Temporary Cenotaph: a Contradiction in Terms?

Chapter 10 Temporary Cenotaph: A Contradiction in Terms?

Sally Carlton

Introduction

During the violent earthquake which hit Christchurch, Aotearoa/New Zealand, on February 22, 2011, the inner city sustained severe damage. The en- tire area was subsequently cordoned off, restricting public access for 859 days. Out-of-bounds within this cordon was the city’s cenotaph – its primary site of war commemoration – situated next to the iconic Anglican Cathedral. Still today, five years after the event, the cenotaph remains behind hurricane fenc- ing as debate rages about the future of the ruined Cathedral. Physically barred for this period from the cenotaph, locals have had to improvise. Services for ANZAC Day, the most important war commemoration in New Zealand which observes the landings of Australian and New Zealand troops on the beach- es at Gallipoli during World War One, have moved from Cathedral Square to another of Christchurch’s many public squares. In addition, a temporary “replacement” cenotaph has been constructed. This cenotaph is made of MDF (medium density fibreboard) and topped with a small wooden cross fashioned by an Australian search-and-rescue team from wood salvaged from the Cathedral.1 Stored inside for most of the year, the cenotaph is trundled out for public use for two annual events: ANZAC Day and the commemoration of the February 22 earthquake. Drawing on surveys by and interviews with Christchurch residents, this paper documents their greatly varied responses to this temporary cenotaph. The particular focus is the cenotaph’s temporality, which positions it in di- rect contrast to most war memorials which are consciously constructed for posterity. The idea of temporality versus permanence leads to the question of whether a physical focal point for war commemoration is in fact neces- sary, as well as touching on analysis of the public’s role in the establishment of war memorials. In order to pose these questions, the paper first explains the circumstances which led to the construction of the temporary cenotaph.

This article was finished in 2016 and does therefore not reference recent works. 1 Keith Lynch, “Cathedral Timber Stands Tall Again,” The Press, March 16, 2011, accessed November 15, 2015, http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-earthquake/4772129/ Cathedral-timber-stands-tall-again.

Through consideration of elements inherent to both traditional war memorials and recent “temporary memorials,” the paper, secondly, suggests that the temporary cenotaph fails to meet the criteria for either category of memorial. The paper then moves into discussion of the various – but overwhelmingly negative – attitudes of Christchurch residents to the unique phenomenon that is the temporary cenotaph, before drawing conclusions about what partici- pants’ perspectives to the temporary cenotaph can tell us about general under- standings of the role of war memorials.

Context

With buildings already weakened by a 7.1-magnitude earthquake in September 2010 and subsequent aftershocks, the February 2011 event resulted in 185 deaths, thousands of injuries and extensive destruction. Along with large tracts of residential land, the central business district was especially devas- tated. In response to the loss of life and pervasive devastation, a cordon was erected immediately after the earthquake, preventing public access to the area. This cordon was progressively diminished as safety checks were completed, but full accessibility to the city was only possible after June 30, 2013. The place to which people eventually returned was visually very different from its pre- earthquake iteration. With so many buildings destroyed, including much of the iconic Gothic Revival architecture for which Christchurch had earned its reputation as the “most English city outside of England,” the landscape was in the aftermath unappealing and confronting. The sight of the ruined Anglican Cathedral, the physical and symbolic ‘heart’ of Christchurch, was especially distressing. Located only metres from the Cathedral, Christchurch’s cenotaph (officially, the Christchurch Citizens’ War Memorial) – an impressive symbolic sculpture by Christchurch local William Trethewey (1892–1956) unveiled in 1937, in which the central figure of Victory breaks swords above the heads of Sacrifice, Youth, Justice, Peace and Valour2 – was inaccessible for the two-and-a-half year duration of the cordon. A further two-and-a-half years later, however, the cenotaph still remains out-of-bounds. This prolonged unreachability stems di- rectly from the cenotaph’s close proximity to the Cathedral; fierce opposition from heritage groups to the Church’s preference for rebuilding has effectively

2 Mark Stocker, “Sculpture and Installation Art: Sculpture in the Early Twentieth Century,” Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, August 11, 2014, accessed December 5, 2015, http:// www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/41964/christchurch-citizens-war-memorial.