100 years on: the end of the war?

It's over.

Bells rang, we gathered all over the nation to remember the eleventh hour of the eleventh day one hundred years ago. The tributes were very moving indeed.

And finally, our six-part project with the Great War Exhibition has come to an end. Our last show closes on December 2nd.  

We called the last episode "The End of the War?" - with a question-mark because, as the world and our nation has shown over the last week, the War never really ended.

We interviewed the descendants of four soldiers (survived, died, maimed), a Māori noblewoman patriot who struggled with sending Māori boys to fight a Pakeha war, a female ambulance driver (one of the boys!), a nurse who had to nurse German wounded and a  famous conscientious objector who was brutalised.

Ashley MacKenzie-White, Great-Grand-Niece of William Arthur Ham, speaks 100 years after his death during WW1

We told their stories in their words - verbatim - and documented the memories of their descendants. The show is full of fateful ironies, tragic counterpoints and a pervasive sadness. In the hearts of their families, the Great War is still very present.

Hugo Manson talks about his father's experience during World War One.

Tears still flow, generations later. We still wonder at the futility of it all. We still admire the acts of bravery. We still remember how our women united to support our men. We don't talk much about our ignominious actions in the Middle East, or our brutal treatment of those who refused service.

So yes, the question-mark will always be appropriate.

What an excellent challenge this project has been. Our 6-screen immersive cinema proved to be the perfect vehicle for focusing on specific aspects of the Great War: the Wounded, the Dissenters, the Horror of Passchendaele, our not-so-gallant Middle East story, the Women's War and the War's end (with a question-mark).

We're throwing our lemon-squeezers in the air as a tribute to Dave Clearwater, Ian Wards and Eileen Mueller - our supportive and enthusiastic clients.

Field guns captured by New Zealanders in World War I on display in London, 1918, Alexander Turnbull Library, 1/2-014087-G

Tui Tararo talks about her father, Frank, and his experience as a soldier in World War One

We're firing a twenty-one-gun salute to John Strang, Lee Gingold, James Manttan, Jeremy Cullen, Adam Walker, Diana Castle and Anderson Design - our brilliant collaborators.

So it's 'goodbye Piccadilly' from James, and Steve and Briar and Crystal and Kate and Sean. We're feeling lucky to have had the chance to make a contribution.