NZ Academy of Fine Arts Honours Vietnam Vets

NZ Academy of Fine Arts Honours Vietnam Vets

In the latest exhibition at the NZ Academy of Fine Arts gallery on Queens Wharf visiting artist Donna Sarten’s representation of 3890 military dog tags are suspended from the ceiling to show the number of New Zealanders that went to Vietnam. An installation entitled ‘Strange Fruit,’ it creates a record of every known veteran who served, something that was never done by the New Zealand government of the time. The artist has hand stamped every tag with every veteran’s name and number. On the reverse of each tag is the image of pomegranate flesh, giving a kind of biblical status to the tags and referencing the fact that a ‘grenade’ is also a ‘pomegranate’ in French. Some tags are blank or incomplete because of the New Zealand government’s failure to keep records.

Sarten’s artistic practice draws attention to specific historical events with often-overlooked social ramifications. For many New Zealanders, their participation in the Vietnam war went not only unrecorded, but also the ‘health system’ struggled to support them on their return. In making Strange Fruit, Sarten is mindful of the fact that the term PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) was first used in relation to Vietnam vets in place of the previously used terms ‘battle fatigue’ and ‘shell shock.’

Strange Fruit will be in place until the Academy’s current exhibition of eight artists finishes on the 5th of May. Importantly, it will be encountered by visitors on Anzac Day, Thursday 25th April when the gallery will be open. Sarten says that many people look for their family members and loved ones in the work, searching the near-four thousand thousand tags for the one that might bear their name. This can often be a moving experience and is a way of recognizing veterans and the impacts of war.

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