War Art - an exhibition of 25 oil paintings from Archives New Zealand's National Collection of War Art - was officially opened on Tuesday 24 April in Wellington.

"The opening of this exhibition, on the eve of ANZAC Day, is at a time when New Zealanders are remembering their family members, colleagues, neighbours and friends who served during times of war," said Archives Minister Judith Tizard.War Art - an exhibition of 25 oil paintings from Archives New Zealand's National Collection of War Art - was officially opened on Tuesday 24 April in Wellington.

"The opening of this exhibition, on the eve of ANZAC Day, is at a time when New Zealanders are remembering their family members, colleagues, neighbours and friends who served during times of war," said Archives Minister Judith Tizard.The opening was attended by WW2 artist Austen Deans and Mrs Yo Mark, one of the Tuis in Peter McIntrye's painting Two New Zealand Tuis, which features in the exhibition.

Also present were United States of America Ambassador William McCormick, Polish Ambassador Lech Mastalerz, the current New Zealand Army artist Captain Matt Gauldie, representatives from the New Zealand Defence Forces and New Zealand Returned Services Association, war veterans from World War Two, members of the McIntyre and Barns-Graham families and Wellington-based artists.

"The National Collection of War Art is a lasting tribute to New Zealand men and women who saw active service in World War One and Two. Many of the war artists were servicemen who have captured on canvas their experiences and those of their comrades, for future generations to see.

"The collection is significant to our national identity. Learning about and understanding the wartime role of our parents, grandparents, and great grandparents can help us to become a stronger, richer and more vibrant nation," Judith Tizard said.

The exhibition includes works by Peter McIntyre, Alan Barns-Graham, J. B. Coe and other war-time artists. A painting by current New Zealand Army artist Captain Matt Gauldie is also included in the exhibition.

Archives New Zealand, as the Government Record Keeper, acquired the National Collection of War Art in 1981. Since then the department has preserved many of the 1500 works in the collection for the long term. The collection is now being digitised in line with the Government's Digital Content Strategy.

Digitising the images in the War Art collection will make it more available to a greater number of people to view. Through the 'social tagging' process they will be able to add information about the artwork not already provided, comment on information by others and tell their stories about the art.

The first batch of 360 digitised images from the collection are due online at the end of May.

What: War Art
When: Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat 9am-1pm
Where: Archives New Zealand, 10 Mulgrave Street, Wellington
Entry is free.