Cairns Regional Council and Mayors For Peace host a special series of events at the Tanks from this week. 

War in Profile is a unique program of events and exhibitions curated by Cairns Regional Council, exploring the experience of war and our search for lasting peace.

Located at Tanks Arts Centre in Edge Hill (which, ironically, was originally built to house fuel for Australia’s WWII efforts), War in Profile is equal parts challenging and moving, providing a unique inside perspective on some of the most bloody battles in history, as well as public forums and discussion on the topics of war and peace.

The exhibition is coming to Cairns with the assistance of Mayors For Peace. Mayors For Peace is an international, not-for-profit organisation founded in Hiroshima in 1982, as a program to promote the solidarity of cities toward the total abolition of nuclear weapons.

The mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki called on mayors around the world to support the program, designed to transcend national borders, and Cairns Regional Council joined in 2010, becoming one of 4800 member cities.

A-Bomb Exhibition: Hiroshima – Nagasaki

An exhibition of photographs, information and everyday objects that survived the A-Bomb blast, comes to Australia for the first time. During World War II, Hiroshima and Nagasaki experienced the horrors of nuclear weapons for the first time in human history. The cities were instantly destroyed and many lives were lost.

Since 1995, the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Exhibition has travelled around the world, conveying the realities of the bombings and promoting peace, in a bid to avoid history repeating itself.

Accompanying the exhibition is Dr Hiromi Hasai, survivor and International Peace advocate for a nuclear-weapons-free world. Hiroshima-Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Exhibition tours one or two cities in the world each year.

Cairns is lucky enough to be the first city to host it in Australia, in the fitting venue of the Tanks Arts Centre.

The Bruce Downie Collection

Royal Australian Air Force wireless telegraphist Bruce Downie served in Cairns during World War II and this amazing photographic exhibition documents his time here. Bruce Downie enlisted in the RAAF on his 18th birthday in February 1944.

Posted to Cairns that year, he remained in the tropical port city until the end of the war. In Cairns he made friends, went to the cinema, listened to music and took photographs of life during WWII in Far North Queensland.

This is his story of a country town during the last years of war and first months of peace, made up of photographs and memories of No. 25 Operational Base Unit by 147586 LAC Downie B.G. W/T.

It offers a locally relevant counterpoint to the scenes of war depicted in the accompanying exhibitions and provides a fascinating insight into the history of our region.

°South: War

°South: War is an Australian Centre for Photography exhibition featuring images from Vietnam to the present day Afghanistan conflicts, captured by award-winning Australian documentary photographers.

Often working at great risk to themselves, they have created images that have gone on to influence public opinion, make history and inspire us to find other ways to solve our differences.

It includes works by Sean Flynn, Tim Page, Stephen Dupont, David Dare Parker, Jack Picone, Ben Bohane, Michael Coyne and Ashley Gilbertson. Warning: This exhibition contains disturbing images of violence and war.

Combat Paper

Combat Paper is a poignant exhibition of original artworks, created by American veterans on paper made from old military uniforms.

In the US, some war veterans have ripped up their uniforms, cooked them in caustic solutions, beaten them to a pulp and made paper. On that paper, they have made art.

What began as a joint venture of Drew Matott and Drew Cameron, with the purpose of assisting veterans in reconciling and sharing their personal experiences and broadening traditional narratives surrounding service and military culture, has continued to grow since its inception in 2007.

These are their stories, experienced through art.

War – What is it Good For? forum hosted by George Negus 

Tanks Arts Centre invites you to the War – What is it Good For? forum hosted by George Negus on Friday, October 21.

This public forum invites you to explore the experience of war and share your thoughts on how we can find hope for peace. Spend a night with a panel of individuals, including George Negus (journalist), Mayor Val Schier, Stephen Dupont (war photo-journalist and curator of °South: War), Steven Leeper (chairperson of Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation) and Dr Hiromi Hasai (A-bomb survivor), to learn about current world events and share in the idea that peace is not only possible, but inevitable.

>> War – What Is It Good For? Public forum with George Negus is in Tank 5 on Friday, October 21 (after the war in profile official opening). entry is free.

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