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Rainbow Warriors and Remainders–
Northland commemorates the 25th Anniversary of the Bombing of the Rainbow Warrior 10 July 1985
photographs by Gil Hanly and memorabilia loaned by Greenpeace NZ Curated by Scott Pothan
Rainbow Warriors and Remainders includes photographs taken by Gil Hanly of the arrival of the Rainbow Warrior into Auckland Harbour and the subsequent welcoming party on board with dignitaries; the bombing and its aftermath; and the images of the trials and public outrage at the time. Many of these images have not been seen publically since 1985. A further suite of images show the construction and dedication ceremony of the Rainbow Warrior Memorial Sculpture at Matauri Bay and salvaged items from the Rainbow Warrior before she was laid to rest in the Pacific Ocean off Northland. These accompanying exhibitions celebrate two key cultural figures of the 20th century – Pat and Gil Hanly and their longstanding commitment to Humanism and the Anti-Nuclear Movement.
At 11.49pm 10 July 1985 an electric blue flash was seen in the water beside the Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior docked in Auckland Harbour. A massive explosion rocked the ship, the first of two blasts which were to sear holes below the waterline and into the collective memory of a nation. This act of state-sanctioned terrorism by the Republic of France and the murder of Fernando Pereira by a country on whose soil New Zealand blood had spilled in two World Wars was a profound turning point in our sense of identity. The horror of the act, the protracted planning and the aftermath of trials and media frenzy served to unite the country and made the NZ Peace Movement and Anti-Nuclear values an intrinsic part of our culture – and a part of who we are as a nation. Two years later in 1987 the Government of David Lange passed legislation making New Zealand Nuclear Free which has never been challenged by any subsequent government.
For those of us who woke to the shocking news of the bombing it is an elemental memory which continues to resonate. It barely seems twenty five years ago, yet that seminal moment in our national history remains shrouded and inconclusive. Why did the High Court trial which attracted over 200 media from all over the world, only last seven minutes? More significantly, why are the public of New Zealand still unable to view the filmed transcripts of that trial – until 2045! In July 1986 Auckland lawyer Colin Amery who was angered by pressure from the French Government and Prime Minister David Lange’s back down on the ten year sentence of the two convicted spies attempted to lay fresh charges against Marfart and Prieur in order to forestall their deportation to Hao Island. Under cover of darkness they were flown out of New Zealand in a government Orion aircraft the night before the trial was to begin. In yet another twist of irony two years later just at the moment the Rainbow Warrior was laid to rest in Northland the agent Alain Marfart was boarding an aircraft from Hao to Tahiti for a triumphal return to Paris.
Northland’s connections to this story of French terrorism and paranoia are several and layered, making it appropriate that the Whangarei Art Museum commemorate the event exactly to the date a quarter of a century on. French Secret Service agents spent the preceding months in Northland planning the attack and dining on pizzas at Reva’s Restaurant in Whangarei. Austrian/Northland artist and environmentalist Friedensreich Hundertwasser designed and painted a flag for the vessel and was a close supporter of Greenpeace. The Late Hon Matiu Rata was an honoured guest on board the Rainbow Warrior days before the bombing. And of course Northland was to become the final resting place as an artificial reef and dive attraction off the coast of Matauri Bay where another Northland artist/environmentalist Chris Booth created the Rainbow Warrior Memorial sculpture.
Pat Hanly was a mentor and friend of mine for many years and had agreed to be the inaugural exhibitor at the opening of the Whangarei Art Museum in June 1996 despite illness and his ‘retirement’ from art making. He and his daughter Amber stayed in the small apartment upstairs for Classic Hanly – A Survey and the Civic Opening by His Worship the Mayor Stan Semenoff. The painting Ecstasy Condition – Erotic 1975 was acquired 3 year later to commemorate this event for the collection.
After he returned to New Zealand from London in 1962 Pat Hanly had decided to no longer just ‘make pictures’ but to ‘paint only ideas and thoughts’. He and Gil committed themselves to an investigative and ideological world “ones life is a gift of responsibility to make with it and from it the most fruitful contribution directly to mankind…to make one’s existence full…” he wrote. It has been a life of legacy for both Pat and Gil Hanly, and it is a pleasure to have his presence back in the Whangarei Art Museum after fourteen years.
Scott Pothan
Director
Greenpeace Executive Director and former Rainbow Warrior crew member Bunny McDiarmid says
‘Twenty five years ago Greenpeace altered the course of history by facing the world’s biggest powers head on in a drive to end the nuclear threat in the Pacific. Greenpeace continues campaigning with our ships to protect the world’s environment and the spirit of the original Warrior lives on in the replacement vessel also named the Rainbow Warrior
Thanks to the people of Northland, who offered a final resting place for the Rainbow Warrior after she was bombed in 1985, her spirit lives on in Matauri Bay.’
May 2010.
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