Winter 2019 - OZ 10 Field of Lights

2019 - OZ  10   Field of Lights

In Flanders Fields the Poppies Grow…

In Albany, Australia

I cannot remember how we came to visit this display to Honor to the War Dead, but we followed, what seemed like a caravan of cars. All cars were looking for a parking spot, even though it was well organized, parking was at a premium. 

I had not a clue what to expect, I had no idea what this display was about but it was very sobering once we entered the area, the park.  The time of day was dusk, a bit after the sun went down. 

A River of Light on Both Sides of the Road

The Exhibition was along a tree-lined avenue and all the lights were set up like a river that flows from tree to tree. It was an Exhibition for pedestrians only. Though children were with the adults the children were all very quiet, and the mood of the masses was hushed. The exhibition was reverential, a no joke display with true honor given to past soldiers.

In a park-like setting were lights, hundreds of them, thousands. All the lights together flowed like a river, and then formed a small lake, a puddle among the trees. Each light representing one life lost during war-time. Any war, anyplace in this world, really, but in this case Australian lives!  A light = a man or woman! 

Yellow, Green and White Colours Keep Changing

A life snuffed out in a dispute about some ideology.

Each light represents a vibrant, young, able-bodied person who once was full of hopes.

Each light was a full life that ended tragically.

Somehow the reasons for the ‘war’ were negligible. 

Many Plaques In Memory of Specific Individuals

Yes, the losers lost many lives.

The ultimate ‘winners’ lost many lives, too. 

War, conflicts or different beliefs should not be solved like that. It just creates sadness, a feeling of loss that, as is shown here, lasts for almost a century.

WW1 was the ultimate war, so it was thought. The Australians supported the British, of course, it was the Empire after all and one has to ‘fight’ for your ‘friends’ right?

So Many Losses

A similar feeling was supported during WW2, more people died!

“How many deaths will it take…?” Is part of Bob Dylan song…   (Blowing in the Wind).

This Exhibition ‘Avenue of Honor’ created for ANZAC Day (National day of Remembrance in Australia and NZ commemorating all who have fought and died in all wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations), by the World Renowned Artist, Bruce Munro, is like a really final epitaph, a farewell, but also a hello to the memories of all the people who gave their lives for us.

Colours Represent the Wattle and the Kowhai,
National Flowers of Australia and New Zealand

Rest in Peace!   Hopefully we are ‘learning’ and can listen to the next song:  “War no more”!  (Pete Seeger). 

This Exhibition is a traveling Exhibition; it might come near your town. It is a good visit, go if you can. We could not see it in Uluru, so here is a video of how it was there! (Click on the link above.)