May 21, 2018
Museums reward Maori collaborations
Collaboration was the catchword in this year's ServiceIQ New Zealand Museum Awards announced last night at a gala at event at Christchurch Art Gallery.
Museums Aotearoa executive director Phillipa Tocker says a new award for individual achievement in the name of the late Manawatu museum director Mina McKenzie went to Awhina Tamarapa, who has used collaborations to make a significant contribution to the embedding of matauranga Maori in a number of New Zealand museums, from governance through to operational levels.
She's now based at the new Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom in Foxton, which won the project category for the way it was developed through a three-way cultural partnership bringing together Dutch, Maori and local community interests.
The art category went to Hastings City Art Gallery, where photographic artist Edith Amituanai worked with Flaxmere's Kimi Ora Community School on the #keeponkimiora project.
"They actually gave the children cameras to take home. They put the children's images into the gallery and put together the most gorgeous exhibition – beautiful high artistic standards yet very much owned by the people, not just one artist. It was very much a shared vision," Ms Tocker says.
Otago Museum and MTG Hawke's Bay were joint winners of the Exhibition Excellence – Taonga Maori category for demonstrating best practice in collaborative relationships between iwi and museums to exhibit taonga Maori collections.
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