Mrs Wallace says she had great support from the Tairāwhiti Museum Trust board.
“Gisborne has been an amazing place to work and live. I will definitely miss the sun and the beaches.”
Raised on a small farm at Tauwhare, Waikato, Eloise always loved history, especially New Zealand history. She went on to complete a history degree in 2001 at the University of Canterbury followed by a postgraduate course in museum and heritage at Massey University in 2002. This gave her the foundations to work within her chosen field, although she admits, “most of what you learn, you learn on the job in a role like this”.
A five-year stint on the exhibitions team at the Imperial War Museum in London followed, a job she described as “an amazing training ground for developing exhibitions and working with objects and working with lenders on a really big scale”.
That experience led her to return to New Zealand where she secured a role as manager of public programmes (events, exhibitions) at MTG (Museum, Theatre and Gallery), Napier, Hawke’s Bay.
When the position arose at Tairāwhiti museum, the decision to move up the Coast and “give it a try” turned out to be a successful venture.
“Helping and supporting artists, or whānau hapū iwi and their aspirations has been a highlight,” said Eloise.
“I loved it so much because of all the amazing people in the community that I was able to work with and we have an awesome small team here at the museum.”
Being immersed in Māori culture and te reo was a somewhat new experience for Eloise, and one she treasures of her time spent on the East Coast.
Working on so many different projects and alongside people right across the Tairāwhiti region, “it’s kind of like exploring. I’ve been all over the place,” she said.
Her tally of the number temporary exhibitions she has been involved with during her time here is 149.
“That’s working with 1000-plus artists,” said Eloise.
Memorable exhibitions for Eloise included the 2019 event when the arrangement of a loan of 37 taonga from the British Museum found its way to Tairāwhiti Museum. Those items had not seen our shoreline for some 250 years.
The Recovery; Women’s Overseas Service in WW1 exhibition in 2017 was another highlight for Eloise,
“This was a memorable collaboration with Kay Morris Matthews at EIT. It was rewarding bringing the stories of women who served in the First World War to light, especially highlighting Tairāwhiti connections. The procession through the city, with a cohort of nurses from the hospital dressed in WW1 uniforms, was especially memorable.”
Colours Deluxe: The Art Album of New Zealand Flora by Sarah and Edward Featon of Gisborne also proved an unforgettable collaboration.
“This exhibition was again about bringing special local stories to light and recognising the amazing contributions of people in our region who otherwise might be forgotten. This was a collaboration with fantastic local historian Jean Johnston and it was wonderful to uncover Sarah and Edward Featon’s story, make connections with descendants and bring Sarah’s beautiful watercolours back home from the national collection in Wellington for the exhibition.
“Regional stories are the ones that are so memorable and exciting because you’re doing new research and uncovering and discovering,” said Eloise.
“You get really close to the people you’re working with as you work out these complex situations. Sometimes when you’re working on projects like a repatriation, they can be really emotional and a journey.”
While there are Wallace family members in the South Island, Eloise says it’s all new — a different climate but it has a regional character, similar to here, a strong regional identity of its own and an interesting history.
Relocating the family plus three cats and a dog will shortly be on the agenda for Eloise and her husband Cymon.
She has frequent reminders from friends and colleagues “to pack winter woollies” ringing in her ears.
Tairāwhiti Museum will soon announce their new director who will be replacing Mrs Wallace in the near future.
