The new face of our place

By PAULA OLIVER

The man in the immaculate suit glides forward with his hand outstretched.

"I'm Seddon," he says without a hint of an American or Australian accent, although he has just returned from 20 years' working in the two countries. He gently places his lean frame on to a red leather sofa, a warm smile creasing his face.

Dr Seddon Bennington, 55, is the new man at the helm of "Our Place" - the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa. He looked relaxed and keen as he settled into his second day as chief executive this week, but he knows he has big shoes to fill.

The museum's inaugural boss, Dame Cheryll Sotheran, resigned unexpectedly seven months ago, citing ill health. Dame Cheryll guided Te Papa through its development and construction and the strength of her association with the museum was such as to earn her the nickname "Te Mama".

She delivered a complicated project on time and under budget, but encountered her share of controversy. She was famous for her tough, no-nonsense approach and, after the museum opened, faced down the criticism of those who did not appreciate its interactivity and fun-park atmosphere.

Her approach paid off - since opening, Te Papa has exceeded all expectations in visitor numbers and Dame Cheryll has left behind a museum that 94 per cent of visitors last year rated as "good" to "excellent".

The arrival of Bennington signals the beginning of a new era, however, and some members of the local gallery and museum world claim the change is timely - that Te Papa needs to be taken to another level.

So what are Bennington's intentions?

"What's done is building the framework," he says slowly and purposefully. "But the real task has barely begun, in terms of growing this as a place of meaning for all New Zealanders."

Expect changes, but nothing dramatic, and he is not revealing his hand until he first speaks to staff. Bennington likes the level of active participation that Te Papa visitors experience. He labels the museum a pioneer and innovator and has no qualms about its use of technology or imaginative displays.

In fact, there could be more of it under his stewardship.

"Where it's appropriate, yes. The commitment to new media as a way of bringing meaning to the experience is going to increase," he says. "But I think what we need to do is make sure that the meaning and the reflection on the collections is a strong and clear part of that.

"We have an expectation from an increasingly sophisticated audience. Museums everywhere are looking at how both to seize the opportunities that these media offer and, at the same time, to be competitive for people's time and interest."

Hanmer Springs-born Bennington won the chief executive role from a field of 49 applicants. He was approached to apply for the $200,000-plus job during an international talent search.

At the time he was director of the Carnegie Science Centre in Pittsburgh, a facility that has embraced the idea of visitors experiencing interactive displays.

He had gained a public profile during his eight years in Pittsburgh, where he was president of the local Rotary Club and actively involved in the community, even leading a taskforce involved in looking at the design of central Pittsburgh.

Like his predecessor at Te Papa, Bennington had plenty of practice in handling controversy on the job. Almost three years ago, activists upset at a chicken hatchery in the children's science park picketed the facility and encouraged the public to write emails and letters of complaint to Bennington.

He also appeared in Pittsburgh newspapers after apologising to two architects for mishandling a design competition.

Bennington sees controversy as positive. "I think it's wonderful," he said shortly after the announcement of his appointment to Te Papa. "It proves you have become a part of people's lives to be debated."

Before leaving Pittsburgh, Bennington was overseeing a major extension to the Carnegie Science Centre. He had previously worked in the Western Australian Museum in Perth for seven years, then set up and became director of Perth's Scitech Discovery Centre.

"I'm happy to be back," he said this week as a biting Wellington southerly raged outside Te Papa's windows. "I just hope no one thinks I brought this with me."

Bennington is used to the capital's weather - he lived there in 1980 as the inaugural Wellington City Gallery director. He decided to hang on to his Mt Victoria home when he went overseas and has now returned to it with his New Zealand wife.

Bennington says that he has been impressed with the staff he has met at Te Papa. "It's a very solid team, and the planning process and the thoughtfulness about what is going on have impressed me. The best I can do is draw on those strengths and build from here."

The museum is clearly working well as a place that attracts people, he says. Behind him, queues are forming to get into a Lord of the Rings exhibition that will have drawn 70,000 visitors by this weekend.

The special show of items from the Peter Jackson film trilogy carries an entry fee - something Te Papa itself does not.

The museum gets about 48 per cent of its income from Government injections, and it relies on sponsorships and other operations for the rest. Its budgets are tight, and it lost $13.7 million in the past financial year - a loss that was expected but one that could increase in the future as energy and insurance costs go up.

Asked if he was under any pressure to even Te Papa's ledger, Bennington said there would always be pressure. "Maybe I shouldn't say pressure. We should always be looking for every opportunity to maximise earned revenues. That's because it provides ways to support fulfilling our mission. It's not simply about how the balanced finance sheet looks, although that is important - really the emphasis on earned revenue is to increase opportunity."

So will Te Papa ever see a day where visitors have to pay a dollar or two at the door?

"I hope we don't," he quickly replies. "I think the notion of a free museum, that in many ways as taxpayers everyone is paying for anyway, is a wonderful part of our society. It means nobody is denied the opportunity to come here, and I think that's great. I'd like to defend that position."

Bennington is said to be on a contract that offers performance bonuses. He is reluctant to say how long he will stay in the job.

"I'll be there as long as everyone is happy with the job I'm doing," he grins. "It has to come back to what our constituents, our audiences are getting out of this place. It's not just about people coming here on a Sunday and having an enjoyable time. It's also about the extent to which we are looking after the treasures, the collections, the extent to which we are making those available to all sorts of audiences."

In announcing Bennington's appointment, Te Papa chairman Roderick Deane praised his "distinguished record of leadership", and described him as a scientist with a strong commitment to and knowledge of the arts.

Bennington has a doctorate in zoology - he once volunteered to spend three weeks largely alone on an Atlantic island observing and documenting seabirds as part of a project focused on the puffin - and degrees in anthropology and art history.

Auckland Art Gallery director Chris Saines said he hoped Bennington would integrate Te Papa into the country's museum community.

Bennington replies that he can understand that Te Papa had to define its role as a national institution when it was first formed. It needed to understand its own identity and be strong about that. "But I think we now can be sufficiently relaxed that we are a good partner to the other museums."

So what kind of style will Bennington bring to Te Papa?

He says people enjoy working with him because he is interested in the way individuals can thrive and achieve their aspirations. It's about him knowing when to get out of the way and make sure that the staff are well supported, he says.

Staff can expect him to be energetic. He admits he finds it hard to get his job out of his head, but says he knows how to relax.

"I relax when I'm at the beach, in the mountains, in the bush ... I like outdoor things. I like energetic things. I don't like sitting around. I like reading, but I am happiest when I'm active. Like most New Zealanders."