Te Papa basks in light of honoured pair

By Graham Reid

A cynic might say it has been a good year for Te Papa Tongarewa, the Museum of New Zealand, in the New Year's Honours.

Both Te Papa chief executive Cheryll Sotheran and the museum's kaihautu (Maori adviser), Dr Cliff Whiting, have been acknowledged. But the honours are given for achievement over a lifetime.

Cheryll Sotheran has been made a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to museum administration. She is a former director of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery and of the Govett Brewster Art Gallery in New Plymouth, and played a key role in the development of Te Papa as a member of the Project Development Board.

"There were early concerns about the knowledge base of the museum but Te Papa is a shift in terms of museum experience," she says.

"It's not better or worse; it engages people in a completely different way but that doesn't undermine the extremely strong knowledge base. It's still there, just a lot more accessible."

Dame Cheryll says her honour reflects on the whole Te Papa team but she singles out Dr Whiting, who "was appointed as a partner with me as chief executive to look after the interests of iwi and their treasures in the museum - and he brings incredible leadership and vision."

With characteristic modesty, Dr Whiting says being made a member of the Order of New Zealand is a humbling experience.

The renowned carver, whose works grace Te Papa, the National Library, the Otago Museum and many other public buildings, reflects on a life of carving, restoration and conservation, and bringing his distinctive style into the mainstream of Maori carving.

Dr Whiting, 62, says most people take Maori carving for granted, "but I prefer to go deeper and ask why it is the way it is, why does it have the semi-abstract appearance? That's been my life-long pursuit, the search for meaning, and that's one of the reasons I have to work with people, because it's an art that belongs to people and is a collective art form and philosophy as well as a religious process."

A recipient of the Allan Highet Award in 1986, a member of the Council for Maori and Pacific Arts and of the Arts Council since 1988, Dr Whiting keeps a low personal profile, preferring to put his energy into his teaching and carving, which reached a zenith with his colourful designs for the marae at Te Papa.