Rotorua Museum

GEORGE ANDREWS – ARTIST & SCULPTOR

museum — Mon, 02 May 2011 01:24:35 +0000

George is an artist of many facets – sculptor and painter to name but two. George’s sculture to Jean Batten, welcomes and farwells visitors at the Rotorua Airport, and in the Goverment Gardens stands the bust of Camille Malfroy. George Andrews will be speaking in the Education Room at 5.30 on the 28th of June.

Significant loan of Taonga Maori

museum — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 02:28:48 +0000

“The Auckland Museum Trust Board has approved the loan of 13 significant taonga Maori to the people of Rotorua”, says Sir Don McKinnon, Interim Director Auckland Museum.

The objects representing a significant part of the Te Arawa people traditions and history will be part of the new $22 million extension and redevelopment of Rotorua Museum. The new galleries will tell the great stories of Te Arawa and the Rotorua region.

“This loan has been the result of months of discussions with kaumatua of Te Arawa and Rotorua Museum. It represents an ongoing legacy of special relationships and ties between the people of Te Arawa and Auckland Museum for over 120 years” says Sir Don McKinnon.

One of the taonga, a pataka (food storage house) named „Te Oha? will be a once in a generation opportunity for research, conservation and education. „The dismantling process and reconstruction will be very exciting?. The house is made up of many small and large individually carved and uncarved pieces interlocked and lashed in a traditional manner. The house has incorporated pieces of a canoe left by adversaries making the prospect of dismantling and re-construction a challenging and interesting exercise.

The decision will be welcomed in Rotorua. “I am sure I speak for the people of Rotorua in expressing genuine gratitude to the Trust Board of Auckland Museum for its decision today said Greg McManus, Director Rotorua Museum. “The loan of 13 significant taonga, many of which have not been seen here for over a century, is indeed visionary and a recognition of the special relationship that has existed between Te Arawa and Auckland Museum since the nineteenth century”.

“All of us involved with the negotiations over the past few months have been extremely impressed with the spirit of cooperation and respect shown by the Board and management of Auckland Museum throughout the process. There is no doubt that these loans will be a major boost to Rotorua Museum as it continues to develop as a major cultural institution in its own right” says Mr. McManus.

The range of objects being loaned include a gateway which was located at Lake Okataina and was partially buried by the Tarawera eruption, an adze associated with the construction of the Te Arawa waka, a small stone tool carving that is said to be a lone survivor from Mokoia Island following the arrival of Hongi Hika in 1823, parts of a fully carved meeting house named Rangitihi, two waka huia (treasure boxes), a bird perch and a mere pounamu (greenstone mere).

Museum works to secure precious taonga

museum — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:23:10 +0000

Rotorua Museum is undertaking to secure a number of Te Arawa taonga from institutions across New Zealand and around the world for long term display in the new Don Stafford Wing. Some of the works are associated with prominent Te Arawa ancestors, others are representative of important events in Rotorua history. These carvings, woven works, and works of art will be key in illustrating the stories that will be told in the new wing.

Te Arawa/Ngati Whakaue representative Fred McRae has been working with Museum staff and exhibition developers Story!Inc for over 12 months researching the taonga and assisting with approaches to the relevant institutions.

”My work has been focused on suitable pieces that will enhance the Museum,” says Fred.

“I research the provenance and the whakapapa to descendants of the carvers and weavers and look at the context and stories associated with the objects.”

Fred’s work is undertaken in liaison with Story!Inc to ensure that the story will be told sensitively but with interest and entertainment in mind as well. Through this process there is also careful communication with Museum staff and the Pukenga Koeke (Rotorua Museum’s committee of Te Arawa Elders) to ensure the correct linkages are made.

The taonga being sourced will bring to life a number of great Te Arawa stories and some particularly striking pieces will provide visual impact. But as Rotorua Museum Director Greg McManus explains, securing the objects for display is not easy.

“Negotiating the loans is a very long process which started well before the physical work on the building. We are thankful for the strong support from Te Arawa in this process and grateful for the co-operation of the museums we have been working with. It is not always easy for museums to agree to loans of significant objects from their collections, especially if they are on display in those institutions, but it is our job to support the aspirations of Te Arawa in securing the return of their taonga to Rotorua so future generations of local children can see the works of their ancestors without having to travel to other cities.”

A Delicate Demolition

museum — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:19:48 +0000

Dramatic changes have taken place at Rotorua Museum since the beginning of Stage III of the Rotorua Museum Centennial Development. The Museum’s extreme South Wing has been completely removed. A gaping hole and two isolated gable facades are all that remain.

This wing was made up of inferior structures built in 1911 and 1983. Some of these additions were not in keeping with the original intentions for the building’s design and other parts were in poor condition. The demolition was a precise and revealing process. As the dismantling progressed, contractors were able to explore and assess areas of the Bath House not previously accessible. Great care also had to be taken to ensure the features of the building that were to be retained were not damaged.

Another significant part of the Stage III project so far has been the underpinning of the existing building. Whilst largely unseen, this process was vital to strengthen and stabilise the aging Bath House and the thermal ground that it stands on.

With the underpinning completed, the long but exciting phase of rebuilding and extending the wing now begins. The outer shell of the wing is expected to be completed by April 2011 with another four months for the internal fit. The completed new wing wing will open to the public in August 2011.

The original gable facade remains in place.

The 1912 dormer window is removed.

The demolition is complete.

The final stage begins

hodgeman — Mon, 25 May 2009 10:37:55 +0000

After four years of planning and preliminary work the final stage of the Rotorua Museum Centennial Development is about to begin. Trees and scrub have been cleared from the site and the road to the south of the building currently being realigned. The first construction work on the building will begin in June.

Stage III is the most significant period of construction that the Bath House building has seen since it opened to the public on August 13th 1908. Five major additions or alterations have taken place in the last 101 years and now this final phase will see the building completed to the original footprint proposed by Dr Arthur Wohlmann.

The south wing of the Bath House was the most incomplete section of the building and despite additions in 1911 and 1983 significant work is still required to fulfil Wohlmann’s proposal. Construction is expected to take 22 months with an additional four months required for internal fit out. Stage III will provide an extra 1260m² of floor space. In addition to two new galleries for temporary exhibitions, the existing south wing exhibitions will be redeveloped and extended to provide an enhanced museum experience.

The redevelopment provides the museum with an exciting opportunity to re-look at it its exhibition content, flow and design. “We are effectively starting with a blank canvas,” says Deputy Director Cherie Meecham, who will lead the installation of the exhibition spaces. “It is a unique opportunity to take the best of our existing exhibitions and enhance them with new stories and interpretive techniques. We can also address issues of layout and flow without the constraints of existing structures”.

Business as usual throughout project

hodgeman — Sun, 24 May 2009 09:43:15 +0000

Even though staff will be flat out behind the scenes during construction for Stage III of the Rotorua Museum Centennial Development, it will be business as usual for the museum. Careful planning and consideration to maintaining access to a full range of exhibitions has meant there will be minimal disruption to the visitor experience.

The Maori Battalion and Te Arawa exhibitions are currently being relocated to the Rotorua Trust Galleries (north wing) and will reopen to the public before the end of May. A new Maori Battalion cinema experience has already been constructed and is operating as normal.

The last of the south wing exhibitions, the Tarawera exhibition, will be relocated in early 2010. At this point the south wing doors will be shut and will not re-open again until August 2011 when the new exhibitions will be opened to the public.

The north wing exhibitions and Rotorua Stories cinema experience will not be affected by the construction. As a result of this careful planning visitors will be able to see all the exhibitions they would normally experience, just in a different place.

Construction Contract Awarded

hodgeman — Thu, 21 May 2009 10:44:41 +0000

The Bay of Plenty/Waikato branch of building company, Watts & Hughes Construction Ltd, has been awarded the contract to complete Stage III of the Centennial Project. Watts & Hughes recently undertook the successful expansion contract for Rotorua’s District Library, which was completed on time and within budget.

A significant number of local Rotorua businesses are expected to secure sub-contract work on the approximately $9 million construction programme.

Funding successfully secured before work begins

hodgeman — Tue, 12 May 2009 10:47:53 +0000

The $22 million funding target for the Rotorua Museum Centennial Development has been reached. The fundraising efforts for the project have been driven by the Rotorua Museum Centennial Trust which was established in 2006. Following the most recent meeting of the Trust on 8 May, Trust Chairman Lyall Thurston was able to confirm that the target of $22 million has been achieved.

“It’s a reflection of the high regard this building is held in that full funding has been secured before construction of the final stage has started,” says Mr Thurston.

The project is of both national and local significance and funding has been forthcoming from a wide range of sources. Strong commitment from Rotorua District Council, Rotorua Energy Trust, Bay Trust and the Rotorua Chamber of Commerce at the very early stages of fundraising set a solid platform for funding approaches to be made at a national level.

He Korowai o te Wai Lecture series: PROFESSOR DAVID HAMILTON

hodgeman — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 07:56:20 +0000

Professor David Hamilton PhD, EBOP Chair in Lake Management and Restoration, Centre for Biodiversity and Ecology Research, the University of Waikato, Hamilton will discuss: How we can arrest the decline in our lakes from harmful blooms.

He Korowai o te Wai Lecture Series: Dr MIKE JOY

hodgeman — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 11:07:34 +0000

Dr Mike Joy PhD, Director of Centre for Freshwater Ecosystem Management and Modelling, Massey University, Palmerston North will present: New Zealand freshwaters – A State of denial in a time of crisis.