Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 1

Hāngaitanga | Relevance

Issue 1, May 2016. Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 2

Committee members: Rebecca Keenan, editor Tamara Patten, editor Shelley Arlidge, sub-editor Jessica Mio, sub-editor Serena Siegenthaler, designer Milly Mitchell-Anyon, web developer

MA Board liaisons: Talei Langley Daniel Stirland

With much gratitude for the support and advice of: Elspeth Hocking Migoto Eria Ashley Remer

Emerging Museum Professionals Group c/o Museums Aotearoa, 104 The Terrace, Wellington, New Zealand. www.tauhere.org | [email protected]

ISSN 2463-5693 Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 3

Content

Page 3 Editorial

Page 5 The Dowager Empress Cixi’s comb: A provenance treasure hunt Jane Groufsky

Page 10 A Māori perspective on the localised relevance of museums and their community relationships Teina Ruri

Page 17 Cultural institutions and the social compact Courtney Johnston

Page 24 Potential Chloe Searle

Page 28 Exclusion in the art gallery Elspeth Hocking

Page 32 Curating outside your comfort zone Aimee Burbery

Page 38 The Canterbury Cultural Collections Recovery Centre: Reflections of an intern Moya Sherriff Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1: Hāngaitanga | Relevance

Editorial

Nau mai, haere mai. Each piece approaches the relevance Welcome to the inaugural issue of of museums in a unique way, with Tauhere | Connections. discussions around the following: collection care in the wake of the Tauhere | Connections was Canterbury earthquakes, major conceived by the Emerging Museum developments in a regional museum Professionals group as a way to context, researching an object’s address a gap in New Zealand’s backstory, the challenges of curation museum publications offering – a in an unfamiliar subject area, an professional journal for the museum exploration of tikanga Māori in a sector that is not tied to the work of a museum context, comparing and single institution. It is intended as a contrasting ‘art speak’ at two very forum for early and mid-career GLAM different exhibitions and a look at sector professionals to publish their potential concerns surrounding the research, reviews and opinion pieces, collection of data from museum visitors. and for emergent researchers and writers to build up their publishing As our first issue came together, we credits. learned a lot more about the journey a publication takes from inception to The journal’s name, Tauhere | delivery. This knowledge is invaluable Connections, echoes the bicultural as we work to develop a theme for our nature and practice of the museum second issue. sector in Aotearoa New Zealand. It also reflects an important aspect of We are dedicated to ensuring the developing a career in the museum continued relevance of Tauhere | sector – making connections, forging Connections as an accessible platform relationships, building networks, from which museum professionals can connecting with visitors to our share their insights into our sector. If museums and with each other. We you have any feedback on this issue or hope that Tauhere | Connections will suggestions for future issues, please provide another avenue for such links contact the editors at to be made. [email protected].

The pieces in this inaugural issue Ngā mihi nui, cover a diverse range of subjects relating to our overarching theme, Tamara and Rebecca Hāngaitanga | Relevance, which is also a focus of the Museums Australasia 2016 Conference. Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 5 Jane Groufsky

The Dowager Empress Cixi’s comb: A provenance treasure hunt

Jane Groufsky S ome objects join the Museum Associate Curator Applied Arts and Design, collection with rich and interesting Auckland Museum backstories: ideal for interpretation and exhibition storytelling. Other objects are Having held roles at Te Papa, MOTAT and collected as an example of ‘type’, such various libraries, Jane now gets to work as a beautiful 1920s beaded dress that closely with the museum’s sizeable and may be evocative of its era, but lacks inspiring decorative arts collection. Jane the story of the woman who wore it. is interested in textiles and fashion, with a particular focus on print and pattern. In When an object is separated from its addition to her research in this area, she information, it can be difficult to retrace enjoys learning through doing, and has tried the story. But as cultural institutions her hand at a wide range of crafts: textile and organisations digitise and share stencilling, linocut printing, dressmaking, their resources, it becomes possible to quilting, jewellery making and shibori dyeing, piece together the history of an object – to name a few. without even entering the museum. Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 6

In June 2015, Auckland Museum Empresses in Chinese history end up launched our Collections Online in a museum in New Zealand? website, allowing visitors to access more than one million catalogue We know that Lady MacDonald, records from our collections. The wife of British diplomat Sir Claude following month, the MacDonald, met Applied Arts and with the Dowager Design department How did a comb Empress in Beijing was contacted “from one of the most with five other by Linus Fan, foreign women in an independent notable Empresses December 1898. researcher based in In a full report the United States. in Chinese history of the meeting end up in a museum in the Sydney Mr Fan is a Morning Herald dedicated sleuth in New Zealand? (8 July 1901), of objects relating ” Lady MacDonald to the formidable described the Dowager Empress Cixi, who effectively Dowager Empress as “a young-looking ruled China for nearly five decades woman with jet black hair and kindly of the late Qing Dynasty. He had dark eyes; in repose her expression is discovered an entry in our online stern, but when she smiles it lights up catalogue for “Z133: comb, hair. and all traces of severity disappear.”1 Gifted to Lady MacDonald in 1900 at Peking by the Dowager Empress, Tzu Lady MacDonald goes on to detail the Hsi” and was intrigued – could this official reception and activities with story be verified? And if so, how did the ladies of the palace. She notes a comb from one of the most notable that a gift of “boxes containing combs

Hair comb, circa 1898, China. Gift of Violet Dickinson, 1943. Auckland War Memorial Museum – Tāmaki Paenga Hira. Z133. Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 7 made of ivory and of different sizes and A further clue came from Fourteen shapes” were presented to each of the Years of Diplomatic Life in Japan, visitors. Despite the slight discrepancy extracts from the diary written by in date, the description suggests that Baroness Albert d’Anethan, wife of a the comb in our collection could have Belgian Minister. In the entry dated 23 been given at this very event. September 1905, the author describes a dinner at the British Legion in Tokyo The Museum’s own records regarding which included a “Miss Dickinson, a the comb were slim, but we were able friend of Lady Robert Cecil’s. She to confirm to Mr Fan that it was gifted stands 6 feet 3 inches in her shoes, and to Auckland Museum by Miss Violet when a little Japanese tailor measured Dickinson of Burnham Wood, England, her for a gown, she quaintly suggested in 1944. Initial research showed that the use of a ladder.”2 Besides letting us Miss Dickinson was a close friend of know her height, this entry reveals that Virginia Woolf, and a relative of George Mis Dickinson visited Tokyo. Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland – for whom the city was named.

Two of the letters in the Captain Humphrey-Davies correspondence file. Auckland War Memorial Museum – Tāmaki Paenga Hira. MUS-95-43 Correspondence H. Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 8

Shipping logs from the Japan Weekly the story that Mr Fan had pieced Mail confirm the arrival of a Lady together through his research. In Miss Dickinson into Tokyo in 19053 – Dickinson’s own handwritten words was coinciding with Sir Claude MacDonald’s the story of the comb: post as British Ambassador to Japan. This suggests that the comb was gifted “I’ll send the Chinese little things. In to Miss Dickinson by Lady 1905, I went with Lord and Lady Cecil MacDonald at this time. (of Chelwood) to Japan; we stayed with Sir Claude Just one question Years of and Lady MacDonald remained: how did the “chasing the there. Lady MacDonald comb make its way into gave me this present the Auckland Museum empress’s given to her in 1900 after collection? Was Miss relics, such the siege of Peking by Dickinson’s family the old Dowager Empress connection to Lord a rewarding Tzu Hsi. The MacDonalds Auckland the reason she outcome were at Peking then and gifted the comb to Auckland then later went to Tokyo; Museum? Early copies is akin to they had lovely Chinese of the Auckland Institute finding the treasures.”4 Miss Dickinson and Museum Annual also confirmed the Lord Report listed significant needle in a Auckland link, including in acquisitions, and in the haystack her letter a list of family 1943-1944 report, scanned ” members. and published on the Museum website, Mr Fan found specific reference to Although the elements of the comb’s Chinese objects brought back from provenance already existed in the England by Captain Humphreys- Museum’s records, it took some Davies to Auckland as gifts from Violet investigation and time to connect the Dickinson. dots. In Mr Fan’s own words: “Years of chasing the empress’s relics, such George Humphreys-Davies, the a rewarding outcome is akin to finding Museum’s honorary Asian curator at the needle in a haystack.”5 Through the the time, donated 354 objects to the use of digitised resources and with the Museum, sourced through his wide help of museum staff, our researcher network of collectors and curators. was able to reunite this object with its With this final connection, we were history, and breathe life into a small, able to go to our institutional archive painted comb. and search through Humphreys-Davies’ correspondence for any reference to First published on the Auckland Museum blog. Violet Dickinson.

Here, we found a goldmine. Our records co-ordinator uncovered a series of letters between Miss Dickinson and Captain Humphreys- Davies that unequivocally corroborated Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 9

Endnotes

1 THE DOWAGER-EMPRESS OF CHINA. (1901, July 8). The Sydney Morning Herald, p. 4. Retrieved February 10, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news- article14396046

2 Anethan, Albert d, Baroness. (1912). Fourteen years of diplomatic life in Japan. London: S. Paul & Co. p. 455

3 Japan Weekly Mail. Volume 44, 1905, p.342. Retrieved February 10, 2016, from https://books.google.co.nz/ books?id=WIMzAQAAMAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s

4 Dickinson, Viola. Letter to George Humphreys- Davies. 17 September 1943. MS-95-43 Correspondence H

5 Fan, Linus. Email to author. 13 January 2016. Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 10

A Māori perspective o n the localized relevance of museums and their community relationships

I ntroduction As I write, I express my close aroha and affiliation to te iwi o Tūhoe, to whom I whakapapa. This research is dedicated to our whānau in Te Urewera, situated in the eastern Bay of Plenty. May you remain steadfast to our beliefs of traditionalism and passive resistance. Te Mana Motuhake o Tūhoe! As I travel through my journey, I remember those who have passed on from our Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Awa and Te Arawa whakapapa. Ko taku iwituaroa Teina Ruri Teina tēnā.

Teina Ruri In this article, I explore the importance Museum Guide, Otago Museum of kaitiakitana, wāhi, mātaurana and mahi to museums throughout Aotearoa, Ko Mataatua te wa-aka from a tikana Māori perspective. Ko Putauaki me Maunapohatu te mauna Furthermore, I examine the relevance Ko Tūhoe, Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Awa me Te of biculturalism at Te Papa Tongarewa Arawa ōku iwi Museum of New Zealand in Wellington Ko Rangitaiki te awa and the Auckland War Memorial Ko Ngāti Nuku, Ngāti Ahi, Ngāti Tamawera, te Museum, as examples of museums that whānau pani te hapū present a rich cultural experience. Ko Ohotu me Uiraroa te marae Ko Hine Rauhuia te whare whakaruru hau It is important to acknowledge that Ko Tauwhiti te whare kai museums provide communities with a Ko Teina Moana-Lee Ruri taku ingoa unique interactive experience where the No reira tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tatou public can engage with culture through katoa. exhibitions, events and more. Museums are uniquely placed to cater to the Note: This piece uses Tūhoe dialect. needs of the individual, regardless or Certain words are spelled differently than in race, gender, class, sexuality or ability. standardised te reo Māori. They provide people with a sense of Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 11

A pōwhiri at Rongomaraeroa Marae within Te Papa Tongarewa. Image: 2016, courtesy of Tourism New Zealand. place and collective heritage and are a bodies of knowledge. For example, great way of learning about local and the Whanganui iwi are ‘river people’ global history. Importantly, they also and the Ngāti Porou iwi are the offer opportunities to develop societal ‘coasties’. Their tikana is based on understanding of biculturalism within and is particular to their surroundings Aotearoa. and history, and this diversity within Māoridom needs to be reflected in Tikana museums. Tikana (or tikanga), as described by Ranginui Walker (2004), are a Understanding tikana assists museums customary system of values and to develop relationships with iwi, practices that have developed over time hapū and other communities, and to and are deeply embedded in a Māori care for and manage taona in more social context. The word ‘tikana’ derives culturally appropriate and collaborative from ‘tika’, which translates to correct, ways. Many museums have begun to appropriate, just or accurate: tikana are involve aspects of tikana in their work therefore the correct processes, which ways to practise Māori is more respectful customs. Museums provide to our culture. For communities“ with a example, new staff Leading professor or special guests and academic Sir unique interactive are often welcomed Mason Durie suggests experience with a pōwhiri, wai tikana are habit, ” is made available for lore, methods and ceremonial cleansing rules (Walker, 2004, p. 67). Though purposes, and food is restricted near an essential element of Te Ao Māori, taona. every hapū, iwi and Māori organisation approaches tikana differently. Many For many decades, Māori and Pākehā, iwi have particular worldviews and both within and beyond the museum Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 12 context, have faced differences of It is vital that museums establish opinion and cultural misunderstandings. reciprocal relationships with a broad Along with developing bicultural range of communities in order to meet practices and improving the recognition the needs of visitors, stakeholders of tikana, museums have welcomed and staff, as well as the communities Māori into roles as curators, trust themselves. Involvement with Māori can members, museum guides, science come at many levels, including with iwi, communicators, editors, marketers, and hapū, schools, clubs and more. These more. However, many museums within communal groups provide unique ideas Aotearoa still have a small percentage that can help in the practice of cultural of Māori employees, harmony. Locally, especially in these groups come executive positions, Museums practise together and share which shows that kaitiakitana“ in many or express opinions there is still a way and matters related to go in the pursuit different ways, from to kaitiakitana. of biculturalism. the care of taona to Community involvement is Kaitiakitana the transmission of necessary in Professor Māori knowledge inclusive procedures Marsden and ” to ensure all Maui Pomare both perspectives are describe a kaitiaki as a guardian or taken into account and cultural factors custodian, and kaitiakitana to mean are understood and acknowledged. guardianship, protection or preservation (Royal, 2012). Kaitiakitana is a way Māori who have epitomised kaitiakitana of managing an environment based in a museum context include Apirana on a traditional Māori worldview. Ngata, a prominent politician and For example, it encompasses many lawyer. He was the first Māori person to concepts and practices of sustainability, become involved in museum relations so by implementing kaitiakitana, Māori and communities when he joined the are able to protect these environments board of the Dominion Museum in for future generations and pay homage Wellington in 1930. This saw a shift to tūpuna. towards the acceptance of Māori in such fields, creating a ripple effect Museums practise kaitiakitana in many through the future of Māori in museums different ways, from the care of taona (Tapsell, 2014). Many have followed to the transmission of knowledge. This in his footsteps, including Ngahuia also encompasses an awareness of Te Awekotuku, who became Waikato particular protocols and customs around Museum’s first Māori curator in 1987, museum collections. It is possible for and Paora Tapsell, curator at the museums to further their practices Rotorua Museum of Art and History in relating to kaitiakitana by involving 1990 (Tapsell, 2014). These academics kaumātua to provide advice and guide are kaitiaki who ignite the ahi kā within museum staff and groups as they have their rohe. in the past (McCarthy, 2011, p. 2). Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 13

A selection of taona pūoro from the collection of Horomona Horo. Image: Declan Judd, 2010.

Wāhi Mahi involves groundwork and Wāhi is a noun that means place, understanding the requirements needed location or allocation. It suggests to maintain sound relationships with the customary systems of values and visitors and the community. These practices that are embedded into may include the acknowledgement to specific locations. We as museums Te Tiriti o Waitangi, a code of ethics must take into account differing ideas of and iwi representation. It is important particular iwi and hapū based on locale. to help clarify mandatory museum These differences could involve tension consent systems, including to whānau, in inter-tribal communities; however, it kaumātua or marae communities is important that museum employees are who may be asked to permit rights aware of each place’s individual beliefs, of particular taona and disclosed customs and practices so we can honour information. and treat them with care. Biculturalism in museums involves Mahi an understanding of differences in Mahi is the nucleus of most things. work ethics and cultural beliefs. For Within museums, mahi is focused, example, in a Māori context this thorough and continual and must includes women not working near exemplify the highest standards of certain areas or preparing plant matter professionalism. Relationships are or kai during her menstrual cycle. Many formed at a macro and micro level within Māori consider this cycle a tapu time, the work environment. with wahine taking into consideration the suitable times that they are able to Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 14

get close to taona or sacred sites like exhibition topics are equally divided urupā. Everything must be taken into between Māori and Pākehā (Te Papa account, as a show of respect to tikana National Services Te Paerangi, 2006). and Māori culture. Te Papa provides opportunities for visitors to gain an understanding and Mātaurana appreciation of Te Ao Māori as a living The importance of and vibrant culture. mātaurana is embodied by a Māori whakataukī The bird Arapata Hakiwai is which says, “Te manu “ Kaihautū (Māori Co- kai i te miro, nōna te that feeds Leader) at Te Papa. His nahere. Te manu kai i from the tree role shares the strategic te mātaurana, nōna te leadership of Te Papa ao” or “The bird that of knowledge, alongside the museum’s feeds on the miro (a theirs is the director, and Hakiwai type of berry), theirs is practises bicultural the forest. The bird that world leadership and tautoko feeds from the tree of ” whilst developing wider knowledge, theirs is the world.” This networks and relationships with iwi acknowledges the idea that, when and hapū. As part of his role, he used correctly, mātaurana can assist oversees Te Papa’s Iwi Relationship with wisdom and collective thought, Programme, and their Karanga which provides us with many more Aotearoa Repatriation Programme. opportunities than if it is not applied. The New Zealand Government established the repatriation programme Working with local iwi or hapū is in 2003, giving Te Papa the mandate reciprocal, and can strengthen to develop an official process for the relationships and share knowledge, repatriation of Kōiwi and Koimi Tanata forming partnerships that can, in return, (Māori and Moriori skeletal remains) assist in the development of accurate, from international institutions to innovative and interesting exhibitions local iwi. Hakiwai is also responsible applying mātaurana and tikana to local for Rongomaraeroa Marae and the stories. museum’s tribal group in residence.

The importance of taona is a central Looking North, the Auckland War concept of mātaurana. Many Māori Memorial Act 1996 includes a provision believe that taona held by museums are for Taumata-ā-Iwi, a committee that asleep until they have some connection represents the interests of Māori. with iwi, and that these iwi members It is founded upon the principle of can awaken and revitalise taona. mana whenua (customary authority of ancestral land) with members from Museums and Mātaurana three iwi: Ngāti Whātua, Ngāti Pāoa Te Papa Tongarewa is an example that and Tainui. Taumata-ā-Iwi’s governance emphasises the richness and vitality of principles are much like those of Te Māori culture. It is a bicultural museum Tiriti o Waitangi and they epitomise where the management structure, the concepts of mātaurana and tikana. spatial layout, architectural design and The five principles cover the following: the right to advice, partnership, Māori Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 15 expectations, active protection and governs relations between cultures and redress for past misunderstandings. ensures the rights of both Māori and Existing and proposed museum policies Pākehā are protected (Orange, 1987, are reviewed by Taumata-ā-Iwi, who p. 5). Many years after the signing of then make their recommendations to Te Tiriti, the evolution of the Waitangi the Auckland Museum Trust Board Tribunal led to claims from iwi and hapū (Auckland War Memorial Museum, throughout Aotearoa, which addressed 2016). Māori concerns about land or property issues. The biggest claim put to the The Auckland War Memorial Museum tribunal was the Wai 262 Flora Fauna executive team includes the position of and Intellectual Property Rights Act. Tumuaki Director, Māori Projects and Development. Extremely Linnae Pohatu relevant in is the Tumuaki The act provided a museum of the team and “protection for the context, the her role includes intellectual enhancing historical preservation of property rights the museum’s objects and knowledge act ensured the relations with protection of localised Māori, ” taona. Having who can assist in broadening the range an awareness of the Wai 262 is vital to of services that the museum offers to the care of our taona. It ensures no one the community. is copying or reproducing artefacts for profit. The act provided protection for Other museums throughout Aotearoa the historical preservation of objects cater to their communities and meet and knowledge, and was necessary local needs in many ways. At the Otago in supporting Māori and their cultural Museum, where I work, the recently belongings. closed Hākui: Women of Kāi Tahu told the stories of wāhine from local Kāi Mātaurana is necessary in Tahu iwi. The Tāngata Whenua gallery understanding the importance of such includes a southern section, which legalities, giving those within museums splits the gallery right down the centre a better understanding of what may from the north. Here, visitors can see have happened if this claim had not idealised pounamu ornamentations, been addressed. local stories and dioramas displaying examples of local Kāi Tahu practices. Conclusion To conclude, the main themes Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Wai 262 kaitiakitana, wāhi, mātaurana and mahi Te Tiriti o Waitangi is the founding are all fundamental in understanding document of modern Aotearoa. Although tikana Māori within museums. They some museums do not publically provide a framework that acknowledges display Te Tiriti documentation or the practice of biculturalism and information on its history, it is the how it makes for a better communal backbone of encouraging the spirit environment for the people of Aotearoa. of partnership and good will. Te Tiriti Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 16

Furthermore, the bicultural practice and appreciation at Te Papa Tongarewa Museum and the Auckland War Memorial Museum characterise institutions that present a rich cultural experience. They are able to uphold tikana and the outlined thematics to enhance the services they provide. By continuing such practices, museums can provide the public with high quality museum experiences and engage more fully with their communities.

Tē tōia, tē haumatia.

Nothing can be achieved without a plan, workforce or way of doing things.

Bibliography

Auckland War Memorial Museum. (2016). Taumata-ā- Iwi. Retrieved from http://www.aucklandmuseum. com/about-us/corporate-information/taumata-a-iwi

McCarthy, C. (2011). Museums and Māori, Heritage Professionals, Indigenous Collections, Current Practice (1st ed.). Wellington: Te Papa Press.

Orange, C. (1987). The Treaty of Waitangi (1st ed.). Wellington: Allen and Unwin NZ Limited in association with the Port Nicholson Press.

Royal, Te Ahukaramū Charles. (2012). Kaitiakitanga – guardianship and conservation. Retrieved from http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/kaitiakitanga- guardianship-and-conservation

Tapsell, P. (2014). Māori and museums - ngā whare taonga. Retrieved from http://www.teara.govt.nz/ en/maori-and-museums-nga-whare-taonga

Te Papa National Services Te Paerangi. (2006). Mātauranga Māori and Museum Practice. Retrieved from http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/ www/tk/en/databases/creative_heritage/docs/ tepapa_matauranga_maori.pdf

Walker, R. (2004). Ka Whawhai Tonu Matou: Struggle Without End (1st ed.). Auckland: Penguin New Zealand. Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 17 Courtney Johnston

Cultural institutions and the social compact

Courtney Johnston In August 2015, with the assistance of Director, The Dowse Art Museum a Winston Churchill Fellowship, I made a research trip around art museums Courtney has been director of The Dowse Art in seven states in America exploring, Museum since November 2012. Before this amongst other things, trends in digital she was General Manager at Wellington web development and engagement in art agency Boost New Media and Web Manager museums. In November, I was invited at the National Library of New Zealand. She’s to take part in a panel discussion at a past National Digital Forum board member, the National and State Libraries of convenor of the NDF conference, member Australasia event ‘Linked Up, Loud of the Creative Commons Aotearoa advisory and Literate: Libraries enabling digital group and current Museums Aotearoa board citizenship’.1 member. She writes regularly at www.best of-3. blogspot.co.nz. I used this as an opportunity to investigate a strand of digital practice that had really struck me during my Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 18 conversations where the car is with colleagues in king, free parking as American museums: part of your gallery the increasing visit is a compelling collection and inducement to analysis of visitor take part in the data gathered programme. More using digital points get you better methods, rather access, and more than surveys or special and desirable visitor-trailing. The rewards. key development From a dataset of in this field is more than 100,000 the introduction signed-up Friends, of a new breed the DMA is able to of museum collect information membership where, about which galleries unlike traditional are visited, which memberships programmes are (where you pay an attended, and which annual fee for free rewards are most access to a paid- DMA Friends membership slip. desirable. Using the entry museum) you Photographed by the author. postcode information trade your data for allows them to see access and benefits. where visitors are coming from and, by comparing this information to census The leading exponent of this new data, draw conclusions about which membership model is the Dallas demographics their visitors represent - Museum of Art (DMA). Over the past at scale. three years, during the directorship of the recently departed Maxwell The DMA is currently using this Anderson, the DMA has removed information to understand which entry charges from general admission communities they are reaching and shows at the museum, and introduced not reaching, under-serving and over- a new entry-level ‘Friends’ offer to its serving. The more time they invest in membership programme.2 gathering and interrogating this data, the more of a data-driven organisation When you sign up for the programme, they can become: carrying out using a kiosk at the Museum, you targeted programming, marketing and provide your contact details and your community outreach activities, and postcode information. In return, you measuring whether these activities are admitted to a programme where, have discernible impacts on visitor through various activities, you can behaviour. gain ‘points’ that can be traded in for benefits.3 For example, if you collect On the one hand, I am in favour of, sufficient points, you can have your and admiring of, this approach. It parking charges redeemed. In a city is all too easy to rely on anecdotal Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 19 information, and your own perceptions A growing number of American of your audience and the success of museums are ramping up their your initiatives. However, I also have collection of data in order to increase reservations about these activities that engagement for the purposes of boil down to the risk of visitor acquisition, them becoming – in a retention and colloquial but accurate “ A growing number conversion. One wording in terms of the of American museums museum I met felt affect – creepy. with was planning are ramping up their on implementing We have become collection of data the DMA’s accustomed to software with a trading our data for in order to increase new free entry- convenience and for engagement for the level membership access. We hand offer, with the over contact details purposes of visitor same intent of and dates of birth acquisition, retention understanding for loyalty cards at visitor companies that then and conversion demographics. But bombard us with ” they also had a marketing offers. We buy from sites clear plan for using this information like Amazon, which store our browsing – this personalisation – for targeted and shopping behaviour and use this to marketing campaigns, and to convert tailor the information that is presented visitors to shoppers, to donors: to us, and to others. We hand over our effectively using visitor data to data merrily, and maybe without thought maximise revenue. At the ‘Museums for how this data is being stored, and the Web Asia’ conference in analysed, and shared. Melbourne in October 2015, Diana Pan from the Museum of Modern If we look at the DMA’s privacy policy, Art showed statistics derived from it states: members’ shopping behaviour, and explained how MoMA had tweaked its “We sometimes provide personal retail offer in response to patterns they information to other providers of saw.5 goods and services so that they may assist us in connection with ticket As well as giving us information sales, event promotion, fundraising, to improve the relevance of our or otherwise in connection with programmes, tackle inequality of providing services or merchandise to access and increase revenue, data can you. However, we require that those sometimes tell us things we’d rather providers use personal information only not hear. for that purpose, and we require our providers to provide assurances that Colleen Dilenschneider is a consultant they will appropriately protect personal with an American company that 4 information entrusted to them.” specialises, among other things, in the application of data analysis in the non- profit sector. She writes and presents Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 20 regularly on data as it relates to cultural and visitor organisations. In a Dilenschneider’s company generates November 2015 blog these insights by post she crunched buying data from the data on free These are unsettling many sources: admission days: the “ the data of people monthly free days things for the very well- just like us. They many paid-entry meaning people who run then analyse museums in the US this data and run in the hopes of museums to hear. sell that analysis reducing the barriers ” and consultancy to access for non-traditional visitors services back to cultural organisations: (read: those who are lower-earning, just like ours. I should note that more geographically distanced, less Dilenschneider is not at all covert about educated and from a different racial this, and in fact her company has been or ethnic background to your average very generous in allowing her to share white middle-class middle-aged this data and information as freely as museum member).6 she does.7

The data as Dilenschneider analysed There’s no escaping the fact though it shows that free admission days do that companies are being built and not attract underserved audiences. money being made on the bounty of the Dilenschneider’s research shows that: ocean of data we are all drip feeding into. • Admission price is not identified as the chief barrier to access Concern about the collection, security and use of data – from the outing • Free access days attract higher of philanderers on dating sites to a earning and higher educated former CIA director’s statement “we kill attendees than paid access days people based on metadata” – are hardly new.8 But my heightened awareness, • Free access days do not tempt non- due to what I’d seen and heard in visitors, but rather accelerate the America, primed me to pay particular speed at which an existing visitor attention to a series of references that revisits. floated across my radar, all sharing a common theme: the comparison of data Cultural organisations generally don’t technology to nuclear technology. know how to, or don’t effectively, market free access days to underserved In The Guardian in 2008, Cory audiences but instead use their email Doctorow wrote that “we should treat databases, social media platforms and personal electronic data with the same regular marketing outlets to tap the care and respect as weapons-grade people they are already reaching. plutonium – it is dangerous, long- lasting and once it has leaked there’s These are unsettling things for the very no getting it back.”9 well-meaning people who run museums to hear. Doctorow at that time proposed that Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 21

data should be embargoed for 200 will become of sites like Twitter in five years, that anyone who touches or years or ten. But the data those sites cares for that data over that period own will retain the power to hurt for must be properly trained, and that decades.”11 businesses and government must be made to bear the costs associated He also noted that data technology is with this. creating a situation where people are reacting to the manipulations of big data, At the start of October, Pinboard purposefully gaming systems, forcing an founder Maciej Ceglowski spoke at ever-evolving arms race between data O’Reilly Media’s ‘Big Data’ conference. collectors and data creators that creates Aiming to puncture the bubble of data more distance between us as humans, not enthusiasts, he painted a purposefully more understanding. grim picture of data that in his words should be seen “not as a pristine Finally, British artist and technologist James resource, but as a waste product, a Bridle recently wrote an essay, based on a bunch of radioactive, toxic sludge that talk he gave at the ‘Through Post-Atomic we don’t know how to handle.”10 Eyes’ event in Toronto, that referenced the two above pieces.12 Bridle has written Ceglowski drew an explicit link between and made work data technology and extensively about mass nuclear technology, surveillance, and in this as two powerful piece he drew a parallel innovations whose between the Cold War ‘beneficial uses we that nuclear technology could never quite locked the world into untangle from the for 45 years and harmful ones.’ the potential of big

data today. As he Like Doctorow, notes, even though Ceglowski describes the information we the similarity between collect about human data and nuclear behaviour grows waste: both materials and grows and have the potential grows, our sympathy to last far longer and empathy and than the institutions connection across we build to manage politics, races, them. He pointed Palace de la Concord, (1938-1943). religions and nations out that “information Piet Mondrian, Dallas Museum of Art, do not leap forward about people retains Foundation for the Arts Collection, at the same pace its power as long gift of the James H and Lillian Clark as those people are Foundation. Work displayed with We in cultural alive, and sometimes text panel for ‘DMA Faves’ activity. organisations think as long as their Photographed by the author. of ourselves as the children are alive. Detail of a ‘DMA Faves’ text panel. white hats and the No one knows what Photographed by the author. Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 22 good guys. Libraries in particular have point for you, reproduced here from his a strong ethos of free and protected ‘Haunted by Data’ talk: access to information. The siren call of data is strong however, and we will “Don’t collect it! all soon, if not already, have to ask ourselves: who benefits from the data If you can get away with it, just don’t we collect, and how do we keep each collect it! Just like you don’t worry other safe? about getting mugged if you don’t have any money, your problems with data A coda disappear if you stop collecting it. ... When I gave this talk, I purposefully If you have to collect it, don’t store it! took a cautious attitude towards the activity of data collection by ... You can get a lot of mileage out cultural organisations, and painted of ephemeral data. There’s an added a dark picture of a field that can be benefit that people will be willing to intelligently managed. My concern, share things with you they wouldn’t as a museum director but also as a otherwise share, as long as they can technologist at heart, lies with the believe you won’t store it. ... tendency of people who are not versed in the conversations around data If you have to store it, don’t keep it! management to fall for vendors’ pitches without applying a sufficiently sceptical Certainly don’t keep it forever. Don’t lens to their claims. sell it to Acxiom! Don’t put it in Amazon glacier and forget it. This concern was proved valid when earlier this year I heard a museum I believe there should be a law that director talking about hardware they limits behavioral data collection to were about to insert into their gallery 90 days, not because I want to ruin doorways, which would collect the IMEI Christmas for your children, but (unique identifier) of every switched-on because I think it will give us all mobile phone that entered the building. better data while clawing back some This is vastly appealing to me as a semblance of privacy. ”13 director, for the ability to cheaply and accurately measure how many repeat visitors you have to your museum and Endnotes how frequently they visit. It is also terrifying to me as a technologist and 1 Linked Up, Loud and Literate: Enabling Digital Citizenship http://www.nsla.org.au/events/ as a citizen, in terms of the way it linked-loud-and-literate-libraries-enabling-digital- invades an individual’s privacy and citizenship-wellington-nz surveils their physical passage through 2 The Dallas Museum of Art Friends programme the world. https://www.dma.org/visit/dma-friends

At the end of the talk, a member of the (More information about my research into American audience asked how we could collect museum membership programmes is available here http://best-of-3.blogspot.co.nz/2016/01/wcmt- and manage data responsibly. I offer acquittal-draft-membership.html, including links to up Ceglowski’s advice as a starting many more articles and sources.) Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 23

3 Points can be gained in a multitude of ways: by bringing people to the museum and recruiting them into the programme, collecting codes posted at the entries to different galleries, taking part in public programme events, doing scavenger hunts, and so on.

4 The Dallas Museum of Art Friends privacy statement https://www.dma.org/privacy

5 Diana Pan and Manish Engineer, ‘The 360-Degree View: Why An Integrated CRM Platform is Important in Growing a Museum’s Membership Program.’ Museums and the Web Asia, Melbourne, October 2015 http://mwa2015.museumsandtheweb.com/ proposal/the-360-degree-view-why-an-integrated- crm-platform-is-important-in-growing-a-museums- membership-program/ Chloe Searle 6 Colleen Dilenschneider, ‘Free admission days do not actually attract underserved visitors.’ Know Your Own Bone, 4 November 2015 http://colleendilen. com/2015/11/04/free-admission-days-do-not- actually-attract-underserved-visitors-to-cultural- organizations-data/

7 See the information page on Dilenschneider’s website http://colleendilen.com/welcome/ and her frequent public presentations

8 David Cole, ‘We Kill People Based on Metadata.’ New York Review of Books, 10 May 2014 http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2014/05/10/we-kill- people-based-metadata/

9 Cory Doctorow, ‘Personal data is as hot as nuclear waste.’ The Guardian, 15 January 2008 https:// www.theguardian.com/technology/2008/jan/15/data. security

10 Maciej Ceglowski, ‘Haunted by Data.’ Talk given on 1 October 2015 http://idlewords.com/talks/ haunted_by_data.htm

11 Ibid.

12 James Bridle, ‘Big Data, No Thanks.’ BookTwo. org, 2 November 2015 http://booktwo.org/notebook/ big-data-no-thanks/

13 Ceglowski, ‘Haunted by Data.’ Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 24

Potential

Potential. That was the word my friend Jamie used to describe the North Otago Museum when I asked him to go on a day trip to Oamaru to check out the museum before I was interviewed for the role of curator in 2010. I got the job. Since then it has been the site of much of my museum learning as an emerging professional. I had previously spent six months as a registrar at MTG (then the Hawkes Bay Museum and Art

Chloe Searle Gallery) and before that did contract work in Wellington while completing my master’s degree. Five and a half Chloe Searle Curator of Exhibitions and Collections, North years in, including two and a half as Otago Museum acting director, most of the North Otago Museum’s potential is yet to be realised. Chloe Searle has a BA in Anthropology and This potential is perhaps better English from University of Canterbury and a recognised by people from outside the Masters of Museum and Heritage Studies from district who see: the significance of Victoria University. For the last five years she Oamaru’s Victorian architecture; the has worked as the Curator of Exhibitions and town’s influence on writers, including Collections at the North Otago Museum in Janet Frame; the “Willetts Collection”, Oamaru. She was also acting Director for part of an impressive assemblage of Māori that time. She has a real interest in all aspects taonga from the Waitaki river mouth area of museum operations, which makes work at and more besides. The current museum small museum ideal. does not do any of these stories justice.

When I arrived a redevelopment was planned, but it did not progress to the building stage. However, the need to address limitations with current buildings and the desire to offer a better visitor experience are two of the drivers behind our current cultural facility development project. The new facility is due to open in 2019. This plan involves redeveloping the current Forrester Gallery and an adjoining building being constructed. Together the redeveloped buildings will house the combined North Otago Museum, Forrester Gallery and Waitaki District Archive. Staff, past and present, have worked hard towards bringing the North Otago Museum up to professional standards, but our current buildings are a barrier to further progress. Unfortunately, because the project involves a new building, it is all too easy for discussion to become about the building instead of focusing on why we are developing and who we are developing for.

From my point of view it is about developing a facility that will assist us to reach our potential. And for me this means thinking about our visitors and also about those who currently do not visit. The year I spent working on marketing and visitor research at Te Papa has left me with an ongoing The current Forrester Gallery building. appreciation for learning about your visitors and then using that information to serve them better. We are fortunate archive are managed together with the at the museum, gallery and archive museum and archive located in one that all staff work both front and back building and the art gallery in another. of house. This helps us understand our Previously, management of the gallery visitors. had been separate, and at one time the archive was managed by the library. As An exciting aspect we consider the form of the development our convergence will project is the work As we consider the take it is clear that that is being done “ our local community on stakeholder form our convergence is one of the things engagement. In will take it is clear that we have in common. December 2015 three However, we often public meetings were our local community serve different held to discuss ideas is one of the things we groups within it. for the development.

Some great ideas have in common Knowledge gained have been raised, ” from this visitor- and I think those who participated centric approach, combined with my have also gained an insight into the master’s research on collecting at complexities of the development Te Papa, has led me to critique the project. Further public discussions are logic that informs a lot of collecting, planned as the project progresses. and subsequent exhibiting - that you should collect things “of” a place. Currently the museum, gallery and Certainly there is merit to this, in that it Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 26 means provenance becomes important community overall as people endlessly rather than just collecting any old stuff referenced family histories, and if you offered, but what is a Waitaki object? did not have a place in that world then there seemed to be no place for you. Our history takes place within wider I do not want our new cultural facility national and international trends and to be a place where newcomers feel each region ultimately has untidy edges excluded - in a small town the process when the movement of people and of becoming a local can take decades. things is considered. I think a focus, instead, of collecting ‘for’ a particular Another example of this is in the place can encompass both local Waitaki’s growing Tongan population. material and objects from its untidy Their history is not currently reflected edges while acknowledging that local in our museum’s collection, but would audiences do not always want to see including items from the Tongan only local content. community be enough to serve this audience? As noted at the 2014 ICOM I was reminded of this during a recent conference in Auckland the easiest way discussion with one woman in Oamaru, to include Pacific communities is to ask not ‘born and bred’, as she put it. She them what they want! We are doing this said she felt socially excluded in the as part of the stakeholder engagement.

Workshop participants discuss ideas for the new facility Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 27

There is however, a tension that get it right and frustration at having to comes with focusing mainly on the live with worn-out displays while our local community when planning the energy goes into the development. development project. Currently the For many emerging professionals I majority of our museum visitors are think these will be the realities of our tourists both from within New Zealand working lives as our institutions carry and internationally. This is likely out developments. to continue after the new facility opens so it is important that we also I hope that, come 2019, potential consider these visitors. As we get is no longer the word being used to further into planning exhibitions I describe our museum. I hope that expect this tension will become more all our work and planning results in apparent as we attempt to balance a facility that provokes a range of the needs of our visitors with those of different responses. I hope for the our local community. realisation of our potential.

The development The development will will shape the “ operations of the shape the operations of the museum, gallery and archive for museum, gallery and archive decades to come, for decades to come and what the ” community expects of us will shift over that time. We need a building that will enable us rather than hinder us. In contrast to the current buildings it needs to be flexible, accessible, safe for people and collections, and designed to facilitate work on exhibitions and collections. It is also important that, as much as possible, we retain what visitors like about our current offerings, such as intimate exhibition spaces and the close relationship between front and back of house that makes staff and collections accessible.

My time at the museum has been filled with ups and downs associated with the development project: excitement about the prospect of new exhibitions, nervousness about how much work lies ahead of our small team, a feeling of responsibility to Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 28

Exclusion in the art gallery

Recently, on a rainy summer’s day, I visited Auckland Art Gallery with the intention of enjoying two exhibitions: Necessary Distraction: A Painting Show, and The Story of Rama: Indian Miniatures from the National Museum, New Delhi. I love Auckland Art Gallery, and visit regularly to enjoy its vast range of exhibitions in a range of mediums.

I’m a confident museum visitor, a past curator and frequent museum goer and I’m perfectly happy to make my way through an exhibition and engage in my own way. However, I am also very aware that part of my comfort in a museum is due to a style of interpretation that tends to focus on providing information about an object or idea. This approach suits me — I want to find out what an object is and how it relates to an exhibition’s narrative. I am, of course, greatly simplifying what museum interpretation can be, but in my own

Elspeth Hocking personal experience this is a regularly employed model. I seek a museum’s guidance on the meaning of objects, as Elspeth Hocking a site of research and for its specialist Collection Manager, Auckland Museum knowledge on topics. I feel significantly less confident when visiting art galleries, Elspeth is a Collection Manager at Auckland particularly contemporary galleries. Museum. Previously she was Curator Social History at Puke Ariki, and has worked in visitor My ethnicity and physical capability market research for Morris Hargreaves McIntyre. have usually contributed to a feeling She has a Master of Museum and Heritage of inclusion in galleries, even though Studies from Victoria University of Wellington. I have never formally or informally studied art. I have preferred, instead, to develop my understanding based on what I find out on gallery visits. I’m very much part of the demographic that is most represented in art gallery visitors in New Zealand – Pākehā, female, Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 29 middle-class and educated. However, question.”1 Further, as artist Alistair my visit to this contemporary gallery Gentry described in his article about space brought to light ways in which the role of art texts, “certain art texts… I do feel excluded. It certainly made may be made up of technically correct me reflect on the (lack of) relevance of English words and sentences, but one of these exhibitions, particularly its ultimately can’t be processed by the interpretation, for other demographic reader into anything resembling a groups. rational argument. You may immediately recall I started my visit with How will those particular writers about Necessary Distraction. “ art who seem to be going It became clear very audiences, who for the high score in a quickly that this haven’t had game of Scrabble instead was interpretation of communicating ideas… written for a specific the opportunity Sometimes it’s clearly audience. That to formally or deliberate and they audience seemed to don’t care if 99% of their be other curators. informally study readers are turned off, I developed this contemporary because their intended impression from the audience is purely and first few sentences of art, decode what exclusively other people the introductory panel. the artworks are like themselves.”2 This Even as someone process continued with a postgraduate trying to say? throughout Necessary degree, my initial ” Distraction, leaving me reaction to most of the panels was to engage with the art on a purely bewilderment. Many of the single aesthetic level, picking and choosing words used were unfamiliar, and their my ‘favourites’. composition on the panels didn’t convey any meaning about the art that I, a non- While this in itself is a well-publicised specialist, could comprehend. method of interpretation, and does have certain qualities in helping On reflection, this was pure visitors look at art more deeply, I find international art speak, a specialist it an exclusionary tactic. How will language outlined by Alix Rule those audiences, who haven’t had the and David Levine. The Guardian’s opportunity to formally or informally professional arts and culture network study contemporary art, decode what neatly summed it up in their article the artworks are trying to say? Art about writing an artist’s statement, and the process of the artist can “This is a dialect of the privileged; the speak more clearly with a little help, elite university educated. If you can’t in English, that can be understood write it effectively, you’re not part of by visitors who aren’t fluent in the art world. If you’re already inside international art speak. but don’t understand it, you’re not allowed to admit it, or ask for further I don’t mean that galleries should explanation. This kind of rhetoric relies treat its visitors as if they are idiots. on everyone participating without Instead, I appreciate the approach of Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 30

Alistair Gentry, who argued, ‘I strongly comprehend part of India’s visual believe that we should aspire to raising culture, and develop some insight everybody’s level of knowledge. We into painting and storytelling in India shouldn’t assume that everybody’s an between the 17th and 19th centuries. idiot and speak to them accordingly, The exhibition was laid out in a way because this drags us all down to the that followed the narrative of the most tiresomely literal and unreflective Ramayana (the journey of Rama), and ways of engaging with art.’3 What where possible the artists, time periods visitors want to know requires and media were noted on labels. Each significant research, and interpretation section of the visual narrative was can never meet neatly encapsulated in every single need short labels outlining of every individual If we approach the story, giving the visitor. What I felt “ option of gazing on the was missing from interpretation as a beautiful artworks on the interpretation means of raising the their own, or having of Necessary the written text to Distraction was any level of knowledge clarify what was being comprehensible for as many as seen. I felt more insight into the confident traversing process of the artist. possible, rather this exhibition, able I use the word than catering for a to follow the narrative comprehensible very and awed by the skill specifically here – select few, perhaps of the artists and the many of the panels more visitors to beauty of the images. in the exhibition The clear text and lack discussed what I galleries might feel of international art can only assume art exhibitions are speak made this space the artworks were far more relevant to communicating, but accessible to them my desire to expand this was done in a personally my knowledge, way that I literally ” and helped me to could not understand. appreciate visual forms Only one panel informed me about the of communication that aren’t my usual artists and their practice. Emma Fitts’ approach. By providing interpretation and Kirstin Carlin’s complementary oil that does not require a particular skill and textile works were neatly explained, set to decode, I was left feeling inspired and the relationship between the media and educated, rather than confused made sense. Unsurprisingly, these and frustrated, as I felt after leaving works were some of my favourites - Necessary Distraction. I felt equipped to engage with their art and to understand these artists’ Part of the curatorial brief for perspectives better than any of the Necessary Distraction was to examine others’. the relevance of painting, a static form in a constantly changing world. Rather In contrast, the interpretation of than understanding more about how The Story of Rama helped me to painting can reflect the world, how it Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 31

remains relevant and what individual Endnotes

works are communicating, I left that 1 Blight, Daniel. ‘Writing an artist statement? First exhibition uncertain of what relevance ask yourself these four questions’. The Guardian. contemporary art writing has for a 15 April 2014. http://www.theguardian.com/culture- general audience. In contrast, I felt professionals-network/culture-professionals- informed and excited by my experience blog/2013/apr/15/writing-artist-statement-tips- in The Story of Rama, and was language pleased to have been introduced to a 2 Gentry, Alistair. ‘Artist’s perspective’. Nd. visual history that I had never before Interpretation Matters. http://interpretationmatters. encountered. com/?page_id=14 2 ibid.

Interpretation in the arts can be 3 McCarthy, Conal and David M. Mason. ‘“The a difficult, frustrating and lengthy Feeling of Exclusion’: Young peoples’ perceptions of process. If we approach interpretation art galleries”. Museum Management and Curatorship as a means of raising the level of 21:1 2006, pp.20 – 31. http://researcharchive.vuw. knowledge for as many as possible, ac.nz/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10063/733/article. rather than catering for a select few, pdf?sequence=1

perhaps more visitors to galleries might feel art exhibitions are accessible to them personally. As Conal McCarthy and David Mason noted in their article ‘The Feeling of Exclusion’, galleries and museums "maintain the illusion of democratic access, while in fact catering mainly to the interests of particular social groups and unintentionally excluding others.’4 One way to unintentionally exclude cohorts of visitors is to provide impenetrable interpretation of what can seem to be very complicated contemporary art, in a language specifically designed for those ‘in the know’. In contrast, providing visitors with the context to understand a visual tradition, as demonstrated in The Story of Rama, can facilitate enjoyment and comfort in a gallery space. This will encourage visitors to return to the gallery, to start feeling a sense of personal connection with the art on display, and to the gallery itself, as a space for personal learning or engagement.

Now that’s relevant. Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 32 Aimee Burbery

Curating outside your comfort zone

Aimee Burbery Exhibitions Assistant Curator, Puke Ariki Recently I have been curating an exhibition called BUGS: Our Backyard Aimee Burbery is the Exhibitions Assistant Heroes. This exhibition is about Curator at Puke Ariki, New Plymouth. She ‘terrestrial invertebrates’: bugs, insects completed a Bachelor of Arts with Honours and all things creepy crawly, focusing in History and Art History at the University of on how cool these critters are and why Otago, with a focus on public art. She also the visitor should care about them. In interned and worked at the Otago Museum as curating the show, I have delved into a Collections Assistant. In 2013 she completed a world of terms and concepts such a Master of Art Curatorship at the University of as endemic, genus and biodiversity Melbourne, and worked as the Curatorial Intern - to name just a few. This has been at Gertrude Contemporary in Melbourne for challenging as I do not come from a their Melbourne Festival exhibition The Somali science background: I studied history Peace Band. In 2014 she worked at the Museum and art history, and up until this point of Transport and Technology in Auckland, as a in my career have not had much Collections Assistant. experience working with the sciences. Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 33

Curating an exhibition in this field has expanded my knowledge about Bug fact: the natural world as well as my sense The giant centipede of place. While the exhibition has a Cormocephalus rubriceps is national and international focus, in found across the North Island some areas it also concentrates on my in New Zealand. It can grow immediate surroundings in Taranaki. up to 25 centimetres in length I have learnt things I never imagined and delivers a poisonous bite! I would: like the positive effect the rather unglamorous dung beetles have for farmers in Taranaki. I’ve also been revolted by some of what I’ve learned So how did I come to work on an and experienced – made positively exhibition so far removed from my squeamish at times, such as when a existing knowledge? The impetus for giant centipede reared its head and BUGS came from Puke Ariki’s recent hissed at me while trying to launch completion of the ‘Natural Wonders’ itself out of the terrarium! (We are cataloguing project, focusing on the planning to have a live giant centipede Natural Sciences collection. Now that in the exhibition as an example of a we know what the Natural Sciences native predator, but it will definitely not collection contains, we have the be able to launch itself at visitors.)

Framed exotic bugs from the Puke Ariki Collection. Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 34 opportunity to display a large portion scientists, amateur and professional of it in an exhibition. Objectives for the entomologists, forensic scientists and exhibition focus on creating a platform bee enthusiasts, to name but a few. I through a range of experiences that have had many positive interactions will engage visitors in conversations about the importance of bugs. These conversations should inspire visitors I am essentially acting to take action within their own “ communities on a small or large scale. as a translator from Essentially, we want people to really scientific jargon to acknowledge the bugs in their backyard and within the wider region and country, everyday language and come to understand the important ” roles they play in our ecosystems. with experts who are willing to share their extensive knowledge with an After developing the objectives, we ‘outsider’, and have developed strong worked on ideas and concepts for networks within Puke Ariki’s local and the exhibition content. As a regional national community. museum, Puke Ariki does not have a plethora of staff working in the field So how do I go about communicating of science, so for this exhibition we this newfound scientific knowledge to the visitors in the exhibition? I am essentially acting as a translator from scientific jargon to everyday language, Bug fact: communicating the concepts in a clear and cohesive way. My process for Both the Auckland and the translation begins with research. Wellington tree wētā are From this starting point, I rework commonly found in Taranaki, the information into text that I can but they never meet in understand and that communicates the wild as each prefers a what I see as the main points of different environment to the interest. My colleagues edit the drafts other — despite living on the many times and experts will fact-check same mountain! the final copy for errors.

Text is only one aspect of employed a scientific researcher communication though: another to provide the knowledge that we important goal for BUGS is to provide were lacking. We also relied on the the community with a hands-on research of the talented in-house staff experience. I want visitors to learn at the Taranaki Research Centre/Te exactly why bugs are so important Pua Wānanga o Taranaki, which has and why we should care about them directly informed the final exhibition while still enjoying a fun and engaging content. For the rest, I went out into exhibition. It is hard enough to get the community and engaged with visitors to read exhibition labels, the wider public and experts. These so plastering the walls with long- people have included local citizen winded text panels is not going to Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 35

Eleanor Brown, Untitled (1903), collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth (A66.620). encourage deeper engagement. interactives (and hopefully having fun), Instead, I am aiming to make this my aim is that they will be learning and exhibition educational by stealth, using retaining the new information. interactives. Most of these are quite physical rather than screen-based, One of the hardest parts of developing requiring the visitor to complete an interactives that enable meaningful action. Some are as simple as opening engagement is determining who a cupboard or pulling out a drawer your target audience is. Nina Simon to discover what is inside. While discusses this issue in her blog Museum the visitors are playing with these 2.0, noting: “how can we get adults to Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 36

profile of Elliot Millar King, a local pilot. Bug fact: In this section visitors could climb into a The bombardier beetle replica of a World War One plane, with is able to mix burning an object case built into the wing, and chemicals inside its put on a pilot’s helmet. Part of the visitor abdomen and shoot the feedback about the plane said “...maybe concoction out of its bottom the plane could have been a little bit when it feels threatened! more interactive. I was kind of expecting something like audio...”

From this we discovered that it is not participate? Many exhibit developers enough to provide a physical experience create thoughtful interactives intended where visitors enter into something, you for all ages and then discover that old also have to provide an engagement familiar pattern – kids engaging while opportunity once they are inside. In parents stand back and watch.”1 For the BUGS, we are creating a large-scale BUGS exhibition, the target audience is replica shell of a Powelliphanta snail: intergenerational. This is something I the giants of the snail world. From what am very conscious of, and I am working we learnt from the plane interactive, towards a mix of interactives aimed at visitors will be able to go inside the both children and adults. Many of these shell, but there will also be participatory have multiple levels of engagement, experiences inside that keep them offering different experiences for people engaged and deepen their learning from different age groups. about this particular bug.

Learning from past experiences for Another important goal of the exhibition future exhibitions is essential for relates to the concept of the ‘citizen growth and development to ensure that scientist’. Citizen Scientists are exhibitions meet members of the the needs of the public, usually target audience. It is not enough from non-science “ backgrounds, who In 2015, Puke to provide a physical Ariki staged volunteer their an exhibition experience where visitors time to further called Bringing it enter into something, you scientific research, Home: Taranaki or advocate creating and World War also have to provide an change to support a One. During the engagement opportunity particular species. exhibition, we In the exhibition a commissioned once they are inside number of citizen visitor research ” scientists will be through Morris Hargreaves McIntyre highlighted, as they are also backyard to find out what it was that our visitors heroes. The heart of their work is were engaging with the most. The changing people’s attitudes towards section of Bringing It Home that bugs, helping them realise that bugs are received the highest proportion of a vital part of the world we live in. visitor engagement (88%) was the Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 37

Through the BUGS exhibition, I am scientific concepts that will end up on hoping we will inspire visitors to take the exhibition floor in a way that is part in a community research project accessible to visitors. I am also further or to make a positive change in their developing content, organising loans, own backyards: exemplifying the model thinking about display techniques and of citizen scientists. This could be as writing the text. simple as planting flowers that provide pollen sources for honeybees, or If you are able to work on something building a ‘wētā motel,’ providing the so far out of your comfort zone or your local wētā with another place to live. existing knowledge that it makes you feel a bit sick, then don’t hold back. I Part of inspiring have gained more people to become knowledge about citizen scientists Part of inspiring bugs and scientific also includes “ practices than I changing people to become citizen ever imagined. I attitudes towards scientists also includes have a feeling that bugs. In the changing attitudes this will be one of ‘Action Station’ the most rewarding at the end of towards bugs. experiences of my the exhibition, ” career to date. visitors will not only be able to collect some instructions on how to build their BUGS: Our Backyard Heroes is on at wētā motel, but also contribute to an Puke Ariki, New Plymouth from 12th opinion-based measure of how they feel November 2016 to 14th May 2017. about bugs, after hopefully learning all of the amazing things they do. This will encourage visitors to really think about Endnotes their attitudes towards bugs, while 1 Nina Simon. “Designing Interactives for Adults: providing Puke Ariki with an interesting Put Down the Dayglow.” Museum 2.0. 18 January measure to determine if we have been 2012. vital part of our ecosystems.

Throughout this process, I have become aware that my lack of scientific knowledge means that I have a different approach, one that is perhaps not as deeply embedded in the detail as an entomologist’s would be. However, I also believe that my passion for giving visitors the best possible exhibition experience — while helping them to understand why we should care about bugs ­­— is an advantage. Currently the exhibition is progressing well and I am tying together all of the Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 38

Ray Wootton (Friends of the Nurses Memorial Chapel) and Moya Sherriff (CCCRC Administrator) preparing a carpet runner for long term storage, until its original home within the Nurses’ Memorial Chapel is restored.

The Canterbury Cultural Collections Recovery Centre Reflections of an Intern

Moya Sherriff A fter the 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes Collections Technician, Air Force Museum our city was in turmoil. In Christchurch lives were lost, homes were destroyed, the central Moya’s interest in heritage sprung from business district was damaged beyond childhood visits to her local Museum. During the recognition and our world as we knew it had university holidays (in between milking cows) changed forever. For Canterbury’s movable she started volunteering at South Canterbury culture and heritage dotted across the city, Museum, where she gained a variety of new safe and secure storage was a critical issue. experiences. Following a position at Ashburton The stability of the Air Force Museum of New Museum and completing a postgraduate diploma Zealand’s land in the suburb of Wigram, in Museum Studies through Massey University, located away from the major epicentre Moya embarked on the ultimate new graduate brought our fellow cultural and heritage experience as Intern, and later Administrator, of colleagues knocking. In those early stages, the Canterbury Cultural Collections Recovery the Air Force Museum fulfilled their request Centre (CCCRC) based at the Air Force for space by making room within their own Museum of New Zealand in Christchurch. In collection stores. When this ran out, shipping 2016 she officially joined the Air Force Museum containers were placed on the tarmac to team as Collections Technician. accommodate those in need. Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 39

Meanwhile, after 10 Friends of Te years of planning There was a wide range Papa and OMV and despite the “ New Zealand extraordinary post- of skills, knowledge and to provide that quake situation, the practices between the 38 support, through Air Force Museum their internship Trust Board decided groups within the CCCRC scheme, for a to continue with their ” recent Museum plan to build a new exhibition hall and large Studies graduate to work within the CCCRC. object conservation workshops. As the successful applicant, my main tasks In January 2013, the building was complete, initially were to assist with cataloguing, but instead of occupying the space straight documentation and preventive conservation away, the Air Force Museum offered part of together with cleaning and boxing of the complex to those organisations already collections from smaller museums and on site and elsewhere who were affected by heritage organisations that moved into the the earthquakes. For three years (2013 to space. However, what I ended up doing 2015) the Canterbury Cultural Collections was far more diverse than the original job Recovery Centre (CCCRC) provided a space description. for institutions to regroup and recover from this disaster. Once on the ground, I quickly discovered that there was a wide range of skills, The CCCRC advisory board realised that the knowledge and practices between the 38 centre would need to provide some type of groups within the CCCRC. Some were well daily help and support. In July 2013 National established organisations with collection Services Te Paerangi partnered with the management and documentation systems

The Air Force Museum of New Zealand’s new conservation and restoration workshops during the CCCRC phase. Post-earthquake the CCCRC provided storage for 38 organisations from 2013 to 2015 Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 40 already in place so the ability to assist bin” did come out of my mouth. However, with their cataloguing and preventative there were times when I knew that it just conservation was straightforward. However, wasn’t worth putting up a fight. Maintaining there were others who had no established a good working relationship was way more procedures. This was something I had not important and, at the end of the day, it is encountered before. So I started reviewing their collection. They are the group of people those collection management textbooks who have been entrusted to curate it. At from university, asking my fellow museum times, I certainly felt as if I’d been thrown in colleagues and discussing ideas with the deep end but it was also slightly comical. individual CCCRC groups. Together we There I was, wearing the label ‘intern’, came up with retrospective documentation encouraging others to adhere to these and cataloguing procedures which covered fundamental principles. everything from filling out the object receipt form to packing One factor that made artefacts. But it didn’t an important difference quite stop there – at one No you cannot to the implementation point I did find myself “ of these new practices having a go at writing throw that collection was leadership. The and reviewing collection item in the bin CCCRC provided groups management policies ” with space, some – not something your materials, equipment average junior museum role would involve. and opportunities to up-skill, but sole responsibility for collection management One area I didn’t expect to spend so much and human resources remained firmly with time on was talking through museum each individual group. Groups with strong principles and ethics with the volunteer- leadership seemed to be the ones that run groups. The key topics that repeatedly would embrace (if need be) new skills or came up were: the importance of creating management ideas and implement them and maintaining donor records, the ethics successfully. However, some of the groups and processes of deaccessioning and struggled and looked to me for leadership. the difference between conservation and restoration. My tack was generally On reflection, this was a really interesting to research the topic, talk to my senior issue, as the mandate of the CCCRC was colleagues and find online resources to provide a support network, not control through sites such as National Services the destiny of a group or do work for Te Paerangi, Collections Trust UK and them. On the other hand, I could see that the Norfolk Museums and Archaeology if I didn’t step in and do something, these Service. Armed with this information I felt groups would fall completely behind. Their comfortable enough to chat about various collection would leave the CCCRC exactly issues with the groups, offering the results of as it had arrived. So, with support from Air my research or suggesting they talk to other Force Museum and external colleagues, I more experienced museum professionals. worked on collections alongside the group, Sometimes these conversations were rather sometimes encouraging individuals to do challenging and at times I really had to stick specific tasks and promoting professional to my guns. There were occasions when I procedures until the collection was at least was completely brutal, and the words “No packed. you cannot throw that collection item in the Tauhere | Connections, Issue 1, May 2016. 41

My original task related to CCCRC education Overall, the CCCRC was an amazing was to assist in training workshops. This experience. Every day was different, full of morphed into me (or Air Force Museum opportunities and challenges that I would colleagues) identifying knowledge or skill never have come across within a ‘normal’ gaps within the groups. We then canvassed junior museum role. I learned so much just individuals to find out likely attendance by being in a place where I could research, levels if we hosted a workshop on that think about and observe those ideologies topic. I found that bringing in an outside and processes that our museum colleagues expert helped create connections between in higher positions deal with every day. I love groups and other museum professionals, that for the first year of the CCCRC, I was while presenting and reinforcing museum the ‘intern’ only in name, not in occupation. principles and ethics from another source. After July 2014, due to the great work of Another advantage was that I got to take our team and thanks to the Canterbury part in these workshops and learn from the community and the Air Force Museum Trust experts as well. Boards, we were able to find the funds to extend my contract with the new title ‘administrator’ until the end of 2015

The Air Force Museum of New Zealand’s new conservation and restoration workshops during the CCCRC phase. Post-earthquake the CCCRC provided storage for 38 organisations from 2013 to 2015