• The Suspense is Awful main banner
  • Family decorated their home to welcome back returning sons
  • A journal
  • Soldiers farewell their families and loved ones as they board a ship bound for war

 

The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) is marking the centenary of World War I with a new exhibition commemorating the role Tasmanians played in the war and the impact it had on the island.
Drawing from the museum’s collections, The Suspense is Awful: Tasmania and the Great War highlights stories previously untold, including those of Tasmanian Aboriginal servicemen and of the men and women who provided medical support on the front line.
Thousands of Tasmanian men and women enlisted to serve in WWI, and by keeping diaries, writing home and collecting souvenirs they created their own memories of the war. Their families found the four years of war awful, as they wondered whether they would ever see their loved ones again.
The exhibition tells the story of their wait: how they grieved, kept themselves busy, helped the war effort, were interned as the enemy aliens, argued about conscription, and remembered and made sense of the sacrifices made.
On this website you will find galleries of images and objects featured in the exhibition, as well as links to a variety of resources further exploring the exhibition’s stories.

 

Stories

Learning

TMAG’s Centre for Learning and Discovery has developed specialised programs for students and resources for teachers and educators related to  The Suspense is Awful: Tasmania and the Great War.

Resources

To learn more about the stories and themes explored in The Suspense is Awful: Tasmania and the Great War, visit our Resources section to find diary excerpts, postcards and other links.

Media

Are you interested in writing an article or producing a report about the exhibition? If so, visit our Media section for more information.

Exhibition Introductory Video


Exhibition now open
until 28 February 2016

Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
Free admission
Open Tuesday – Sunday, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm

 

Supported by the Australian Government through the Anzac Centenary Arts and Culture Fund and the Anzac Centenary Local Grants Program.