Museums open along Kokoda Trail
Next year, countries around the world will mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War 2. Stories from that transformative time, especially from the brutal campaigns along the Kokoda Trail, are read about in schools across Papua New Guinea, Australia and Japan, and passed down orally through the generations.
But much of the physical history from the war has been eroded by weather and neglect, or simply lost in the intervening years as PNG set its sights on the vital task of nation building.
“Some people only see rusty old bits of metal,” explains Greg Bablis, curator of the modern history department at the National Museum and Art Gallery (NMAG), when describing the machine guns, rifles and unexploded ordnances that will be on display at three new local museums on or near the Kokoda Trail. “But these items act as memory touchstones for both diggers and local people, and we think that’s worth preserving.”
NMAG, with support from the Kokoda Initiative under a PNG and Australian Government partnership, is working with local communities to build and manage the three local museums at Alola and Efogi villages on the Kokoda Trail, and at Buna on the northern coast.
“The new local museums are simply building upon what is already in place,” says Bablis. “Residents have been collecting and displaying artefacts for trekkers since the war ended – we just helped with labelling, curation and object biographies to create more depth to the stories of the soldiers’ experiences and we supplied building materials to help create permanent structures.”
Attached to each museum is an open-air trade haus and community centre, where locals, particularly women, can sell souvenirs, food and drinks to the estimated 3500 Kokoda trekkers who pass through the villages each year. The Kokoda Trail is the number one tourist destination in the country. The museum and trading haus at Alola have already been completed, and the ones in Efogi and Buna will be opened in coming months.
“This investment in community museums will better preserve military artefacts and provide an income for the custodians of these relics,” Bablis says. “It will also enhance the tourist experience for trekkers who are interested in the history of the Kokoda campaign, by ensuring artefacts are adequately protected, displayed and interpreted.” While the museums are primarily targeted at overseas tourists and trekkers, Bablis believes they could have a powerful role in helping Papua New Guineans understand their own modern history.
“I hope the museums help spark young people’s interest in military history. Everything we do should inform curriculum development, and what should be taught in primary and high schools. Museums have an important educational function for the work we do in archaeology, history and biology,” Bablis says.
The museums will act as pilot sites to test ideas and concepts that could be rolled out to other community museums.
In addition to the museums, there are plans to develop an interactive, multi-layer 3D digital map of the entire Kokoda Trail, with extra detail for special sites such as the Etoa battlefield and Brigade Hill, and for selected foxholes or trenches to be restored as interactive sites to recreate wartime conditions.
The community museums will better preserve military artefacts and provide an income for the custodians of these relics.