Staff Picks on show at Museum

The opening of Golden Bay Museum’s winter exhibition took place on 25 July, attended by interested locals. Manawhenua ki Mohua representatives Laurelee Duff and Eddie Ford carried out the preceding blessing ceremony.

Museum manager Karen Johnson stated in her opening address that she had found “nearly 30-something” items of interest, which she had to whittle down.

She explained the exhibition background.

“A lot of museums’ taonga, artefacts, don’t see the light of day unfortunately – through lack of display space and various other reasons, such as the vulnerability of items. We’ve decided we would have a Collection Selection… We did one a couple of years back on textiles; this one, we decided we’d do Staff Picks.”

Each of the three staff members selected five objects that piqued their interest. Their task was to state why they made the choice and explain a little of the historical background.

Archivist and researcher, Sally Gaffney, said she found it difficult because she rarely has anything to do with the actual objects. Her area of interest includes maps and writing; the latter she included in the form of a large ledger dating back to 1865.

Collections technician, Lee Rzoska, chose personal favourites that tie in with her own interests. A couple of her picks feature an old movie theatre seat, and an original Bakelite Bournvita mug complete with lid and a whisk.

Everything is beautifully displayed, proving the experience and professionalism of those involved. Clearly Karen, Sally and Lee have had a lot of fun putting the Staff Picks together. Their friendly banter is expressed via the panels, particularly concerning a certain furniture item.

Upon entering the exhibition room, it is advisable to pause and read the text panels on the left. These explain the colour coding system, indicating which staff member’s choice each item is. Throughout the selection, each piece is accompanied by an explanatory text panel.

Karen is open to more ideas for future Collection Selections. The team hope to create these exhibitions annually. “Sometimes people come in and ask about things they haven’t seen for a while or express what they would like to see again.”

Staff Picks will run until 31 October, then another innovative exhibition will take place from December.

Anyone who would like to volunteer to work front of house, once a fortnight, during the busy summer months, is invited to pop in or contact Karen via email: info@goldenbaymuseum. org.nz.