From the MTG: Multi-talented hands of volunteers weave their magic

Volunteer Dermot Horne plays the piano in the Silver: Heirlooms from the Collection exhibition. Photo / Supplied

Opening a museum to the public truly takes a village.

What you see and what you hear across our tri-floor layout is meticulously and ceremoniously planned.

Everything passes through several hands before it can be enjoyed by our visitors. It's all behind-the-scenes magic, and a magician never reveals their tricks.

But the multi-talented hands of our museum volunteers weave in and out of everything we deliver to the public.

Giving their time, offering their expertise, for the love of the community — volunteers are the backbone of our industry, and for the past week, from June 19 to 25, we have celebrated them here at MTG Hawke's Bay as part of National Volunteer Week.

Volunteers spend their time in our front of house, as well as helping out the collections team in Ahuriri.

Sara Perrett, the collections co-ordinator at MTG, shares some words about the impact of volunteers in this sector.

"The collections team have a valued team of passionate volunteers who help with scanning archives and photographs; mount textiles for display and sew labels and covers, do inventory, research, cataloguing and help set up and pack down for visit," she says.

"Some of our volunteers have been with us for many years. The volunteers are a pleasure to work with and their contribution of time, knowledge and skills is so important to the care and access of the collection."

The piano on the first floor brings life and hum to the museum throughout the week, thanks to our roster of volunteer pianists organised by Dermot Horne.

Music, as we know, has a transportive ability to bridge the past and the present, awaken memories long forgotten, to summon joy and melancholy and everything in between.

Perhaps the most memorable feedback we have received at the front desk is from a woman who heard one of the pianists, Colleen, playing Debussy's Clair de Lune.

The song stirred memories for our visitor, whose father played her the song as a child, coupled with our sobering exhibition about the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, and her own experience living through the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, coalescing into a meaningful visit.

It's moments like these, where everything fits into place, that remind us of the power of community here at MTG. The power to make inanimate, stationary objects from the collection move with fervour, to bring history outside of the black and white and into Technicolor. This month, and every month, we say thank you to our volunteers.

MTG director Laura Vodanovich gives her thanks to our volunteers: "Volunteers are a vital part of most non-profit organisations and MTG Hawke's Bay is no exception," she said.

"We have a dedicated group of volunteers who help us achieve so much more than we can alone; hosting visitors, scanning images, mounting textiles and so much more. They bring life and vitality into the museum and it is a joy and privilege to work with them."

We are always welcoming new volunteers, and our space is for everyone. If you would like more information about volunteering at MTG, come on in and ask our friendly museum staff.

• K Williams is MTG team leader customer services