Battle exhibition re-opens

The walk-through exhibition of the Battle of Gate Pa is returning to the city due to 'very supportive and encouraging” visitors' feedback.

The exhibition, launched in May, proved popular with locals, which has encouraged Battle of Gate Pa Trust to re-open the display at Tauranga Moana Hall today. It's expected to run until April, 2015.


Tamati Tata and Terry Molloy at the blessing of the exhibition earlier this week. Photo Bruce Barnard.

The exhibition showcases artefacts of the battle fought on April 29, 1864, which had its 150-year commemoration on April 26 this year.

Trust chairman Terry Molloy says about 11,000 people went through the exhibition at Greerton Hall from May 3 to June 2, ending with the visitor comments book filled with positive feedback.

Terry says: 'One thousand comments were made in the comments book and all of them were very, very supportive and encouraging us to find a home for it and keep it going.”

'We've found the exhibition has stimulated an interest and a thirst for more knowledge in our early history in Tauranga and we need to fill that interest and thirst as best as we possibly can.”

Terry says the aim of the exhibition is to educate the community of its history and that's why the Trust is looking for a permanent home for the exhibition to continue to tell the stories of Tauranga.

He says one of the options is the warehouses opposite The Cargo Shed on Dive Crescent.

'There's so many people who don't really know of our history and they don't know the impacts that that history had on the people of Tauranga at that time,” adds Terry.

'Some of those impacts have been quite dramatic and they affect our relationships right through to today.

'The more people who know and understand the facts of our history, the more we're able to relate to one another more comfortably.”

The exhibition is at Tauranga Moana Hall at No.3 The Strand from December 19. It will open 10am to 4pm on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, and also on cruise ship days.

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1 comment

Overit

Posted on 19-12-2014 15:57 | By overit

Cool because I missed it before.


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