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Along the lines of……..
Wednesday, 8 April 2020
Since we are all in lockdown and may have a bit of time on our hands we thought you might like to participate in a fun little challenge. Create your own still life out of items lying around the house and send in your image. Here are some samples for…
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The History of the Rotorua Museum Art Awards
Thursday, 22 August 2019
The Rotorua Art Awards as we know them were started by the Friends of the Rotorua Art Gallery in 1983. Before this there had been an annual exhibition award that was run by the Rotorua Society of Arts. The Arts Society evolved from a sketching group which was set up…
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The mystery of the Tarawera cats
Friday, 8 June 2018
Many people will remember the dried remains of a cat which had been displayed in Rotorua Museum in recent years. In fact it has been described as one of the museum’s most popular exhibits. Here is the story of the three Tarawera cats that were included in the Tarawera eruption…
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The Fenton Agreement 1880-2030
Friday, 24 November 2017
1980 was a busy year for the City of Rotorua. It was the year that the city chose to celebrate its founding on 25 November 1880. The year-long centennial celebration kicked off in style in November 1979 when the Morrison Quartet briefly reunited for a special concert at the Rotorua…
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How to Build a Bath House: designing and building the Rotorua Bath House 1902-1908
Sunday, 13 August 2017
The grand old bathhouse presides over the Government Gardens; its central tower rises out of the ground with its wings outstretched to embrace the surrounding landscape. 109 years ago the designers and architects of the Rotorua Bath House could not have foreseen the extent of discussion, debate and changes to…
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Rotorua Museum Art Awards 2017: Entries Closing Soon
Thursday, 27 July 2017
Have you got your entry in for the Rotorua Museum Art Awards? Applications close on 11 August so you’d better be in quick. And to help you find some creative inspiration, we’re taking a look back at some of the winning works from our collection. After a 10 year hiatus,…
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A mystery photographer on the Rotorua tour
Tuesday, 18 July 2017
Rotorua Museum has a collection of about 40 glass plate negatives all taken by an unidentified photographer between January and March 1912. They show groups of tourists, all in their heavy Edwardian clothing in the summer heat. Some are standing on Hinemoa’s Steps taking in the sights of Okere Falls, or…
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Big Red – New Zealand’s endangered Pōhutukawa
Tuesday, 4 July 2017
In 2003 Rotorua Museum opened their exhibition called Big Red – celebrating the pōhutukawa. It marked 11 years of Project Crimson, a community-based project to save the endangered tree. Back then the main dangers for the pōhutukawa were possums and humans. Today Project Crimson is 27 years old, and there…
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Māori All Blacks: Looking Back at One of Our Own
Thursday, 15 June 2017
Rotorua is home to a number of Māori All Black greats. With the 2017 Māori All Black squad in town, we thought we would look back at one of our own: Hector Archibald Steele (1915-1990). Hector, known as Heke, was the youngest son of Duncan and Ngaroma Steele who both…
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Le Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa – Samoan Language Week 2017
Sunday, 28 May 2017
Talofa Lava! We are very excited to launch our new blog which kicks off by celebrating Pacific Island Language Weeks 2017. Over the course of each Pacific Island language week, we will share some of our newfound knowledge, engage directly with our Pacific communities to share treasures from the Museum’s…