What we choose to remember explores ideas of nation building to consider how knowledge of significant historic events is mythologised and passed down over time. Often informed by a personal story, memory or experience, the four artists in the exhibition address major conflicts and upheavals pertinent to their own nation’s identities.

The exhibition includes the first Aotearoa presentation of a landmark film by the Turkish artist Köken Ergun that explores Gallipoli/Çanakkale – the site of one of the First World War’s most significant battles. In the film, Ergun documents the thousands of tourists that descend upon the site each year as a form of modern-day pilgrimage and follows groups from Turkey, Australia and Aotearoa as they attempt to connect with and learn about the experiences of their ancestors. By revealing how two versions of events continue to be told, Ergun’s film shows how history is not shared. In the context of the exhibition, this work acts as a broader prompt by questioning what shapes a national consciousness and the often-disparate legacies that are created for warring nations.

Kulimoe’anga Stone Maka furthers his interest in the relationship between Britain and Tonga, and the loyal friendship of Queen Sālote Tupou III of Tonga and Queen Elizabeth II of Bolata’ane (Britain) through a new ngatu tā’uli (Tongan tapa cloth) made specially for the exhibition. Tada Hengsapkul explores otherwise repressed histories from Thailand’s past and the military’s enduring influence in Thai society through his expansive installation You lead me down to the ocean (2018), revealing the involvement of the Thai army in the Vietnam War. Paintings by Hiria Anderson address the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti to Parliament in 2024 following the Government’s controversial Treaty Principles Bill. As a necessary and urgent subject for contemporary Aotearoa, Anderson’s work prompts consideration of how this moment might be remembered in years to come.

From the site of one of the First World War’s most significant battles to the underwater coast of Thailand, the friendship of two nations’ Queens to a hīkoi across Aotearoa, the artworks presented here look at the ways in which we choose to remember and the stories that can slip between the cracks of history.

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Artist Biographies