Museums • History
Kokoda Gallery WWII exhibit
Client
Location
Completed
National Museum and Art Gallery
2023
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
Image credit: NMAG
Image credit: NMAG
Image credit: NMAG
Image credit: NMAG
Image credit: NMAG
The Project
Story Inc was engaged to help create an exhibition telling the story of Papua New Guinea in the Second World War at the National Museum and Art Gallery in Port Moresby.
Photographs, oral histories and artefacts were brought together to tell stories of conflict, suffering and heroism as the land that would become the nation of Papua New Guinea became one of the war’s bitterest battlegrounds. The exhibition was opened by the Prime Minister, the Hon. James Marape, in November 2023.
Image Credit: NMAG
Image Credit: NMAG
Image Credit: NMAG
There were two parts of our involvement: a developed concept design of the overall exhibition, and final graphic design (final detailed content, design and installation were managed by the museum and construction partner Planpac).
The focus of the exhibition was placed squarely on the varied experiences of the people of Papua New Guinea, both combatants and civilians, as opposed to telling a wider history of the Pacific War, or highlighting other countries’ roles.
We made use of NMAG’s extensive collection of WWII artefacts and war art. The Australian War Memorial in Canberra provided large numbers of powerful photographs.
The Process
We also used existing oral histories from survivors of the war and their descendants. We highlighted some of these interviewees in very tall banner graphics which made use of the very high wall at one end of the space.
Another focal point of the exhibition is a Gallery of Gallantry ‒ a commemorative display of photographs and portraits of PNG soldiers, military police, guides and medics.
These were displayed alongside individual stories of valour, medals and lists of service awards.
The Result
This exhibit honours the – often sidelined – role of Papua New Guinea and its people in the world’s most terrible war, and shows how the conflict helped shape PNG’s post-war progress from two colonies to one nation.
Image Credit: NMAG
Credits
PlanPac Group