By LIANE VOISEY
Job title: Exhibition Manager, Auckland Museum
Graham Soughtton admits that before he landed his new job, he only had a "passing knowledge of art". But that is fast changing as he becomes "very familiar" with the cultural and artistic movements of the past century.
Originally from Martinborough, Soughtton studied
marketing and accounting at Victoria University and graduated with a diploma in management from Auckland University in the mid 1990s. He was previously group manager for DMG Worldmedia in Auckland, a commercial exhibition company he worked at for 12 years.
During that time, Soughtton was responsible for organising some of New Zealand's major trade shows in business sectors as diverse as hospitality, engineering, retail pharmacy and printing. It all sounds a long way from art, but Soughtton says his new job is still about attracting an audience and managing a project from conception to execution.
He says the challenge in his new role is in "meeting the needs of Auckland's diverse communities". Exhibitions need to be of a high standard and things must always be seen to be changing in the museum. "It's a popular misconception that the museum never changes from one year to the next," he says. "I'm very much part of that process of change."
Exhibitions can take up to a year to plan, but the customer satisfaction makes it worthwhile. Soughtton says the recent Islamic Art exhibition was "extremely well received" by the Islamic community and wider public, but now he is working on the next project, Treasures of Ancient Peru, which opens next week.
"I've always been a huge admirer of what the museum does and what it stands for," Soughtton says.
"It's not only a magnificent architectural icon in Auckland, what it does is highly educative for all Aucklanders."
