Terror attack tributes to go on display
Hundreds of messages and mementoes left at Christchurch’s spontaneous memorial wall after the March 15 mosque attacks will be displayed at the city’s art gallery.
Called Tributes of Aroha, the display will be around the sixmonth anniversary of the terror attack, from the evening of September 13 until September 15.
Fifty-one people were massacred and scores of others were injured in the shootings at the Al Noor and Linwood mosques.
The suspect, who has pleaded not guilty to 51 charges of murder and 40 of attempted murder as well as engaging in a Terrorist Act, is due back in court tomorrow.
Tributes, including flowers, soft toys, cards and drawings, lined Rolleston Ave near the Botanic Gardens during the weeks after the attacks.
The Christchurch City Council, in partnership with the Canterbury Muslim Community Trust, the Botanic Gardens and art gallery staff, collected and documented the tributes. Soft toys were cleaned and gifted to young Muslim children at an Eid al-fitr celebration at Pioneer Stadium to mark the end of Ramadan. The flowers were to be turned into compost.
For the exhibition, the tributes will be displayed in the gallery foyer and upstairs balcony of the art gallery. There will be video, photographs and talks in the gallery auditorium.
Council principal community partnerships and planning adviser Claire Phillips said the display was an opportunity for people to reflect on what happened, its aftermath ‘‘and appreciate the spirit of solidarity and kindness that’s behind [the tributes]’’.
‘‘It’s also a chance for some of the people who were injured in the attacks or visiting family members in hospital to see these tributes, perhaps for the first time.’’
Muslim Association of Canterbury women’s co-ordinator Jumayah Jones hoped the display would help the community’s healing process.
‘‘We wanted to share the tributes, the cards and all the deep-felt words of aroha with the wider Muslim community and also others in Canterbury.’’
Members of the public can attend the opening event at 5.30pm on September 13. After the exhibition, some of the items will go to the Canterbury Museum.
‘‘A working group has been established to ensure they are treated respectfully,’’ the council said.