UNITED IN GRIEF

GAIL COCHRANE & SHANNON WELLINGTON

DESCRIPTION One of the collection of public tributes left at the Wellington Islamic Centre after the Christchurch mosque shootings, March 2019

MAKER / ARTIST Makers unknown

REFERENCE International Muslim Association of New Zealand (ATL-Group-00466: Curios-056-11_006)

The large three-dimensional flower was one of many public tributes left at the Wellington Islamic Centre in Kilbirnie after the Christchurch mosque shootings. It features messages of solidarity and hope handwritten in English and te reo Māori. The centre of the flower can be lifted, so that the flower stretches vertically.

DESCRIPTION Crying Kiwi, 15 March 2019

MAKER / ARTIST Shaun Yeo (b. 1974)

REFERENCE DC-Group-0056: DCDL-0038997

On 15 March 2019, a gunman carrying semi-automatic weapons entered the Christchurch Masjid al-Noor and Linwood Islamic Centre during Friday midday prayers. At both he opened fire, killing 51 people and injuring another 40.

There was immediate national and international condemnation of the terror attacks. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described the shootings as ‘our darkest of days … they were New Zealanders … they are us and because they are us, we, as a nation, mourn them’. Ardern’s words ‘they are us’ echoed around the world.

Finding words to express your reaction to tragedy can be difficult. Invercargill cartoonist Shaun Yeo watched news of the atrocity on television that evening, then drew his ‘crying kiwi’ cartoon and posted it on social media. The image touched the hearts of millions of people globally.

In the aftermath of the shootings, tributes and messages of support for New Zealand’s Muslim communities appeared online and in many public places, including the Wellington Islamic Centre in Kilbirnie. Over the following days, individuals, schools, organisations, Ardern and Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy visited the mosque to lay their own tributes and offer their support to the Muslim communities.

The tributes included flowers, condolence cards and books, posters and banners, paper chains, paper dolls, woven items, toys and works of art. Their messages reflected the diversity of New Zealand’s people and the voice of a country united in grief and disbelief at the attacks and in condemnation of them. Representatives from the Wellington Islamic community worked with the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and the Turnbull Library to preserve many of the tributes. The library acquired a collection of these items to hold in perpetuity on behalf of the people of New Zealand.