Kate Camp: Te Papa representative on 'The Scale Of Our War' exhibit being extended for another seven years

Te Papa's popular Gallipoli exhibit is going to be around for another seven years. 

The Scale Of Our War exhibit, which showcases giant Weta Workshop made sculptures of New Zealanders at war, was meant to close in 2019. 

But it's been extended three times now, the latest extension stretching to 2032. 

Te Papa's Kate Camp told Andrew Dickens it's the most popular exhibit the country's ever seen. 

She says the sculptures do have a shelf life, but they've been surprised by how long they've lasted, so they want to see it continue. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now to Papa's Gallipoli exhibition is amazing and it's shaping
up to be the most successful art exhibit in the country.
And that's because it's more than just an art exhibit.
It's a history exhibit. In twenty fifteen, Gallipoli The Scale
of Our War was intended to be on display for
four years. It was in twenty fifteen. It's still there.
It's had four point eight million visits, and now the

(00:21):
museum has decided to extend the exhibition stay for a
third time, this time by ten years, or until twenty
thirty two. Kate Camp joins me. Now Kate is a
to PAPA representative.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Helly Kate, good morning.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
It's so good.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Yeah. I mean you've obviously seen it, and we know
that a lot of people in New Zealand have seen
it so many many times. One of the cool things
about Gallipoli is that people will come back. You know,
if they've got friends and family visiting from overseas, they
might bring them back again, or maybe they just kind
of want to come and pay their respects, because I
think a lot of people see it as a bit
of a pilgrimage.

Speaker 1 (00:58):
Yeah, the giant sculptures created by wetter are amazing. The
question is why not make it permanent?

Speaker 2 (01:05):
Well, everything has a shelf life, and you might think
that something is as monumental as Gallipoli will last forever,
but the things in there are actually quite fragile, and
we've actually been surprised at how durable it's been. So,
you know, we think that it's a realistic time frame
for us to be able to extend it for another
seven years. And you know, New Zealanders didn't know about

(01:27):
it before it opened, but they sure know about it now.
But there's also all those internationals who haven't seen it.
So probably about fifty percent of the people who come
to Tapapa from overseas and they may never have heard
of Gallipoli, but they sure come out the other end
knowing all about it.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
And sorry to be unsubtle, of course you charge the
international tour. So this is a good money own there.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
Yeah, I mean, it's so important for us to be
able to earn revenue. You know, if your guest bill
has gone up, you can imagine what's happened to ours
in recent years. So it's really important for us to
be able to earn commercial revenue to succome what we
get from the New Zealand taxpayer. So yeah, that's obviously
a really popular attention to be able to keep those
internationals coming in.

Speaker 1 (02:07):
OK. I remember the very first time I walked in
and saw this thing with the giant sculptures and just
the exhibitor, and I was almost moved to tea as
it is an extraordinary thing, and it's a good decision
that it's extended, and I'd like to see it somewhere forever,
somewhere close. And I thank you so much for your
time today. For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge,
listen live to News Talks it'd be from five am weekdays,

(02:29):
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.