From Antarctica to Westerfield and Godley Head, two events at the Ashburton Art Gallery and Museum this month tell stories important to our past and future.

On Wednesday 19 April, artists Gabby O’Connor and Adele Jackson will be discussing art, Antarctica and Gabby’s exhibition All the Colours, All the Light during an artist talk at 6pm.

Installation artist Gabby O’Connor’s current research interests involve working with scientists and communities to communicate the connections between art, science, climate and place.

She has worked on many collaborative art-sci projects that connect climate change research with art audiences and wider communities. These projects have resulted in her conducting artistic and scientific research in Antarctica, inspiring works such as All the Colours, All the Light.

Gabby is currently completing her transdisciplinary PhD research project, The Unseen.

Adele Jackson is a multidisciplinary environmental artist, researcher and educator based in Ōtautahi Christchurch.

She has worked in Antarctica since 2013 in roles including base leader, conservation team field assistant, expedition photographer and nature guide.

Adele holds a PhD in Antarctic studies; her thesis examined the value of contemporary visual artists working in Antarctica. She is an adjunct researcher with the University of Tasmania and recently joined

Canterbury Museum as Curator Human History with a specialism in Antarctic art and culture.

The second event is an Anzac Day kōrero, Defending Waitaha Canterbury during WWII, and will take place on Tuesday 25 April at 2pm.

The Anzac Day discussion is about Westerfield Military Camp and the Awaroa/Godley Head coastal defence battery near Lyttleton Harbour, and visitors are also encouraged to commemorate New Zealanders who have served our country by visiting the museum’s new exhibition Westerfield Camp – The Army Marches In.

The army camp and Godley Head were constructed during the Second World War amidst a widespread fear of attack or invasion of Aotearoa itself, first by the Germans and later by the Japanese.

Our Senior Museum Curator Maryann Cowan will share the forgotten story of the Westerfield Military Camp, built in 1942 across a 162 hectare landscape located 19km inland from Ashburton, of which few physical remnants exist. The story of this fleeting camp has been pieced together through photographs, archival records and first-hand accounts.

Godley Head Heritage Trust Historian and chair Peter Wilkins will also discuss one of the most intact and extensive WWII coastal defence batteries left in Aotearoa. In its heyday, the Godley Head fort was a self-contained community staffed by over 400 men and women.

Today, three large gun emplacements and seven military buildings remain. The site has undergone significant repair in recent years and new interpretation has been developed to improve the visitor experience, including WWII murals created by Ōtautahi street artist Wongi Wilson.