National Portrait Gallery's ANZAC exhibition to mark Gallipoli Centenary

The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) in Canberra is marking the coming Gallipoli landing centenary with an exhibition that examines the effect of First World War on the home front.

The exhibition includes a diverse mix of wartime recruitment posters, personal mementoes of loss and grief, and contemporary artworks that respond to the ANZAC legend.

The exhibition, 'All That Fall', is inspired by Psalm 145; "The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down".

NPG Senior curator Chris Chapman said it was important to look at the large-scale sacrifice that the First World War brought about.

Chapman told the ABC "the feeling of loss, the weight of that is something we can barely comprehend or imagine today

"Trying to evoke a sense of absence has been our aim."

More than 60,000 Australians died during First World War, with about one in five of those who departed for the war never coming home.

The trauma experienced by those left behind was compounded by the fact that families could not attend funerals or bury the bodies of their dead, nor visit their faraway graves.

Small talismans like commemorative medallions, letters sent home, and special embroideries sometimes provided comfort, and several of these personal items are displayed in the exhibition.

The curators also commissioned several works by contemporary artists to include in the show.

Galleries, museums and archives around Australia are bringing together exhibitions to mark the centenary of the landing of Australian troops on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey.

However, the NPG exhibition stands out by showcasing archival material with contemporary works.

By looking at the home front, instead of the battle zones, it asks audiences to consider how the suffering caused by the deaths of 60,000 Australians between 1914 and 1918 echoed down the generations that followed.

All That Fall runs at the NPG until 26th July.

For more information go to www.portrait.gov.au

Images from top:
Crucifixion of Civilisation (halftone reproduction 1932) by Rayner Hoff
The National Portrait Gallery
Have you forgotten yet? 2014 by Lee Grant. 

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