The Lost Men of Devonport: Devonport and the Impact of WW1

Opening in the Small Dog Gallery
Saturday 11 April 10am

The Lost Men of Devonport commemorates those men who left their homes in Devonport to fight during WW1 and who were among the 18,500 New Zealanders lost. This exhibition documents the effects on the community, as those left behind – the families, friends, work mates – experienced loss and adapted to the vast changes war made to their lives.

The Lost Men of Devonport encourages community reflection and participation through personal stories and memorabilia, including old family photos, letters, medals and other personal artefacts, which will be displayed and added to during the exhibition.

We also invite through a ‘reflections wall’, the thoughts and feelings of community members about war, reflections on those who fought in the war, the loss of families and communities, and alternatives to war.

This exhibition includes the work of Fraser Toulmin, an avid traveller and self-taught photographer and artist. On a battlefield tour of the Western Front, Belgium, a week after Armistice Day 2013, he photographed the Flanders Fields series. It features images of the New Zealand memorial at Passchendaele, Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Cemetery, and Vladslo German war cemetery.

Recorded readings by Devonport historian Dave Veart of excerpts from his grandfather’s journals, written while on active service, will be another highlight of this intensely personal, introspective exhibition – of a community looking into itself at the impact of war.

This exhibition also includes a series of drawings by local artist Penny Clark that feature the homes of the lost men of Devonport.

Image: Fraser Toulmin