This is a past Exhibition that is no longer showing – see a list of our current Exhibitions here.
“It’s important to create artworks that reflect our deployments. They’re historical events and I feel an obligation to respond artistically to what I see”
– Artist Captain Julian Thompson, Australian Army
As we celebrate 175 years of the NZ Army this new exhibition provides an opportunity to learn more about our most recent deployment to Iraq. The exhibition features incredible artworks of Captain Julian Thompson of the Australian Army who has been serving alongside the Kiwis as part of the Defeat-ISIS Coalition at Taji Military Base in Iraq.
Captain Thompson has an interesting background with an undergraduate degree in Archaeology and a Masters in Geography. From a young adult he has followed his dream as an Artist which he pursued for 10 years prior to joining the military and taking up a career as a Radiographer. Captain Thompson was deployed to operate the x-ray capability for Coalition forces stationed in Taji. It has been during his downtime in the Middle East that he was able to paint.
NZ soldiers have been stationed at Taji Military Base in Iraq since 2015 where a combined Australian and New Zealand Task Group have worked together training over 47,000 Iraqi soldiers. New Zealand forces were withdrawn from Taji Military Base earlier this year.