Opening Day

Kia ora katoa.

Humblest apologies for neglecting you all in April - getting the museum open took every minute of the days and most of the nights but, we did it. Saturday 30April saw us gather in brilliant sunshine for the ceremonies.

With much anticipation Aotea Utanganui – Museum of South Taranaki opened on Saturday 30 April. The official celebration comprised a powhiri and speeches by kaumatua representing local iwi and our manuhiri (guests). David Crompton, the Chairperson of the South Taranaki District Museum Trust and the Mayor of South Taranaki, Ross Dunlop also spoke.


After a karakia from Syd Kershaw, the ribbon was cut by Ross Dunlop and puhi, Hinetawhirangi Kershaw. Jenny Kershaw, the mother of our puhi, had performed a similar function when the original museum opened in 1974.


Visitor reaction was very positive with ‘awesome’, ‘amazing’ and ‘much better than we expected’, being the common theme of many comments.

Syd Kershaw delivering the karakia.

Stepping up with the scissors, the Mayor Ross Dunlop and Hinetawhirangi Kershaw, with Syd Kershaw in the background.

Inside – the long-term gallery displays.

I will add more photos and more detail soon - many thanks for your patience with our silence.

Come and visit us soon. We are open from 10am - 4pm every day except Xmas Day and Good Friday.

Ka kite ano!. 

Remembering Romance

On February 14 – a day for lovers, romantics and the young at heart, Patea Library Plus celebrated by inviting everyone to a Remembering Romance morning tea. Aotea Utanganui – Museum of South Taranaki contributed to the occasion by taking along a wedding dress from the collection.

Ruth Merrigan who wore the dress to her wedding in 1943 started the reminiscences off by recalling her special day. Her husband was working as a seaman on the Royal New Zealand Navy hospital ship Maunganui and had only three days leave. The wedding took place in St Luke’s Presbyterian Church in Oxford St, Patea. There are no photographs because film was rationed and they could not get any.

About thirty years later Ruth McKay was looking for costumes for the Hawera Players and Ruth Merrigan offered her wedding dress, which was gratefully accepted. It graced the stage in many productions and was even worn by Ruth McKay in a fashion parade. Eventually she donated the gown to the museum in 1997.

The gown is made from cream satin. The slim fit and simple styling would have suited the austerity of the times. The principal adornment is a series of self-covered buttons along the forearms and down the back. There is a delicate gesture to a train in a slight flare at the foot of the gown.

This elegant yet modest dress would have been fitting attire for a bride at that time. What makes it special to our collection is the story that belongs to it, of a young woman, still resident in Patea by the way, whose hopes and dreams of romance and married happiness were embodied in this wedding dress.



See you all on April 30 at 11.00am for the Grand Opening of the new museum!

Ka kite ano.

15th Century Artefacts Return Home

Monday March 7 was a significant day for South Taranaki as the Waitore Artefacts, 15th century relics of human habitation in the district were returned to Aotea Utanganui – Museum of South Taranaki.

The taonga were first discovered by the late Livinsgston Baker in the 1960s. He found pieces of wood protruding from the mud on his farm after a creek had been in flood. Over the next eight years more taonga were found. He eventually managed to organise a dig with a team of archaeologists from Auckland University. Carbon-dated to the 15th century, these artefacts are among the earliest evidence of humans living in New Zealand.

At that time the museum in Patea did not have a suitable environment for storing or displaying these precious treasures, so they were cared for by Puke Ariki in New Plymouth. With the new museum building having appropriate temperature and humidity controls, it was time for these taonga to return home. They were accompanied on their journey by Puke Ariki staff and members of their Kaumatua Kaunihera.

A rapturous welcome awaited them – kaumatua and representatives of four local iwi, children from the Wai-o-Turi Kohanga Reo and students from Patea Area School, along with museum staff were waiting in brilliant sunshine to receive these taonga. After an emotional powhiri, the taonga were passed into the care of the museum. They will play an important role in the exhibitions that are currently being readied for display.

The new museum opens to the public on April 30 at 11am. All welcome!

What a Triumph!

The Edison Triumph Phonograph is a thing of beauty. The case is of fine golden oak and the lettering on the decal swirls and flows across the front. The Triumph was the mid-range machine - sturdy, well built, with a Triple-Spring motor that can run for half an hour. This was unprecedented at the time and ensured good sales. It was first marketed in 1900 and the Triumph range was in production until 1913. The one in our collection is from around 1904.

Thomas Edison, 1847-1931, developed the first phonograph in 1877. He was a prolific inventor who put the profits from the sale of his telegraphy machine into an industrial complex dedicated to the production of his inventions. He is said to have pioneered the assembly-line approach with his business and thus was able to utilise the time and energy of his workers most efficiently.

Whilst it may not fit into your pocket,  it is portable. The wax cylinders it plays ran for two or four minutes, approximately the length of a song. It could be said to be the 1904 equivalent of a boom box. The Edison Triumph is a spectacular example of the sound engineering of its day.


It will be on display when we open to the public on April 30 so make a date to visit us to see this lovely piece.

Opening Day

Kia ora katoa.

We have an Opening Day - it is Saturday April 30 at 11am. All invited!

Dust off your glad-rags and we will look forward to seeing you.

The local community are organising all day celebrations with food stalls and a craft market so there will be heaps to do once the speeches and formal ceremonies are over.

It will be a great day for Aotea Utanganui - Museum of South Taranaki and the community.

The central focus of our exhibitions are the stories of South Taranaki and the people who live here, so come and celebrate with us on our special day.

Ka kite ano!

What's in a label?

Kia ora.

One of the most important aspects of an exhibition is the labels - these have to be concise, accurate and legible. The choice of font and of font size is as critical as the information that the label displays. Every object in an exhibition will have a label, so what is that label meant to do? The basic facts are a given, such as the title of a work or the object name, the media from which it is made, the name of the maker, the date it was made and who owns it. The last is only relevant if the piece is on loan to your institution. This sort of factual information is contained in what we call an Object Label.

If we want to include a little more about a particular piece - maybe the story behind it's making, or an explanation, then we develop an Extended Object Label, where a sentence or two of description or story allows the museum visitor to understand the relevance of the item to the broader exhibition themes. These are more fun to write, but also immensely more challenging as the sentence or two has to be precise, easy to read and convey the pertinent information in no more than  fifty words, or thereabouts.

There are also Thematic Labels, Segmental Labels and Introductory Labels - more on those next post; time is pressing and  we have hundreds of labels to write.............

ka kite ano!

Happy Reading

Label writing is the type of activity that does not immediately strike a chord with many people but museum folk are different - a label that concisely explains to the visitor what a particular item on display is, and why it is worthy of their attention, is a joy to all who labour over these.

The next few weeks will see the team at Aotea Utanganui - Museum of South Taranaki writing for all we are worth. Each object on display has to have a label. These are a key interpretive tool and central to how the visitor "reads" the exhibition. In addition there is introductory text that welcomes and offers a brief guide as to what a visitor might expect to see, and thematic labels that sum up the main themes of the exhibition.

Every word is scrutinised to ensure that it is precise and accurate and that the meaning and intent is clear. An editor will check for continuity of style, grammar and spelling, and a fact-checker will make sure that the information is correct. Once the label has passed these gruelling tests the graphic artist lays the text out.

The typeface, the font size, spacing - every aspect is considered, as a label that is difficult to read is almost worse than none at all. A proof copy  allows a final check and then it is off to the printer.

The last stage is installation - labels have to be placed in proximity to the object they describe, and also in the optimal position so that the text is clear to the visitor. Lighting has to be angled so that both the object and the label are clearly visible.

All this so that you, the museum visitor can skim across the label and, at a glance, take in all the pertinent information and move on....... happy reading everyone!