{"id":18451,"date":"2015-08-05T00:30:44","date_gmt":"2015-08-04T16:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/media-release\/fading-lights-brings-atomic-bombings-into-focus\/"},"modified":"2022-12-06T09:17:35","modified_gmt":"2022-12-06T01:17:35","slug":"fading-lights-brings-atomic-bombings-into-focus","status":"publish","type":"media-release","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/media-release\/fading-lights-brings-atomic-bombings-into-focus\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Fading Lights\u2019 brings atomic bombings into focus"},"content":{"rendered":"

Exhibition at the HIVE, John Curtin Gallery shows where Australian troops witnessed and survived the atom bomb<\/strong><\/p>\n

Researchers from Curtin and Murdoch universities have used digital technologies to reveal forgotten histories of Australian military experiences in Japan during and after World War II.<\/p>\n

This year marks the centenary of the ANZAC commemoration and also the 70th<\/sup> anniversary of the atom bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the close of the Pacific war.<\/p>\n

The multimedia exhibition, Fading Lights: Australian POWs and BCOF Troops in Japan 1945-52<\/em>, showcases the post war occupation of Japan and the places where Australian troops witnessed and survived the atom bombing of Nagasaki.<\/p>\n

The places include two former POW (Prisoner of War) camps in Nagasaki where Australian and other Allied POWs worked as slave labourers in Japanese war industries.<\/p>\n

Dr Stuart Bender, Curtin University and Associate Professor Mick Broderick, Murdoch University recorded numerous interviews and filmed at key locations in Japan earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Dr Bender explained that he and Professor Broderick wanted the exhibition to be impressionistic and take advantage of the HIVe\u2019s immersive space.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe use of the imaging technologies in Curtin\u2019s Hub for Immersive Visualisation and eResearch (HIVe) enables a unique opportunity to convey a sense of place and space, where testimony can interact with archival and contemporary images and sound, remaining factual and historically accurate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Professor Broderick said it took considerable time to definitively establish the locations of many major sites.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to match and duplicate the camera angles, creating a \u2018then and now\u2019 effect by contrasting the past images with the current day scenes,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

The exhibition and associated website (www.fadinglights.com.au<\/a>) features free downloadable panoramas of Hiroshima\u2019s iconic Genbaku Dome, the only remaining building to have been preserved, more or less untouched, since the 6 August 1945 atomic attack.<\/p>\n

Dr Bender and Professor Broderick were granted special access to film inside of this United Nations World Heritage protected space and have made a selection of their 360 degree panoramic images available to the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s our way of saying thank you to the city of Hiroshima for their assistance in this project,\u201d Professor Broderick said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt also helps to commemorate the memories of bomb survivors and the thousands of Australian troops, some of whom were accompanied by their wives and children while serving in the Hiroshima Prefecture during 1946-52,\u201d Dr Bender added.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt one site in Nagasaki now a junior high school that occupies the former camp grounds, locals are planning to erect a monument to all deceased POWs, including six Australians who died in captivity,\u201d Professor Broderick said.<\/p>\n

The free public exhibition runs from Thursday 6 August to Sunday 9 August 2015 and the John Curtin Gallery, Building 200A, Curtin University, Bentley.<\/p>\n

Exhibition hours are:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thursday 6 August: 6pm \u2013 7.30pm (Reservations essential, please contact events@curtin.edu.au<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Friday 7 August: 5pm \u2013 8pm<\/p>\n

Saturday 8 August: 9am \u2013 3pm<\/p>\n

Sunday 9 August: 1pm \u2013 5pm<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Fading<\/a><\/p>\n

A BCOF family in Hiro, Kure, circa 1950. Photo courtesy of John Hoey<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Researchers from Curtin and Murdoch universities have used digital technologies to reveal forgotten histories of Australian military experiences in Japan during and after World War II.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4275,"featured_media":10206,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_research-areas":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[],"research-areas":[],"class_list":["post-18451","media-release","type-media-release","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-and-global-community","category-research"],"acf":{"post_options":{"":null,"additional_content":{"title":"","content":"","image":false},"related_courses":false,"credits":{"author":"","photographer":"","media":false},"display_author":true,"banner":{"image":false}}},"featured_image":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Fading-Lights-2-1000x500.jpg","author_meta":{"first_name":"Curtin","last_name":"University","display_name":"Curtin University"},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media-release\/18451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media-release"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/media-release"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media-release\/18451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18451"},{"taxonomy":"research-areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-areas?post=18451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}