The Lessons of History
with Christopher Clark
AUSTRALIA/UK
with Romain Fathi and Wayne Macauley
AUSTRALIA/FRANCE
Despite European nations suffering significantly greater casualties in relative and real terms, Australia spent more money on the commemorations of the century since WW1 than any other country. What is behind the enthusiastic promotion of the Anzac myth as central to our national identity? With lacerating humour, Wayne Macauley examines the gap between history and mythology in his contemporary reimagining of the story of Simpson and his donkey, Simpson Returns. In Our Corner of the Somme, Romain Fathi details the pragmatic underpinnings of the selection of Villers-Bretonneux as a site of Australian commemoration.