Tuesday 4 December 2018

Pics of the closing ceremony of the Chunuk Bair diorama

Here are some photos of the ceremony to close The Great War Exhibition, including the Chunuk Bair diorama, which took place last Sunday (2 December 2018).

Our Armchair General, Rhys Jones, tells the gathered guests the story of the project.

The final group ever heads up the passage of coloured photographs towards the diorama.

Māori kaumatua (elder) led the group around the exhibition  'putting it to sleep'. 

A final glimpse of the Chunuk Bair diorama.

Sunday 2 December 2018

The Chunuk Bair diorama closes today


At 6.00 p.m. today, Sunday 2 August 2018, The Great War Exhibition, including the Chunuk Bair diorama, will close its doors for the last time.

The Great War Exhibition was designed in 2015 as a temporary exhibition, to be open for the duration of the First World War centenary, and to close some time after the November 11th Armistice Day ceremony in 2018. Today marks the final day.

Our Armchair General, Rhys Jones, will be attending the formal closing ceremony this evening, where he'll talk to the invited guests about the creation of the exhibition, including the diorama.

"The good news is that there is plenty of interest in parts of the exhibition, including the diorama, being moved to another location," says Rhys. "We remain positive that the diorama will again be on display in the near future."

The Great War Exhibition has been a real success, being the second-highest rated attraction in Wellington on TripAdvisor, after Te Papa. "We had also been offered to be put in Lonely Planet," says Rhys, "but had to turn that down as we were closing."

Rhys says that the exhibition has been an impressive tribute to the soldiers of The Great War, and the Chunuk Bair diorama was a key part of that success.

"A (semi) final thank you to everyone who contributed to the creation of the diorama - be it painting and/or constructing the terrain. What an amazing effort to do all that in less than three months!"

There's more information about the closure of The Great War Exhibition here and here