G is for Gallipoli: exhibition at Te Papa Museum, Wellington

Metal cutout on the Wellington Foreshore, sets the scene for our morning at Te Papa Museum

Gallipoli.

I knew nothing about Gallipoli, not even where it happened, this savage First World War campaign against the Turks in 1915 and certainly, I knew nothing about its impact on New Zealand, the scale of their losses, 93% of their soldiers died or were wounded!

After experiencing the exhibition 'Gallipoli: The Scale of Our war', at Te Papa Museum, I will never forget.

I was so moved, so frustrated by the futility of war, so overcome with horror by what these young men went through, that I have felt tearful all day.

The outstanding exhibition is a multimedia creative masterpiece and showcases the talent of New Zealand and particularly that of the Weta Workshop here in Wellington.

Actual videos, 3-D photos, black and white photos, sketches, notebooks, journals, voice overs from veterans all put together in an authentic way, with amazing attention to detail, that makes the story behind the 8 months of this campaign, from the landing at Anzac Cove, to the final retreat after the last stand at the mountain top of Chaunuk Bair, so vivid and tactile, so understandable, that I felt it at a visceral level.

The 2.5 scale models from Gallipoli, remarkable, reflecting the horror of war.

From Weta Workshop website:

Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War is an exhibition created to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the ANZAC troops' landing at Gallipoli in 1915.

Based around real stories by real people entangled in the conflict, each represented as a larger-than-life hyper-realistic sculpture, the Designers Institute has honoured the exhibition with a Gold Award for Spatial Design in its recent Best Awards.

A flat white and lunch at Ti Kouka Cafe in downtown Wellington, taking in and 'recovering' from the Gallipoli Exhibition.