Private Rikihana Carkeek

One of the highlights of my recent visit to Wellington, New Zealand (other than seeing my wonderful friends - Anne, Roger, and Tussock ) was the Gallipoli Exhibit at Te Papa, the National Museum of New Zealand. I was visiting Anne and Roger in Wanaka on Anzac Day and they had to explain the significance of the Memorial Day to me. So, to visit the stunning exhibit of the events of the Gallipoli expedition around the same time New Zealanders were commemorating the event held extra significance for me.


The Weta Workshop crew, headed by Wellington home boy Peter Jackson, spent over 24,000 hours creating the super life sized sculptures depicting 8 Kiwi's involved in the campaign. The juxtaposition of the giant sculptures rendered in exquisite detail (note the pores of the skin, the anatomically correct veins, the hair, the sweat beads) with the intimate details of their biography created an immersive experience that had me weeping by the time I finished. The loss of life, the suffering and agony of patriotic young men that humanity continues to exploit, over and over again, throughout our history and depicted so stunningly in this exhibit, left me inconsolable. But I will remember it all my life.


Private Rikihana Carkeek was part of the Maori contingent from Māui Pōmare’s Western Maori electorate. They landed at Anzac Cove in July 1915. He was one of only 134 Maori from the original 477 strong to actually survive the Gallipoli campaign.


If you have the opportunity to visit Te Papa while this exhibit is in place, you must go. To miss it would be a tragedy.