Southern Stand
August 24th, 2007 by Zofia
The other day I remembered that a memorial was erected somewhere in Hyde Park not that long ago to commemorate the bonds between New Zealand and the UK and the shared sacrifice during times of war. So I thought I would track it down and have a look at what it was all about. I must admit that the fact it was a war memorial didn’t interest me but the fact that New Zealand sculptor Paul Dibble had been involved in its creation made me interested in seeing it because I am a fan of his work. (Terrible I know but hey, I still went to see it!) Located on Hyde Park Corner, just down from Wellington Arch, the New Zealand Memorial was remarkably easy to find and made quite a good first impression. I arrived upon it from Piccadilly and could see it on the other side of a busy road through some trees. Once I crossed the road I was able to get the up close and personal view.
Consisting of 16 cross-shaped vertical bronze posts set out along a grassy slope, each post is adorned with text, patterns and small sculptures which have the great effect of reminding any visiting New Zealander’s of home. I was so impressed by this memorial. It was simply stunning. The detail on each post is so intricate and individualised. No single post is the same as another and each post has something on it. They vary in height and some have a three-dimensional component to them (such as sculpted birds perched on the top, or a paddle from a waka which looks to be resting up against a post) while others are carved into (such as one with a list of NZ cities simply engraved into the post). You find koru and kowhaiwhai patterns, tapa patterns, silver ferns and so on mixed with text – poetry and quotes from various people that mean something to New Zealand and our history.
The other aspect of this memorial that I found quite remarkable was the way that each post when viewed from a certain angle (see the picture at the top of the page) appears to be a cross. This seems a nice way to mark the sacrifice of many soldiers over the years during various wars. I like the subtlety.
Apparently the top of 6 of the posts are lit up at night to create the formation of the Southern Cross Stars- how fantastic! I plan to go back again and spend some more time looking at each of the posts; they certainly bring a distinctive New Zealand flavour to Hyde Park Corner. If you are a Kiwi in London and you haven’t checked this memorial out yet you really should!!
