final taking place on February 15. All work from the competition will be shown at a yet to be finalised location from February 22. Organisers are hoping to use the funds raised by the exhibition to run Style Walls as an annual event.