ANZAC Bridge

ANZAC BRIDGE  ( This Residency ran from 2006 to 2021. ) 

NZ Pacific Studio acknowledges the support of Trust House Masterton for their support of this initiative which we shared with Friends of ANZAC Bridge for many years. We are sorry that this opportunity is no longer running.

2020/2021: Esther Bunning - photographic artist, Greytown, NZ. This project involved photographing horses and designing banners with input from children at Mauriceville School. Due to Covid, the 2020 Service at the ANZAC Memorial Bridge at Kaiparoro was cancelled, yet Esther created a poppy-making activity, and Terry Hahn created a video of Esther's photography of horses. On Armistice Day 2020, Esther photographed the ANZAC Mounted Troopers – Les Chevaliers from Eketāhuna and Amuri Mounted Rifles Troop from the ANZAC Mounts Charitable Trust, Equine Rehab Unit, from North Canterbury – who rode in formation from Eketāhuna to the Bridge at Kaiparoro. On ANZAC Day 2021, the banners flew at the Bridge, at nearby Pukāha, and across six Wairarapa towns - an amazing regional collaboration. Later, the banners were exhibited at Aratoi Wairarapa Museum of Art and History in Masterton, and the National Army Museum at Waiouru. Media coverage was extensive -  RNZ, Wairarapa Lifestyle Magazine,  Wairarapa Times-Age, among others (Please see this page for more.) 

2019: Karen Wrigglesworth - Writer and Engineer, Whanganui, NZ. Her writing project considered why we choose to build memorials to those we love, and explored the different forms memorials can take: she delivered a moving speech at the ANZAC Day Service  - 'Memorials - Keepers of the stories we tell ourselves'.

2018: Rebecca Holden - Visual Artist, Wellington NZ. A Home Away from Home, WW1 project on the NZ women who ran the Aotea Convalescent Home for NZ soldiers in Egypt: an exhibition at Aratoi of this work.

2017: Christine Yardley - theatre and ceramics artist, Australia. For King and Country, a series of community concerts featuring local and Australian performers, and also creative activities at local schools.

2016: Philippa Werry - author, Wellington. Two Bridges, Two Countries (Kaiparoro, NZ and Brooweena, Australia). 

2015: Connah Podmore, interdisciplinary artist, Wellington. Writing to History postcard project, with an exhibition at Aratoi.

2014: Anna Borrie, Multimedia artist, Fiordland. Harakeke Cloak Remembrance Project.   

Note: Another relevant creative project is the 2012 children’s book The Eels of ANZAC Bridge, authored by Ali Foster, illustrated by Viv Walker, and published jointly by Fraser Books and Wairarapa Archive - all four parties have been involved with NZ Pacific Studio over the years.

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BACKGROUND

Friends of ANZAC Bridge (FOAB) was established in 2006, and NZ Pacific Studio was instrumental in forming the group. The group restored the ANZAC Memorial Bridge and continues to maintain it.  FOAB received the Supreme Award at the Trustpower Community Awards in the Tararua District in 2015, and NZ Pacific Studio was a Regional Winner in 2018. 

The purpose of the Residency was to maintain a rich cultural context for the annual commemorations held on ANZAC DAY at the historic ANZAC Memorial Bridge Kaiparoro, a unique landmark in the country.  Every year - from 2006 to 2021 - an artist enriched the memorial service at the bridge.  

This opportunity was made possible with a community grant from Trust House Community Enterprise, Masterton which comes with the mandate that the project engage the residents of the nearby communities.