Two moments in time have been merged together in a photography project highlighting the consequences of war.
Recovering the Past will be showcased from this weekend at the Hinkler Hall of Aviation in the Lex Rowland Gallery and promises to be an educational and thought-provoking event for its viewers.
Touring producer Trudie Leigo said the project, by London-based artist Ian Alderman, combined artistic inspiration garnered from the work of Australian artists Frank Hurley and Will Longstaff.
“Ian has worked on this project for six years and it is fantastic to be able to now bring it to Australia,” Ms Leigo said.
“The exhibition was born when Ian started looking through archives of the Flanders region in France and came across original photos of Australian diggers.
“He merged these images with his own photographs of the bomb disposal operations of DOVO-SEDEE.”
Ms Leigo said the exhibition brought together two separate groups of people with origins a century apart, united through the conflict of the Third Battle of Ypres in Belgium during World War I.
“100 years after the war there are still explosives being dug up from the ground in Flanders,” she said.
“Farmers are having what they call an iron harvest- still digging up these bombs. People are finding them in their backyards and on road sides.
“I think for Australians, that is a fact we are often very removed from. We don't realise the physical consequence that is still happening long after the war has ended.”
Ms Leigo said Recovering the Past was a thought-provoking exhibition.
“Ian wanted to do a project that spread the message of how lethal the consequences of war are,” she said.
“The exhibition doesn't just look at the physical consequences, it also looks at the psychological consequences incorporated in the text that is accompanied with the photographs.
“There are personal anecdotes from wives, mothers, nurses, soldiers and everyone who was impacted by how confronting the war actually was.”
Event details
Ms Leigo said the free exhibition would be an educational experience for all who attended, especially school students.
“There is a great education pack available for schools who can do self-guided tours of this amazing exhibition,” she said.
The opening of Recovering the Past will be held tonight and showcased at the Hinkler Hall of Aviation from tomorrow until April 28.
The exhibition in the Lex Rowland Gallery is free for the public to attend.
The Hinkler Hall of Aviation is open from 9am to 3pm, seven days a week.
