The Hodgman Liberal Government is committed to supporting the arts, and also to commemorating the wartime experiences of Tasmanians.
Opening today, a new exhibition in the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) marks the Centenary of Anzac.
The Suspense is Awful: Tasmania and the Great War draws from the museum’s collections to highlight previously untold stories, including those of Tasmanian Aboriginal servicemen and of the men and women who provided medical support on the frontline.
The exhibition’s title comes from a letter by a desperate Hobart father to authorities seeking news of the fate of his son on the beaches of Gallipoli. “The suspense is awful,” he wrote.
The Suspense is Awful is not only focussed on what happened on the battlefields, it also tells the story of the wait so many Tasmanians endured back home during the long years of war.
The exhibition includes several interactive elements, including The Islanders, which tells the story of Tasmanian Aboriginal servicemen who joined up to serve at a time when they were denied many rights at home.
It also features a reconstruction of a typical Tasmanian home from the era where families would have waited for news, and an audio roll-call of the names of all the Tasmanians who lost their lives in the conflict.
Members of the public are invited to contribute their own images of the many memorials that sprung up around the State in the aftermath of the war as part of an evolving photographic display.
The exhibition will be open from today through to 28 February next year, and will also feature its own website at http://ww1exhibition.tmag.tas.gov.au
Admission to TMAG is free, and it is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 10am-4pm.