Discover and Share your First World War Stories

Discover and Share your First World War Storiesring in your Great War treasures and meet with experts from across the country who can identify them.

Visit the new Canterbury Stories exhibition and discover more about Canterbury’s part in the First World War. Tell us your family story and it could be added to the exhibition.

On Sunday 12 October 2014, a free public event will be held at the Air Force Museum of New Zealand, where members of the Canterbury community will be invited to bring along their personal stories and artefacts relating to the First World War. Staff from each of the supporting institutions will be on hand to document the material, as well as provide expertise in family history research and object identification and interpretation. People can discuss the possibility of lending their material for digitising or display with any of the participating organisations.

The stories and artefacts contributed by the public will be used to provide the content for the “Canterbury Stories” exhibition hosted by the Air Force Museum of New Zealand.

The Canterbury 100 team are searching for personal stories, photographs, diaries and papers, and artefacts from people in Canterbury relating to the First World War, to present in this regional exhibition.

Canterbury 100 is a collaborative project, co–ordinated by the region’s major cultural and heritage institutions, telling the story and experiences of Canterbury people during the First World War.

Canterbury Stories Exhibition and Event

Canterbury Stories: Remembering the First World War

The Wizard of New Zealand, and members of the McCaw and Westenra families to the Canterbury Stories exhibition at the Air Force Museum of New Zealand.

As part of the “Canterbury 100” collaborative project, a special exhibition titled “Canterbury Stories: Remembering the First World War” opened at the Air Force Museum of New Zealand on 12 September 2014.

“Canterbury Stories” will provide a Canterbury-focused insight into the First World War through the personal stories of those who experienced it – not only the soldiers and nurses on the front line but also the men, women and children who remained at home. Several well-known local celebrities have contributed their own family war stories to the exhibition, and these will be joined over time by many more personal accounts contributed by the people of Canterbury. It is intended that this exhibition will be refreshed and added to throughout the course of the First World War Centenary and will be adapted to a more localised format for touring around communities throughout the region.

“Canterbury Stories” aims to connect Cantabrians with their First World War heritage by allowing them to share their family’s wartime experiences through stories, photographs and objects. At the conclusion of the Centenary commemorations, these stories will be archived to serve as a permanent memorial.

Discover and Share your First World War Stories

Discover and Share your First World War Stories

Bring in your Great War treasures and meet with experts from across the country who can identify them.

Visit the new Canterbury Stories exhibition and discover more about Canterbury’s part in the First World War. Tell us your family story and it could be added to the exhibition.

On Sunday 12 October 2014, a free public event will be held at the Air Force Museum of New Zealand, where members of the Canterbury community will be invited to bring along their personal stories and artefacts relating to the First World War. Staff from each of the supporting institutions will be on hand to document the material, as well as provide expertise in family history research and object identification and interpretation. People can discuss the possibility of lending their material for digitising or display with any of the participating organisations.

The stories and artefacts contributed by the public will be used to provide the content for the “Canterbury Stories” exhibition hosted by the Air Force Museum of New Zealand.

The Canterbury 100 team are searching for personal stories, photographs, diaries and papers, and artefacts from people in Canterbury relating to the First World War, to present in this regional exhibition.

Canterbury 100 is a collaborative project, co–ordinated by the region’s major cultural and heritage institutions, telling the story and experiences of Canterbury people during the First World War.

The Art of the Dust Jacket

The Art of the Dust Jacket

This exhibition brings together a selection of book covers created by some of New Zealand’s most respected artists: Colin McCahon, Ralph Hotere, Don Peebles and many others.

Many New Zealand artists have worked on book covers and dust jackets. This exhibition brings together a small selection of covers created by some of New Zealand’s most respected professional artists, whose work also appears in our art collection: Colin McCahon, Ralph Hotere, Raymond McIntyre, Don Peebles, Dick Frizzell and many others. From traditional representations that suggest a book’s contents, to quirky abstract designs that provide no such clues, all the covers chosen are exercises in design, done to the exacting, miniature requirements of the book cover.

Christchurch Art Gallery, Outer Spaces exhibition opens this Friday at Central Library Peterborough.

Runs 30 May 2014 – 14 Jul 2014

Canterbury 100 – Help tell the story of Canterbury 1914-1918

Canterbury 100 is a collaborative project, co-ordinated by the region’s major cultural and heritage institutions, telling the story and experiences of Canterbury people during the First World War.

On Sunday 12 October 2014, a free community event will be held at the Air Force Museum of New Zealand, where members of the public will be invited to bring along personal stories and artefacts relating to Cantabrians during World War I; specifically in the period leading up to the Gallipoli campaign of 1915.  Staff from each of the supporting institutions will be on hand to document the material, as well as provide expertise in family history research and object identification and interpretation.  People can discuss the possibility of gifting their material with any of the participating organisations or can arrange to lend it for digitising or display.

The stories and artefacts contributed by the public will provide the content for a community-based exhibition, opening in April 2015, which will tell the story of “Canterbury’s Road to Gallipoli” (title to be confirmed).  The exhibition will then be adapted to a more localised format for touring around communities throughout Canterbury.

It is intended that this will be repeated in the period leading up to the Centenary of the Battle of Passchendaele in 2017, and again to mark the Armistice and Peace celebrations in 2018.  At the conclusion of the WWI Centenary commemorations, the stories will be archived to serve as a permanent memorial to the people of Canterbury who experienced the First World War.

Do you have a story to contribute to the Canterbury 100 project?

We are looking for personal stories, photographs, diaries and papers, and artefacts relating to Cantabrians in World War One, from soldiers and nurses on the front line to the men, women and children who remained on the “Home Front” in New Zealand.

To tell us your story, or for more information about how you can get involved, please visit the Canterbury 100 project site or contact canterbury100@airforcemuseum.co.nz

Organisations supporting Canterbury 100:

• Air Force Museum of New Zealand
• Canterbury Museum
• Christchurch City Libraries
• South Canterbury Museum
• Te Runanga O Ngai Tahu
• University of Canterbury
• New Zealand Micrographic Services

For information about other inititives around the country see ww100.govt.nz.

Never Be Afraid

Never Be Afraid: a New Zealand soldier writes to his niece about life in a prisoner of war camp
Date: Tuesday 13 October – Saturday 21 November 2009
Admission: Free

A compelling exhibition that provides a unique account of the day-to-day activities of Dudley Muff a New Zealand prisoner of war held in a German prisoner of war camp.  Dudley’s diary, written to his four year old niece, is an imaginative means to communicate his life as-it-is-lived. Through his little men, caricatures of fellow prisoner and their captors, Dudley explores the human spirit. His message to the viewer, ‘never be afraid’ is a reminder of the many ways people have endured captivity. Life in the camp is presented in a series of adventures making it possible to sense the life and death challenges inherent in the activities of Dudley’s little men.

An exhibition at  Our City O-Tautahi