Te Papa has announced it will extend the exhibition ‘Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War’ until April 2032.
The popular exhibit at the Wellington museum features realistic-looking sculptures—each 2.4 times life-size— depicting seven New Zealand servicemen and a nurse frozen in moments of time during the Gallipoli campaign in World War I.
It originally opened on 18 April 2015, and was expected to run for four years, it has been extended twice before. With this latest extension ‘Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War’ will have been on show for 17 years by the time it closes in 2032.
There have been more than 4.8 million visits to the exhibition since opening.
In July, the exhibition will close for nearly two months to allow for maintenance and upgrades to extend the life of the exhibition. A brand-new guided tour experience will launch to coincide with the re-opening and extension of the exhibition.
“The success of ‘Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War’ has been more than we could ever have imagined and we want to offer that experience for as long as we possibly can,” says Te Papa Tumu Whakarae | Chief Executive Courtney Johnston.
“The exhibition was always intended to show the harsh realities and highlight the human cost of war.”
“It fosters empathy and we can see how our visitors connect the human experience of Gallipoli to the conflicts being fought today,” said Ms Johnston.
Te Papa Kaihautū | Māori Co-Leader Dr Arapata Hakiwai says the visitor response is profound.
“Many of our visitors come in family groups, and some come back time and time again to remember and honour their tīpuna,” says Te Papa Kaihautū | Māori Co-Leader Dr Arapata Hakiwai.
“We host people from all over the world in the exhibition, and it resonates deeply wherever they are from,” Dr Hakiwai says.
Wētā Workshop co-founder Sir Richard Taylor was intimately involved in every aspect of the exhibition’s inception and creation, describing it as one of the most seminal moments in his career.
“We wanted to share a deep respect to the memories of the men and women who served and sacrificed so much – on a scale that they deserved,” says Richard Taylor.
“We are incredibly thankful knowing that the exhibition is being extended, so that future visitors to Te Papa will continue to gain a deeper understanding of this critical moment in New Zealand’s history, and so that young kiwis who served in this campaign are never forgotten,” Richard Taylor says.
