September sees the annual Journées Européennes du Patrimoine take place across France, with hundreds of cultural institutions across the country opening their doors free-of-charge.
Launched in 1984 by the French Ministry of Culture, these annual events allow millions of visitors to (re)discover museums, monuments, and historic sites all across Europe. Their goal is simple: to make heritage accessible to everyone and to strengthen the bond between communities and places of memory.
For this year’s edition, the New Zealand Liberation Museum – Te Arawhata had the honour of welcoming Véronique Coupet, the architect behind the transformation of our building from the former police station into our world-class museum, back to provide guided tours of her work. Her tours offered our visitors privileged access behind the scenes of Te Arawhata and were full of stories and anecdotes from an exceptional yet often challenging project.
Some standout moments included Véronique’s retelling of the time she found herself covered in fleas following an afternoon investigating the basement, and her recounting of a day where the basement door closed behind her, requiring a crawl though the ancient tunnels under the building to escape!
She also recalled the very early morning meetings due to the time difference with New Zealand, where the members of the Trust behind the Museum are based.
Then there were the cultural differences to navigate: while the Kiwi partners expected great progress in August (New Zealand’s winter), in France it was summertime – the annual period where most construction sites pause.
Despite all these challenges, Véronique described Te Arawhata as “one of the most rewarding projects of [her] career”, thanks to the rich experiences and deep friendships it has provided.
We also extend our warm thanks to the Le Quesnoy photo club, Imag’In Action, who joined with the Museum to present the temporary exhibition “Walls of Memory”. Their work created an artistic before-and-after: starting from archival images of the Museum before its renovation, they captured new photographs of today’s spaces, offering visitors a striking comparison that highlighted the scale of the transformation.
The weekend also saw the unveiling of a restored tombstone from the Abbaye Ste Elisabeth which once stood on the site of the Museum. Te Arawhata has the honour of returning the stone to the ownership of the Town of Le Quesnoy, which has chosen to display this incredible artefact within a chapel of the Town’s church.
Finally, we would like to thank our wonderful tourism students from Lycée Jeanne d’Arc in Aulnoye-Aymeries, who kindly supported us during the event.
Our next open day is 4 November from 2 pm to 6 pm, where visitors are invited to mark the 107th anniversary of the liberation of Le Quesnoy with a free visit to the Museum.
