TRUE AND GREAT MEMORIAL

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 827, 22 November 1929, Page 1

TRUE AND GREAT MEMORIAL

Auckland's New Museum

SPACIOUSNESS AND DIGNITY

Magnificent Inner Shrine

THERE need be no sufrg<’>t tion t lia t tile essential character of Auckland's \V ar Memorial Museum is obscured or in any way weakened by the design anil arrangement of tlie completed building. j ■yyi'HEX public inspection is permitted i it will be agreed that the new j museum is a true and fitting memorial, | magnificent in its spacious dignity. I Though the striking court of houi our and cenotaph now being com- ! pleted on the green terraces in front jOf the big building will give added significance to the exterior, the museum itself is nobly adequate na its tribute to Auckland’s warriors. I The memorial hall and shrine, .ii j mirably placed and introduced, j dominate the entire building, and all I else is subservient to the solemn nore I they strike in the quiet spaces above j the lofty entrance hall. | The purely museum sections, while | blending smoothly with the architee- | tural theme that begins in the hypostyle hall and leads to the shrine, are } places apart. They lie below and be- | hind the grey mass of rich, polished i marble round which droop the silken i banners of the Allied nations.

Industry has wrought wonders in that great white monument on the crest of the Domain hill. White echoing galleries and wings have been decorated, cleaned, and polished, each area has been given its quota of exhibits, labelling is in progress, and general finishing touches are being carried out. Minor details may be lacking on opening day, but the essential features of the museum, .and its ail-pervading character, will be clearly and admirably revealed. AWE-INSPIRING EFFECT An almost awe-inspiring effect is created by the architectural proportions of the building as they appear when ones passes the high-flung Doric columns at the entrance. In the lofty liypostyle hall, flanked by six massive lonic columns, a paramount impression is that of free, quiet spaciousness. There is space and to spare in every gallery and wing, yet it is not rambling empty space. Perfect proportioning, and the artistic placing of columns, arches, statuary, exhibit cases, and incidental furniture eliminates every suggestion of the emptiness which can mar any great building. The lonic columns in the main hall lead up to, and actually support, the Memorial Hall and shrine above. To describe these as being placed “on the second floor,” as lias been done in some quarters, is bald and misleading. In point of material fact they are certainly two “floors” above ground level, but the intervening space lends infinite dignity and the sweeping galleries which rise to the central point create wonderful impressiveness. On either side of the lower hall a broad stairway leads to the first gallery. Twin electric elevators arc placed opposite the main door, but their mechanical character is hidden by road columns and chaste designing.* From the first galleries the stairways continue to the memorial hall —in reality a broad, square gallery surrounding the lofty upper space of the entrance hall. On the vaulted and lead-lighted windows above are the medallions of British and New Zealand regiments. At the rear of the hall is the shrine itself with its magnificent marble centrepiece. The flags of the Allied nations, contributed by the Auckland Institute, surround the shrine and a note of subdued colour is supplied by the regimental plaques in gold placed at intervals along the walls. MAPS OF WORLD Oil the other side of the hall the wall is inlaid with painted maps of the world and of war zones. Beneath them are the lines: “O Captains un forgot,” they cried. Across the world you keep the pride. Across the world we mark the score.” A visit to this hall and shrine is inevitable. Its position is essentially the heart ol the memorial, and from i r one turns to reach the long galleries, the first of which opens immediately to the right. Here are found the war trophies sections. A complete wing is devoted to military exhibits, and two smaller galleries are lined with the patriotic and recruiting posters of the Allies. On the other side of the hall i 3 the museum library, packed with volumes which are being arranged and classified. Then down the sweeping stairway and into the natural history sections where are placed New Zealand birds, general New Zealand and foreign natural history specimens, big game fish, wild animals, geological exhibits and —at the rear of the building—the fascinating gallery of shells from New Zealand coastal waters aud those of the South Sea Islands. OCEAN DEPTHJ Explained and classified, with backgrounds representing sections of ocean depths, the shells provide a study that cannot be treated adequately in a general review. Sufficient to say

that this section should attract aud hold an exceedingly large proportion of museum visitors. The starting point of one s ramble on the ground floor is bound to be the spacious Maori court, the centrepiece of which is Toki-a-Tapiri. the ’ giant canoe. Renovated and repainted. in its original colours. *»e great native vessel is displayed to ! splendid advantage and may be examined from every angle Behind it is the pride of the Maori sections —the big native house. This, too. has been magnificently renovated j and is exhibited in perfect condition. It is actually built in to the rear wall of the court, with the result that its : tremendous bulk does not block the j area. The carved entrance is practically flush with the wall of the court, aud oue passes through the original doorway into a dimly-lit and lofty interior. To the left and right are long halls devoted to the display of New Zealand and South Seas native exhibi's. Giant Maori and other native carvings grin from every pillar, and smaller canoes, mats, weapons and the host of general exhibits in the museum’s unique native collection fill the wide galleries. One of the special features of the museum as a whole is the neat roomy arrangement of the specimens in every section. Wherever possible land practicable the exhibits are housed iin modern glass cases giving a maximum of visibility—an arrangement i which is bound to keep every speci--1 men in the perfect condition now | achieved. Finally it is apparent that there ia ample space in every department for additions and extensions in the years ; that are to come. Every gallery, with ; its ample accommodation for visitors, has been robbed of any suggestion of sparseness, yet the exhibits that will arrive from time to time can be housed comfortably in the hundred and one bays, alcoves, corners and cases. Now one has returned to the entrance hall with its soaring pillars and its white statuary. In the sunlight through the main doors lies the court of honour; above is the solemn shrine and quiet hall of a thousand metnories. Again the museum has receded into the background leaving the memorial in its handsome setting ; the predominating feature and lasting impression.

OPENING CEREMONY

ARRANGEMENTS FOR THURSDAY IMPRESSIVE CEREMONY Judging by the arrangements already in hand a simple but impressive ceremony will accompany the dedication of the Cenotaph and the Hall of Memories, and the opening of the Auckland War Memorial Museum on Thursday afternoon. Although this will not be his Excellency’s final visit to Auckland it will be probably the most important duty that Sir Charles Fergusson will be called upon to perform on his farewell tour of the Dominion. It is confidently expected that Auckland citizens will be present in their thousands upon this important occasion. Although details are not yet finalised. it is understood that the ceremony will commence at two o’clock, when Sir Charles Fergus son and his staff will arrive. The guard of honour will consist of a hundred cadets from King’s College, and three officers. A naval detachment will also be present. A fence has been erected around the Cenotaph and the official party will be seated on a platform adjoining it. The dedication of the Cenotaph bvthe Primate, Archbishop Averill, will come first, after which the Cenotaph will formally be handed over to the City by Mr. A. S. Bankart, chairman of the War Memorial Committee, the Major, Mr. G. Baildon, accepting it on behalf of the citizens. The Museum will theu be handed over to the Auckland Institute and accepted on its behalf by Mr. H. K Vaiie, president, who will ask the Governor-General to open it. His Excellency will then enter the building and v ill be followed by about 5.000 returned soldiers and next-o;-kin. The Municipal Band will be in attendance and it is possible that the Municipal Choir will also assist.