A new $15 million museum will open in the France's Le Quesnoy this October, commemorating the Kiwi soldiers who liberated the town from four years of German occupation during World War One.
It's New Zealand's first memorial museum in Europe for Kiwi soldiers who died on the continent during the war, and it will be called the New Zealand Liberation Museum – Te Arawhata.
"The museum will be Aotearoa's tūrangawaewae on the Western Front," said Sir Don McKinnon, chairperson of the New Zealand Memorial Museum Trust.
"It will be a memorial that commemorates the approximately 12,500 New Zealanders who died in France and Belgium during World War One."
Te Arawhata will open officially on October 11.
Its name means "the ladder" in te reo Māori, after the way Kiwi soldiers used a ladder to scale the town's walls on November 4, 1918.
It also refers to a "pathway to higher things, which enables learnings from the past to be used to reflect on the price and value of freedom and the importance of friendship to support a better future", a statement announcing the museum's opening said.
"It will be a place that honours our past, highlights the importance World War One continues to hold, and tells the extraordinary stories of Kiwi men and women who served in Europe," McKinnon said.
And the museum will feature an "immersive storytelling experience" from Wētā Workshop to highlight those stories.
"Visitors will experience a mix of cinematic, sensory, and emotive environments," said Andrew Thomas, senior creative director at Wētā Workshop.
"They will be able to immerse themselves in the dramatic storytelling, sculptural artworks, soundscapes, and projections to connect on an emotional level and remember the people involved in what is a hugely significant event."
Among the exhibits will be a giant "hyper-realistic" soldier.
"In a darkened room visitors will encounter the larger than life, hyper-realistic Kiwi soldier, caught in a moment following the liberation.
"The soldier sits on the cobbles, his rifle placed alongside him," Thomas said.
"There are autumn flowers in full colour, placed in his uniform by the French civilians. It is as if you have stepped back in time.
"It's through this lens that visitors will have an insight to the humanity and context of the people that made this liberation story so memorable and impactful."
A number of place names in the town are inspired by the connection between Le Quesnoy and New Zealand, including the Place des All Blacks and the Avenue des Néo-Zélandais.
Full details of the museum project and fundraising efforts can be found at nzliberationmuseum.com
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