The Descendants Project by Mertim Gokalp to commemorate Centenary of ANZAC Day

Left to Right: Beatrix Tanuwidjaja of Localcultureguide.com with the Descendant’s Project artist, Mertim Gokalp

The Descendants Project is a portrait-painting exhibition created by Mertim Gokalp, an Archibald Prize Finalist Portrait Artist, to commemorate the centenary of Anzac Day.

The Anzac Centenary marks the 100^th year anniversary of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) landing on Gallipoli in Turkey. During the Anzac Centenary, Australians and New Zealanders will commemorate the sacrifice and bravery of the servicemen who gave their lives for the peacekeeping operations.

This day is especially significant to all Australians because the First World War helped define Australia as a nation. The Federation of Australia was only 17 years old by the time the war ended in 1918. However a national identity had emerged, reflecting the sacrifice and service of those Australians and New Zealanders who fought in the war.

Left to Right: Beatrix Tanuwidjaja of Localcultureguide.com with the Descendant’s Project artist, Mertim Gokalp who is of Turkish Australian background

Mertim himself is Turkish Australian and his dual nationality means that it gives him the understanding of both cultures and their histories, thus giving him a unique perspective as an artist.

The idea of creating the Descendants Project art exhibition is to reflect on the Anzac legacy, both on the national & personal level and also, to explore the Anzac and Turkish Gallipoli War descendants’s unique stories individually.

This is a portrait painting of Clara Street. The great great granddaughter of Lieutenant Colonel Percy Moreland Acton-Adams.

The Descendants Project exhibition consists of 20 paintings; 10 of which are descendants of the ANZAC servicemen and the other 10 are descendants of the Turkish servicemen who served in Gallipoli, Turkey during World War 1.

This is a portrait painting of Andrew Palmer. The great grandson of Sergeant Andrew Stewart Duncan with the Gold Pocket Watch as the object that connects him and his great grandfathers hopes and fears back from the 1917 during wartime.

The theme for the Descendants Project portrays each descendant holding/wearing an object from the past, that once belonged to his/her ancestor, thus representing connections to the past and what these items mean to them individually.

Each painting is then paired and hung back-to-back in the exhibition at the Rocks Discovery Museum, Sydney to prevent viewers from viewing an ANZAC descendant portrait and a Turkish descendant portrait both at the same time. This emphasizes on our own limitations, referencing to lack of empathy that often happened during war time, not having a clear view of the other side / the ‘enemy’ and being forced to pick a side.

A personal favorite. This is a portrait painting of Yalcin Tosun. The grandson of Private Bandirmali Abdullah Tosun, holding his grandfather’s glass eye. His grandfather lost his right eye during the Gallipoli WW1.

Along side the portraits, hand-written letters from the descendants were also on display to provide further meaning and context to each painting. Thus creating a room for remembrance and solace while allowing the viewers to unveil the connections to the descendant’s past, provoking thought about their own and exploring new connections into the future.

The Descendants Project will be on exhibition at The Rocks Discovery Museum from April 10th until May 3rd 2015, Monday to Sunday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm.

It is a FREE exhibition with no funding and political ties so come on down and support the work of local artists!