Colossal Exhibiton
These colossal sculptures took a staggering 24,000 hours to create, and countless hours to research.
by Anna Addoms
While visiting Wellington, NZ last month, I wandered into Te Papa Tongarewa (The Museum of New Zealand). It showcases the history of New Zealand from the Maori culture to the immigration of European civilization. One of the headlining exhibits during my visit was “Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War”.
It showcased the experience of the massive number of New Zealanders who shipped out to Gallipoli during World War I. The museum partnered with Weta Workshops to bring these first-hand experiences to life.
The ground-breaking exhibition tells the story through the eyes and words of eight extraordinary New Zealanders who found themselves in extraordinary circumstances. Each is captured frozen in a moment of time on a monumental scale – 2.4 times human size.
My reaction to seeing these larger-than-life replicas was how real and life-like they each looked. You could see the sweat glistening on their bodies and the blood looked like it was still running. The overall experience made me feel like I had been transported to that moment in time, experiencing what each of these people experienced.
Information about the museum and the exhibit can be found here.
A close up look at the exhibition.
(Source: Major Text and Photos by Anna Addoms, additional Photos courtesy Te Papa Tongarewa. Anna Addoms is ARTS & FOOD Associate Travel, Food & Music editor.)
