28th Apr 2016
New Museum of Waitangi finalist in Service IQ 2016 New Zealand Museum Awards
Te Kōngahu - the Museum of Waitangi has been announced as a finalist in the ‘Best Museum Project’ category in the Service IQ 2016 New Zealand Museum Awards. The Museum of Waitangi is the cornerstone project of a major programme of development at the Treaty Grounds aimed at enhancing the visitor experience at New Zealand’s most important historic site. Focusing on telling the stories of Waitangi and the origins of the nation through a mix of traditional museum displays and interactive technology.
This year’s judging panel comprises University of Auckland’s Dr Michelle Dickinson, New Zealand Portrait Gallery acting director Helen Kedgley, Tauranga City Council’s Cultural Heritage Manager Dean Flavell and Dr Bronwyn Labrum, Head of New Zealand and Pacific Cultures at Te Papa. The 2016 award winners will be announced on Wednesday 18 May during the inaugural Museums Australasia conference which runs from 16–18 May 2016 in Auckland.
Waitangi Treaty Grounds CEO Greg McManus is thrilled the new museum has been named a finalist in the awards: “It is recognition of all the hard work by so many people to bring the museum to reality and we are delighted to be a finalist in these important awards.”
Historian and consultant Dame Claudia Orange says: “The new museum is an important place to tell the stories of Waitangi - from the personal to the political. The exhibition spans the history of Waitangi from before the signing of the Treaty in 1840, right up to present day.”
The two story museum houses a permanent exhibition on the ground floor with changing exhibitions and an education centre on the first floor. The permanent exhibition aims to enhance the Treaty Grounds experience by telling the story of the nation of New Zealand, from first contact between Europeans and Māori through to the present day. Significant treasures (taonga) associated with Waitangi were scattered throughout New Zealand and around the world for more than 60 years.
The new museum enables many of these treasures to return to the North and be properly cared for in a modern, purpose-built environment and be easily accessed by the communities from which they originated.
