Chance to support Central Hawke’s Bay’s ‘exciting and interesting’ museum

Central Hawke’s Bay Museum manager and curator Jana Uhlirova looks over some artifacts in the museum archives. Photo / Warren Buckland

A leading museum consultant has called the Central Hawke’s Bay Museum’s collection “exciting and interesting” after delving into it as part of an assessment process.

Rose Evans, founder of Objectlab, has more than 25 years of experience in major international and national museums and galleries including Te Papa Museum of New Zealand, Auckland Museum, the Australian Museum and the British Museum.

She says “I had a great time going through the Central Hawke’s Bay Museum. I felt the collections were a really good record, a lot of it from the old families, who kept a lot of ephemera due to their continuous occupation of homesteads and stations.

“That is a huge strength. In a lot of other communities it’s simply not the case, as people have moved through and not left a trace. These CHB collections show a microcosm of New Zealand’s agricultural society. They reflect the changes in our rural communities and tell a story - quite an intact one as there are even clothes and textiles in the museum archives.”

Time travel through the Central Hawke’s Bay Museum, with free entry until next May. Photo / Warren Buckland

Rose was in Central Hawke’s Bay recently with Craig Ireson of Ireson Co fundraising and project management consultancy to carry out a feasibility assessment on the Central Hawke’s Bay Museum.

The assessment, funded by a lotteries grant and the Heritage Fund, will identify opportunities to preserve and promote the museum’s collection and create a strong package to present to potential funders.

It hasn’t cost visitors a cent to enter Central Hawke’s Bay Museum since May, after the museum gained funding for a year’s free entry, from the Gwen Malden Trust.

Since then the number of visitors has soared, says manager and curator Jana Uhlirova.

An 1800s bedroom, one of the displays at the Central Hawke’s Bay Museum in Waipawa. Photo / Warren Buckland

In September 1008 visitors went through the door, with 465 of them coming from outside the district.

The previous quarter welcomed 2660 visitors to the museum, over what are traditionally the quieter winter months.

Before the trial, the museum would receive between 3000 and 4000 visitors a year.

“It’s massive, more than double. I’m overwhelmed,” Jana says.

“Over that time we have also been busy with school visits and educational programmes - children get to use their own power to make things and do things, making butter, washing dirty clothes, sewing bags, writing letters using an old typewriter and much more.

“Older visitors find the displays and collections trigger memories - but the children see nothing familiar. We need to keep finding ways to introduce history in a way that is more exciting than ‘being on my phone’.

Take a stroll through the museum’s streets and browse the extensive collections. Photo / Warren Buckland

“But about half of the numbers are visitors from out of town. The trial shows the huge potential to raise visitor numbers and get more people enjoying our museum.”

The feasibility assessment is looking at issues of storage and displays, but also the role of the museum in Waipawa and the wider district.

Jana says: “There are endless opportunities. Our museum has a very strong bond with the community and could be a heritage hub for Central Hawke’s Bay. Yes, we have issues with storage, and being in a category 2 listed heritage building has its challenges, but I strongly believe this place can grow.”

The historic Bank of New Zealand building in Waipawa was gifted to the people of Central Hawke’s Bay by the district council in 1986, to house the museum. It opened to the public two years later. The first items for the museum were collected by the CHB Salvation Army Access Scheme during 1984 and 1985.

An exhibition hall was added in 2000, allowing regular exhibitions. It also houses a river waka donated by a local family.

The Central Hawke’s Bay Museum collections include extensive clothing and textile exhibits. Photo / Warren Buckland

More recently, the museum removed the word “settlers” from its name - CHB Settlers Museum - to be renamed Central Hawke’s Bay Museum, with the committee saying the move was “to be more inclusive of mana whenua and the growing number of people of different nationalities making Central Hawke’s Bay home”.

Rose says while she was struck by the stories threaded through the museum’s artefacts, the tales were not always evident due to the lack of display area.

“Central Hawke’s Bay history has a huge narrative flow, and not just about the wealthy and successful, there’s granular and interesting detail. We need to tease these stories out and this will take time.

“There’s also a lack of mana whenua voice and that’s about mending and continuing to mend a complicated history. It’s not something to be afraid of.

“Museums have to continually reinvent themselves as well as caring for facets of the old. There are lots of things to discuss and talk about in museums and they can help reflect current issues, asking ‘how does that fit with our society now?’

“We also need to look at volunteers - get younger people in and involved, look at more digital tools. It takes a lot of funding and someone has to take this on.”

This month the Central Hawke’s Bay Museum launched a givealittle campaign to try to keep the entry free, through donations and sponsorship. The money raised will replace the income the museum used to get from charging an admission fee.

The public are invited to contribute to the Central Hawke’s Bay Museum givealittle page and keep the community’s history free and accessible for all who want to learn about it.

You can watch OngaTV’s interview with Jana, Rose and Craig at OngaTV on YouTube.

The Central Hawke’s Bay Museum is in High St, Waipawa and is open seven days a week from 10am-4pm.