Rainbow Warriors and Remainders

The Whangarei Art Museum presents 'Rainbow Warriors and Remainders', an exhibition of photographs by Gil Hanly and memorabilia loaned by Greenpeace NZ and private collections.

Curated by Scott Pothan.

10 July – 5 September 2010.

Rainbow Warriors and Remainders will include photographs taken by Gil Hanly of the arrival of the Rainbow Warrior into Auckland Harbour and the subsequent welcoming party on board with dignitaries; the bombing and its aftermath; and the images of the trials and public outrage at the time. Many of these images have not been seen publically since 1985. A further suite of images will show the construction and dedication ceremony of the Rainbow Warrior Sculpture at Matauri Bay and many items salvaged from the Rainbow Warrior before she was laid to rest in the Pacific Ocean off Northland.

Whangarei Art Museum would like to acknowledge the support of Greenpeace NZ and the Hanly Family Trust. There will be a schools Education Pack and public programs available for this exhibition.

At 11.49pm 10 July 1985 an electric blue flash was seen in the water beside the Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior docked in Auckland Harbour. A massive explosion rocked the ship, the first of two blasts which were to sear holes below the waterline and into the collective memory of a nation.

This act of state sanctioned terrorism and the murder of Fernando Pereira by a country on whose soil New Zealand blood had been spilt in two World Wars was a profound turning point in our sense of identity. The horror of the act, the protracted planning and the aftermath of trials and media frenzy served to unite the country and made the NZ Peace Movement and Anti-Nuclear values an intrinsic part of our culture – and a part of who we are as a nation. Two years later in 1987 the Government of David Lange passed legislation making New Zealand Nuclear Free which has never been challenged by any subsequent government.

Northland’s connections to this story of French terrorism and paranoia are several and layered, making it appropriate that the Whangarei Art Museum commemorate the event exactly to the date a quarter of a century on, with the only museum or public display event scheduled for the day. French Secret Service agents spent the preceding months in Northland planning the attack and dining on pizzas at Reva’s Restaurant in Whangarei. Austrian/Northland artist and environmentalist Friedensreich Hundertwasser designed and painted a flag for the vessel and was a close supporter of Greenpeace. The Late Hon Mat Rata was an honoured guest on board the Rainbow Warrior days before the bombing. And of course Northland was to become the final resting place as an artificial reef and dive attraction off the coast of Matauri Bay where another Northland artist/environmentalist Chris Booth created the Rainbow Warrior Memorial sculpture.

Please contact the art museum for further details, phone 09 430 4240 or email whangareiartmuseum@wdc.govt.nz.

Image: Rainbow Warrior 1985 photograph © Gil Hanly.

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